Relax, Everything is Going to be Okay!

[Archer86]

Do you know why Jason is willing to make that bet? Because D sportsmen have pushed back. They've made a ton of progress, sat through meeting after meeting, tried to build bridges and establish relationships with those in power, because throwing shit at politicians doesn't typically get them to agree with your point.

Washington may be a bright spot on that front. i still think its yet to be seen. But I am hoping the best for washington sportsman.

At the same time look how hard washington sportsman have had to work to try keep what they have what does that tell us about democrat politicians excepting hunting, fishing, trapping, predator hunting.

As a former washingtonian I am hoping you guys make progress on this I just don't have much faith in olympia.

You know why the fight is so damn hard? Because the vast majority of non-hunting D's think hunters = Trump/MAGA. And I shouldn't have to point out that you couldn't have a worse messenger.

I agree trump is has a special way a screwing things up and making things harder then they need to be.......Washington's anti hunting anti sportsman has been around before trump was in office though, is the hill bigger now because of the orange army I think so...but it was always there

 

[Wind Gypsy]

In that case, who owns whom?

Which is the unclear part? People associated with Epstein or issues outlined in Epstein related files control our and many other governments.

 

[Bonasababy]

Most polls show the anti's don't outnumber us when it comes to support for hunting and fishing conducted sustainably and regulated by professional biologists/managers. State by state that might vary though, at least I can't speak to other states--but nationally that still holds.

In mine the only thing we've heard from some democrats in recent years is a desire to ban wolf hunting, which isn't even a thing here yet. But even that gets drowned out as it's controversial enough within that party that they aren't likely to want to raise the hackles of a lot of voters who might vote against them on that issue alone.

Give you an example--one of our candidates for the open US senate seat here is a band member who wants to ban wolf hunting. I have heard from lots of democratic friends they won't support her for that alone, and heard from friends who lean republican that they would like here to win the primary as they know that issue will kill her chances.

There was a time we had a number of quite good republicans on conservation issues. Because they tended to be moderates on other issues and there's an extreme litmus test to get out of a republican primary here these days, most of them are labelled RINO's and dumped out. Many of them were actually very popular in their districts too.

On guns it kind of depends on your perspective. There's no appetite to ban them even in the democratic party here. Even in our metro areas there are a LOT of hunters who live there. More regulations--most of which don't hurt sportsmen much if at all--are sure pushed for more by Dems than Repubs here...but there's no threat to losing guns or taking away hunting.

The biggest real danger disparity between the two is that republicans are just horrible on conservation issues. Anti public land, pro taking management out of professional biologists hands, anti regulation of all kinds (including any regulation of Deer farms as discussed elsewhere), and very much in favor of ramming permits out without adequate--or any in some cases--environmental review.

 

[SAJ-99]

I get it and I very well may be placing intelligence to the wrong actor. This all could be a great coincidence.

2024 oil at $80/ versus 2025 at $60/ represents 25% drop. AI says Russia oil revenue dropped 24%. I know from the past Russia sells more oil to pay for its need for war money.

Dropping fuel prices does help the US inflation number. I looked today and reduced fuel prices was a leading negative factor for inflation. Take the fuel prices out and inflation may be closer to 3%.View attachment 401502

Agree, but at some level the $ impact on the economy is wash. The number of people employed in the industry has stagnated. The driving force is that American love cheap gas. It is one of the few things they can see the price change daily and they have to purchase it regardless. But the overall $ amount bought is pretty small ($20/wk if I’m being generous). Number of wells and well production have flatlined and the degradation of productivity per well makes it seem we are setting ourself up for a big problem. And the Saudis are more than happy to help us get there.

 

[Archer86]

I dont think that's fully true. Jon Tester and Martin Heinrich are a couple examples that Fin has hosted on the podcast. There are some west slope CO dems that pushed against wolf re-intro.

Would they have gotten elected with out supporting hunting? Do they actually support sportsman? i think they probabaly do.

But that's an example of two democrat senators. Not exactly a great example of democrat politician supporting sportsman we need more then that i think?

 

[Wind Gypsy]

Would they have gotten elected with out supporting hunting? Do they actually support sportsman? i think they probabaly do.

But that's an example of two democrat senators. Not exactly a great example of democrat politician supporting sportsman we need more then that i think?

Definitely need more and I'm sure more exist. Likely in the minority in blue states when stuff like predator hunting comes up.

 

[Bonasababy]

https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/democrats-say-trumps-foreign-deportation-deals-cost-taxpayers-millions-2026-02-13/

We need to demand cost of the deportation push numbers. This is about the third piece on the likely astronomical costs I have seen in just the past few days.

When you compare it to other information showing that due to defections and lack of capacity the justice departement is letting the actual worst of the worst go rather than continuing prosecutions it seems like a money pit with no return--even might be making it worse.

 

[BigHornRam]

Nice choice of timeliness there!

Go back to the rates at the the time of Trumps election in 2024...

and they are still up dramatically despite the recent dip.

Here's a 5 year chart for you.

