This is a partial parody examining recreational orientation and implicit bias.   Let it be known we’re going to draw some rather compelling comparisons to discriminatory tactics used by those who act with ill intent and butt hurt hearts.  Behaviors that have been documented by multiple independent sources across the country.  You may even be offended, but we ask you to examine why it offends you.  If indeed it is what it is, lets be honest and call it what it is.  There is only one group and one thing we are mocking and with obvious specificity.  We are using Argumentum Ad Absurdum.  A language adopted by the Virtue Signal Corps.

Just so you understand, we ARE talking about a very real topic.  Oregon SB 723, if passed, could mean that any group of 3 or more gathered in a location could potentially have their catch seized, gear seized, fined, and charged with criminal offense for each game item.  A cooler of fish, or ducks could be kicked to a Felony dependent upon the implicit bias of a prosecutor toward people with that recreational orientation.

This particular form of discrimination has it’s root’s in the deep West.  It all started as every form of bias begins.  Unkind glares and even more unkind words shared among those who dislike people of a certain recreational orientation.  “I mean hey, I have nothing against those people.  Some of my best fiends are sportsmen.”  We call this polite bias by societal standards.  This is the most common form of bias experienced by people who are that way till now.

Fishermen and hunters can’t help it that they were born that way.  Their feelings naturally developed  as they began to mature.  In rare cases it’s obvious from birth.  That’s the way it was with me.  I used to sneak looks at the hunting magazines in the days before they put trigger warning covers on the sporting mag racks.  I knew then and there that I wanted to identify as a sportsman.  I would sneak out into the woods and stalk deer far from the disapproving eyes of society.  It was invigorating being able to be who and what I am.

Some recreational orientations are more socially acceptable than others.  It used to be different.  Everyone was free to play outside without being forced to put a label on it.  Then as recreational discrimination spread from the Deep West across the country, people felt free to act with open hostility toward the recreationally oriented.  Many of those who identify as Fishermen report report targeted harassment and gear breakage by roving bias groups.  Some even reported having pejoratives such as murderer painted on their vehicles.

The deep west institutionally normalized recreational discrimination by idealizing a high population density lifestyle in movies and television.  Characters would make slights and minimize the perspectives of the recreationally oriented person for applause lines.  This allowed an unfamiliar city dwelling persons to lash out at something they decided was unnatural from their societal perspective.  From their perspective, meat comes packaged in sanitary containers prepared by skilled and licensed trade workers.

Many people simply don’t understand that the recreationally oriented are just as valuable as any other contributing member of society.  They preserve valuable skills that allow society to continue through catastrophic long term WiFi outages.  Without their lifestyle, roving masses of people would roam the land, cell phone in raised hand, searching for a signal.

So far society has graciously allowed the recreationally oriented to exist congregated in small pockets of land called sporting lodges.  They have special places where they are allowed to practice their lifestyle with socially approved equipment.  If Oregon SB723 passes some of the recreationally oriented would have their behavior legally classified as deviant behavior.  I am asking people to stand up and put a stop to recreational orientation discrimination.

Oregon SB723 is an actual bill.  The bill was introduced by Senators Sara Gelser, Senator Michael Dembrow, and Senator Jeff Golden. It is a direct response to a Humane Society investigation into contest sponsored by the Oregon Farm Bureau were participants hunt coyotes in a tournament competition.

https://olis.leg.state.or.us/liz/2019R1/Measures/Overview/SB723

Our mission statement clearly outlines that, we believe no single group has any right to dictate what is, and is not, appropriate use of public lands.  Outdoor sporting activities are a universal pursuit.  These activities transcend language, religion, ideology, gender, race,orientation, disability or any other imaginable human defined divisive label.  It is one of the few remaining universal understandings before our wisdom was clouded by the barriers of language and place.

Laws such as these are diminishing by their very nature.  They are also the basis for further restrictions and legal challenge.  It might be possible to dismiss as a slippery slope overreaction, if not for thousands of cases of vandalism and harassment of hunters and fishermen never seeing a courtroom.

Hunting and fishing tournaments serve a legitimate game management purpose.  We are present within the landscape and for better or worse, we must manage the spaces other species occupy adjacent to human populations.  An over concentration of a prolific species could diminish other species potential.  To avoid significantly more costly restoration efforts, tournaments target specific species at carefully controlled rates to maintain ecosystem balance.

The primary reason game management tournaments offer a prize is to attract experienced hunters or fishermen with solid skills to avoid accidents, and aid management goal completion.  Many tournaments attract sportsmen from nations around the world in fellowship and peaceful competition.  Their example of sportsmanship and respectful game management encourages good stewardship.  The same way a professional chef encourages nutrition and food safety.  It’s simply a matter of perspective.

The communities near these sporting tournaments often depend on income trough lodging taxes, retail sales, and food service.  They may have a tourism component, but more often than not, the tournament is the only thing keeping smaller business from going under in some tourism dependent communities.  As recreational opportunities are narrowed, the economic viability of rural business is diminished.  Each business is linked in intangible ways that high commercial density communities simply cannot comprehend.

We urge the writers of this recreational orientation discrimination bill to examine their motivations and the dire unintended consequences of such a bill.  Many roads have been paved with the best of intentions.  Sadly they only led one place.