My thinking was is if a organization could bring all the different users together.. hunting, trappers, fisherman, even down to the wild life photographers and stay at home moms or dads who just visit a state park every so often... just laying facts out of what the bills mean. And dive a bit deeper into what it would mean for recreation and all users of wildlife. My mother in law is fallen into the wolves stuff years ago... she thinks they all should be protected and we are horrible for wanting to harvest them doesnt take into consideration how well they do and what it would mean if populations were to high... and its because she saw some propaganda in the early 00s and wants to see a wolf in the wild, not just yellowstone... well she's almost 60 not in the best shape, and doesn't spend much time outdoors... she's gonna belive if she wants to see them they should be protected and her mind has been made up ever since. Her and my father in law have almost been divorced over this subject... but that peice of propaganda was enough to change her mind forever.... thats all I really mean we somehow need to be more organized as a group and articulating the facts and dismissing the propaganda to the large majority of people. But it does have to be done tasteful and tacticly.. my father in law is a purist and very smart like you... and lays facts out doesnt really let his opinion sway his decision but tbe facts... but it's not catchy and it's not a picture of a innocent wolf pup or lion cub... we all think they are cute too... but having the kids in Colorado name the wolves in school class is wild peice of propaganda... it's attaching feelings not facts to the kids and really playing the long game... I guess I dont really know how to combat it in a large scale... but I would think having a honest group that proves to be honest like rmef would stand a pretty good chance at laying out both sides arguments, and letting people decide what it actually means for them... vs all the propaganda... but propaganda is sexier unfortunately. Again I don't have the answer.
I do agree we need some people in the frontlines willing to hault these issues.. I guess I'm just kinda at a loss.. the differences we all have with eachother in the hunting community are going to be the fall... these guys don't care if we think the seasons should be a week longer or shorter, or if its a trophy hunt, tag allocations etc... they don't want a season at all at the end of the day... so if we don't figure a way out to combat that propaganda, I do think it will eventually win. Little by little... then agency's like California will be hiring trappers and sharpshooters to hunt the lions and wolves etc... the same problem but now the hunts are not on social media so the animal rights activist feel happy, not knowing how much more money was wasted in the pit of waste we already make. I definitely didn't realize what you pointed out though so thank you.
Perhaps our approach is part of the issue of making the division broader. We continually bemoan people not running with our messages, thoughts, etc yet we rarely ever reconsider our approach. The hunting community leads with it's chest and it's heart - rarely with it's head.