I was reading the comments to Sebastian's post on the
doomage of hunting (I agree with a lot that he says, but feel that access will have more to do with the decline of hunting than hunters shooting each other in the foot). At some point the comments moved to Fudd bashing. The popular sport of making fun of hunters who only own a rifle or shotgun and only use it to take game.
Looking at the stack of mail I brought in, I got concerned. The top two items were a Cabela's catalog and the November issue of
Field & Stream. Oh crap! Maybe I'm part Fudd. After all, I got into shooting through hunting. I learned to shoot primarily by using prairie dogs as targets for my .22. From there I graduated to rabbits, and then deer, elk, and turkey.
Where I grew up a gun was truly seen as a simple tool. No different than a hammer or saw or tape. A gun's function was varmit removal and dinner collector. It wasn't until I had a family that the utility of a gun expanded to include protection of loved ones. It shouldn't come as much of a surprise that I think the derogatory use of the term Fudd is moronic. Typically, convincing people to join in supporting your chosen cause does not involve demeaning them.
There are plenty of people that own one handgun that they store at their bedside, "just in case." They don't take it out to the range for practice and only clean it once in a blue moon. For those people, it is just a tool, like a hammer only to be pulled out of the toolbox when a nail needs beaten down. There are other people who want to know everything there is to know about their gun. They want to master its use and typically own different guns for different occasions and some just because they are cool. These folks are comparable to a master fabricator who owns multiple hammers of multiple weights and materials and uses them for much more than that troublesome nail on the stairs. Not everyone is passionate about hammers.
Many hunters are the same way. A rifle or shotgun is no different or more significant to these hunters than a new pack or rangefinder or call. It is just one of the many things needed in the field in order to take game. The best way to get these hunters to support gun rights for all is
education, not name calling. Hunters have been told for decades that politicians aren't out to take their hunting rifles. The uneducated ones believed this. Once a hunter becomes
educated on the subject, they often become more involved in supporting the rights of all gun owners.
For all the bitching about these evil good for nothing Fudds, I have yet to actually meet one. Maybe it has to do with where I live, but virtually every truck that has an elk or duck or deer sticker on the back window has an NRA sticker there too. Many hunters are shooters and CCW holders.
Maybe next time you see an honest to goodness Fudd out in the wild, instead of directing your scorn their way you can direct them to take a seat behind your evil black rifle. Chances are good that after squeezing off a few rounds and having a friendly chat the Fudd will have disappeared.
