Please. Do you remember the last discussion we had where you and Ben explained how terrible it would be for the feds to charge fair market value for grazing leases. You were explaining how terrible it would be to tell lease holders that the free ride was over and Ben was explaining how giving wealthy landowners like the Wilks cheap grazing leases helps the local economy and increased GDP. All that is accomplished by giving wealthy landowners cheap federal grazing leases is making the already wealthy landowner even more wealthy.
Everybody gets all fired up about how many laws these guys are breaking and in the end BLM investigates and a whole lot of nothing happens. Must be disappointing for you guys to lose battle after battle.
I used to have a lot of respect for you and your show but the more that I have been around you learning how you and you buddies view things I am finding out just how extreme your views really are and how quite frankly you dont' share many of the same feelings as other hunters in this country. You guys hate pretty much everybody who hunts, pretty much everybody who doesn't hunt, Texans, wealthy people, non Montanans, people who use dogs to hunt bear and deer, people who hunt over bait, people who use crossbows, people who use lighted knocks, people who hunt high fence in Africa, etc, etc....... Then you wonder why nobody shares your opinion and you insult them and their intelligence if they don't agree with you.
That is why the discussions on other sites are so much different than on this site. This site is so focused on Montana politics that you completely overlook everything else that mainstream hunters are concerned with. If you want proof of this look no further than your own site counter. Looks like the most people on this site happened back in 2010. Dwindling interest in listening to a site focused on Montana politics and a bunch of extremist who hate just about all other hunters does not seem to be increasing your membership on hunt talk. Wonder why.
Feel free to insult my intelligence and reading comprehension all you want. It will only make you look bad by doing so. When you have to resort to personal insults during a discussion it is obvious that you would rather do that than discuss the real issue. When the leadership of this extreme group acts like this it reflects poorly on the entire group. Can you think of a well respected group or organization who's leader insults anyone's intelligence who does not agree with their extremist views?
Thanks for the entertainment.
So, when you call people "extreme jihadists," when you fail to read what others have written; when you falsely re-state what others have written; or do not understand what was written, it is all the other guy's fault. Got it.
We have plenty of discourse on this site, about many issues. All of it is good airing of the laundry. I learn a lot from it. I hope others do, also.
I am careful as to when I chime in, as there are topics I don't know much about. A sure way to get my teeth handed to me would be to make some bold interjections when I am clueless. I've done that a time or two (or ten) and been "schooled" pretty good. It has taught me to make sure I know what I am talking about before I start typing on these more controversial topics. That is the danger in expressing opinions on a site when so many of these guys forget more over a morning coffee than I will probably learn in a year.
Most people here place political affiliations far below what is best for hunting, fishing, access, and conservation. Most are equal opportunity abusers when it comes to politicians and their theologies. There is little use for "the party line" around here.
Those who want to couch every issue in the context of Lib/Con, R/D, Left/Right, usually get frustrated here, or if they want to stay, they have a pretty thick skin. Thin skin and heavy political ideology can result in some serious road rash, and not just on this site.
If you think this thread topic and this issue at hand is only a Montana issue, you have not spent much time in hunting/access politics of WY, CO, UT....... There is a thread on this site from 2009/2010 about some BLM land where the same thing was tried, but CO Law prohibited us from flying in and hunting BLM land with our public tags. These issues are relevant to hunters in many states. This one just happens to be in MT.
BTW, here is the traffic, by state, on this site last month.
MT - 10.2%, CO - 8.5, CA - 7.4, TX - 5.9, WA - 4.8, ID - 4.5, UT - 4.2, AZ - 3.5, MN - 3.0, WI - 3.0%. I just checked my traffic stats. Way up since 2010. I bought the site in 2009, when there were 3,000 registered users from 2001-2009. I'm comfortable with the growth here.
This platform is not about bowing down to the self-appointed leaders of the New Western Order. Those types have plenty of money, often building their own sites to promote their agendas and their theologies. We don't need anymore of those platforms; enough already exist.
This platform is about giving a voice to a large group of people who have been doing a lot of the hunting, fishing, conserving, funding and volunteering to improve the state of wildlife in America. It is about giving a place for people to talk about the attempts to screw over the average hunter/angler by those who "have theirs" and now want "ours" (the public's). I can cite pages of examples just in my state of MT. Hunters/anglers in other states can provide the same.
If that is not what you want to have interspersed among some of the threads here, then it is probably not a good place to hang out. Can't please everyone. And I am not going to change this platform because you think those kind of discussions are extremist.
If you are looking a bunch of people who all agree and follow blindly, singing praises from the same hymn book, you probably won't find it here. There are very few people on this site who have not disagreed with others at one time or another, often many times. Yet, whether I agree or disagree with them, almost every person on this site would be welcome in my camp. They are informed, passionate, and committed to hunting and conservation, even if their views are different from mine.
The guys on this site happen to be some of the most informed on western hunting and access issues, so they are not going to be BS'd by the mantra from either side of the political spectrum. That results in some heated discussions at times, which is not a bad thing. It also causes the blowhards to leave after a while, frustrated that no matter how hard they yell, it doesn't change the facts at hand or the opinions of informed people.
As to respect for me and this show, due to your perception of "extreme views," I wish that was not the case. The views I present on the show, on this site, and anywhere I am asked to speak, don't change; and probably won't change.
I am an avid property rights advocate, which requires that I respect the rights of private property owners and the rights of the public and their collectively held property. A few see property rights as a one way street, where private property is expanded to usurp rights held collectively. It is hypocrisy to be a property rights advocate and only respect/protect property rights of some. If some view that as extreme, not much I can do about that.
You talk about others insulting, etc. Pot meet kettle. I've kind stood on the sidelines as you've made some really asinine comments; comments that are exactly what you complain about. I've had enough of it. Evidently you think that behavior is fine when you do it, but not when others do it. It's not helpful when anyone does it; you, me, or anyone.
It is not differing opinions that is a problem around here. It is hypocrisy and behavior such as you demonstrated in post #341. Debate issues with facts and information. Respect that others might disagree, even if you view them as "middle east jihad extremists." If you cannot have a discussion in that manner, this will be a difficult place for you.
Mostly, help others and contribute to the threads that provide benefit. That is the true benefit of this site. A lot of experienced guys sharing really good information. Some only want to involve themselves in the issues that stray toward political ideologies. They are loud and opinionated in those threads, yet provide nothing positive in the other threads that make up the majority of this site.
Back to the topic of the "New Western Order" and the peasants who are expected to stand in line and behave.
