Turkey season opened in South Carolina this week, and like years past James Earl Kennamer, bagged a bird the first day. \u201cHunting is part of my life,\u201d he said, as he waited for a flock early Monday in Estill. \u201cIt\u2019s my touch to nature.\u201d But these days when Kennamer straps on his cammo pants and loads his double-barreled Zoli 12 gauge, he can\u2019t help but think of all of hunting\u2019s regulations and limits, and he fears for the future.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’m worried about having legislation passed by different entities that want to stop hunting,\u201d Kennamer said as he walked through the swampy woods of the 950 acre Woodstock Plantation, about 40 miles north of Savannah Georgia. \u201cI\u2019m worried they will one day get rid of hunting altogether.\u201d<\/p>\n
The lifelong hunter now supports a ballot initiative in South Carolina to change the state constitution and give hunters a permanent \u201cright to hunt.\u201d Kennamer says \u201cIt will keep local entities from passing legislation that would stop us from having a place to go hunt.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s exactly what animal rights groups say is the problem with the initiative. \u201cWe think there are so many better ways to enjoy nature than killing a piece of it, \u201c said Ryan Huling a spokesperson for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), the main opposition to the initiative in South Carolina. \u201cPETA as an organization exists to remind people that there\u2019s really no difference in abusing cats and dogs to abusing deer and fish. These animals all feel pain in exactly the same way.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s that kind of sentiment from PETA and other similar groups that have recently sent hunters to collect signatures all across the country.<\/p>\n
In the last 15 years, \u201cright to hunt\u201d measures have passed in 9 states including Alabama, Minnesota, North Dakota, Virginia, Wisconsin, Louisiana, Montana, Georgia, and Oklahoma (Vermont declared hunting a right in 1777).<\/p>\n
PETA has opposed every single one. \u201cIf we’re going to have the right to hunt and fish,\u201d said Huling. \u201cwhy not have the right to shop and golf? We’re talking about making things that are legal, extra legal for no apparent reason.\u201d<\/p>\n
Huling predicts these initiatives will only lead to frivolous lawsuits in the future. \u201cIf hunters are going to open the flood gates like this, you’re going to see them demanding longer hunting seasons, larger bag counts, lower age limits. There’s really no end to this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kennamer calls that \u201cridiculous,\u201d stating hunters have a vested in interest in small bag counts and age limits. \u201cWe want hunting to be around forever, that\u2019s all.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Turkey season opened in South Carolina this week, and like years past James Earl Kennamer, bagged a bird the first day. \u201cHunting is part of my life,\u201d he said, as he waited for a flock early Monday in Estill. \u201cIt\u2019s my touch to nature.\u201d But these days when Kennamer straps on his cammo pants and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6053,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-446403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446403","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6053"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=446403"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446403\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=446403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=446403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=446403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}