 

[SAJ-99]

Here's a 5 year chart for you.

View attachment 401516

Are you guys trying to drive me insane? You are arguing about prices and what you are arguing about isn't even the same thing. One is contract for delivery at Henry and the other is the national average across all delivery points.

 

[Archer86]

The biggest real danger disparity between the two is that republicans are just horrible on conservation issues. Anti public land, pro taking management out of professional biologists hands,

The last part is interesting. I disagree this is a republican Issue only. Taking managment out of professional hands has Been the anti hunters play book most recently I will go back to Washington spring bear as a great example of that.

The commission appointed by a Democratic Governor directly ignored the biologist recommendations and removed the spring bear hunt. Sounds like maybe the tides are turning with that issue we can only hope

 

[Bonasababy]

The last part is interesting. I disagree this is a republican Issue only. Taking managment out of professional hands has Been the anti hunters play book most recently I will go back to Washington spring bear as a great example of that.

The commission appointed by a Democratic Governor directly ignored the biologist recommendations and removed the spring bear hunt. Sounds like maybe the tides are turning with that issue we can only hope

I was referencing my state with that point.

 

[Bonasababy]

Are you guys trying to drive me insane? You are arguing about prices and what you are arguing about isn't even the same thing. One is contract for delivery at Henry and the other is the national average across all delivery points.

i went out to grab a price change view--prompted by several national media discussions of higher energy prices under Trump over the last few days.

Certainly the case here, our natural gas prices have jumped a huge amount. I do realize the president doesn't alway have as much influence on that...but when you go back to his direct and public request before the election in 24--where he said make my campaign fund rich and I'll pay you back--It's more fair to compare IMO.

 

[Hunting Wife]

Nvm.

 

[Irrelevant]

I agree trump is has a special way a screwing things up and making things harder then they need to be.......Washington's anti hunting anti sportsman has been around before trump was in office though, is the hill bigger now because of the orange army I think so...but it was always there

That's a valid point, that comparison has always been there, but TDS is real, and it makes convincing someone from Capital hill that wearing camo does not mean I'm the enemy even harder than it used to be.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

Question - Which clearly blue state is good on predator hunting and trapping?

 

[Wind Gypsy]

I was referencing my state with that point.

Can you share examples of MN Republicans wanting to take things out of bio's hands? Primary republican'ish issue I can think of is supporting deer farmers.

It seemed for a number of years people wanted to pretend that wolves/bears weren't big drivers of keeping the moose population down. That seems to be more out in the open now.

 

[Irrelevant]

The last part is interesting. I disagree this is a republican Issue only. Taking managment out of professional hands has Been the anti hunters play book most recently I will go back to Washington spring bear as a great example of that.

The commission appointed by a Democratic Governor directly ignored the biologist recommendations and removed the spring bear hunt. Sounds like maybe the tides are turning with that issue we can only hope

As I pointed out plenty of times before, this is the failing of a democracy. Those commissioners were not wrong that the majority of Washingtonians do not support that season, for completely non-valid reasons, but that's not a threshold. What we should be acknowledging, and politically supporting, are minority rights. The tyranny of the majority is a real concern.

 

[Irrelevant]

Question - Which clearly blue state is good on predator hunting and trapping?

WA is actually pretty good on predatory hunting.
You get 2 fall bear tags OTC
Have a very long cougar season
Basically unrestricted hunting of coyotes
There are certainly some failures in there too, lack of hounds, lack of spring bear, lack of wolf management, but if you want to kill a bear in the west, WA is a helluva lot better than MT, WY, or ID.
Trapping seems pretty terrible, but I don't know much about it.

 

[SAJ-99]

i went out to grab a price change view--prompted by several national media discussions of higher energy prices under Trump over the last few days.

Certainly the case here, our natural gas prices have jumped a huge amount. I do realize the president doesn't alway have as much influence on that...but when you go back to his direct and public request before the election in 24--where he said make my campaign fund rich and I'll pay you back--It's more fair to compare IMO.

Just a difficult thing to even compare. In 2018 prices were $3 to $3.30. Today they are about $3.25. It's a well supplied market. The most recent spike was a quirk in the severity of the cold snap, the fact that the spot contract was rolling off at the same time, and everyone was under hedged. That is probably why the prices you experience to heat your house are slow to come down. Some of those companies needed gas and bought it at $7.50. The rest of the rise is because we now sell a lot of LNG to other countries and our own demand for electricity is climbing.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

WA is actually pretty good on predatory hunting.
You get 2 fall bear tags OTC
Have a very long cougar season
Basically unrestricted hunting of coyotes
There are certainly some failures in there too, lack of hounds, lack of spring bear, lack of wolf management, but if you want to kill a bear in the west, WA is a helluva lot better than MT, WY, or ID.
Trapping seems pretty terrible, but I don't know much about it.

What I was really thinking is which Blue state hasn't actively had some of it under attack for non-science based reasons. The alerts about the WA commission and removing spring bear season support the narrative of blue states being more at risk of anti-hunting movement IMO.