Washington Hunter
Well-known member
Tacoma, WA - Thursday, August 24, 2006
Protests stop field-dressing lesson
ROB TUCKER; The News Tribune
Last updated: August 22nd, 2006 01:20 AM (PDT)
It would have been a bloody but realistic hands-on demonstration on how to field dress a big game animal as hunting season approaches.
And it would have been a departure from the videos that state hunting instructors normally use to show how to gut an animal after a kill.
But on Monday, volunteer instructors in a state hunter education program called off plans for a field dressing class using a freshly killed pig.
The class was scheduled for last Saturday at the Tacoma Sportsmen’s Club southwest of Puyallup, but instructors postponed it when 10 protesters and three sheriff’s deputies showed up.
On Monday, they decided not to do it at all, a state wildlife officials said.
“They ultimately decided it was not an educational opportunity any more,” said Mik Mikitik, head of the hunter education program for the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.
The youngest person in the class was 6, but was accompanied by a 34-year-old parent. The others were a mix of people in their teens, 20s and 30s.
Volunteer instructor Alan McDaniel said Monday that he intended to humanely slaughter the pig, which weighed about 65 pounds, in rural Pierce County outside the presence of the class. Then he planned to bring in the carcass to show potential first-time deer, elk or other big-game hunters how to field dress.
“We don’t want the meat to be ruined,” he said.
State wildlife officials would have supported the class had it occurred, Mikitik said.
“We’re concerned about wastage,” he said. “There’s an early season (deer) hunt coming.”
He said hunters need to know how to remove an animal’s innards quickly and skillfully. Purposeful wasting of wild game meat is against the law.
Supporters of Pasado’s Safe Haven, a regional animal welfare and rescue organization, showed up Saturday morning at the class site. Pasado spokesman Mark Steinway said a parent of a child attending the class said the pig would be killed in front of students before field dressing occurred.
That was never the plan, McDaniel and Mikitik said Monday.
Steinway called sheriff’s deputies at 7:45 a.m. Saturday. Deputies determined that the pig wouldn’t be shot in front of the class and left, said sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer.
Steinway said his organization is not against hunting, but it does oppose using a domestic animal to demonstrate wild game field dressing – whether it was killed in front of the class or not.
“It would be gruesome,” he said. “It’s not appropriate for kids.”
McDaniel said he had no area to keep the pig that was to be used for the class, so he slaughtered it Saturday night.
He said the demonstration would have occurred after the last hunter education class and would have been optional for the 39 members.
Mikitik said about 13,500 people took state hunter education programs from state-certified instructors last year. There is no minimum age.
Hunters born after Jan. 1, 1972, must take the course, which averages about 17.5 hours.
Rob Tucker: 253-597-8374
[email protected]
Originally published: August 22nd, 2006 01:00 AM (PDT)
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1950 South State Street, Tacoma, Washington 98405 253-597-8742
© Copyright 2006 Tacoma News, Inc. A subsidiary of The McClatchy Company
Protests stop field-dressing lesson
ROB TUCKER; The News Tribune
Last updated: August 22nd, 2006 01:20 AM (PDT)
It would have been a bloody but realistic hands-on demonstration on how to field dress a big game animal as hunting season approaches.
And it would have been a departure from the videos that state hunting instructors normally use to show how to gut an animal after a kill.
But on Monday, volunteer instructors in a state hunter education program called off plans for a field dressing class using a freshly killed pig.
The class was scheduled for last Saturday at the Tacoma Sportsmen’s Club southwest of Puyallup, but instructors postponed it when 10 protesters and three sheriff’s deputies showed up.
On Monday, they decided not to do it at all, a state wildlife officials said.
“They ultimately decided it was not an educational opportunity any more,” said Mik Mikitik, head of the hunter education program for the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.
The youngest person in the class was 6, but was accompanied by a 34-year-old parent. The others were a mix of people in their teens, 20s and 30s.
Volunteer instructor Alan McDaniel said Monday that he intended to humanely slaughter the pig, which weighed about 65 pounds, in rural Pierce County outside the presence of the class. Then he planned to bring in the carcass to show potential first-time deer, elk or other big-game hunters how to field dress.
“We don’t want the meat to be ruined,” he said.
State wildlife officials would have supported the class had it occurred, Mikitik said.
“We’re concerned about wastage,” he said. “There’s an early season (deer) hunt coming.”
He said hunters need to know how to remove an animal’s innards quickly and skillfully. Purposeful wasting of wild game meat is against the law.
Supporters of Pasado’s Safe Haven, a regional animal welfare and rescue organization, showed up Saturday morning at the class site. Pasado spokesman Mark Steinway said a parent of a child attending the class said the pig would be killed in front of students before field dressing occurred.
That was never the plan, McDaniel and Mikitik said Monday.
Steinway called sheriff’s deputies at 7:45 a.m. Saturday. Deputies determined that the pig wouldn’t be shot in front of the class and left, said sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer.
Steinway said his organization is not against hunting, but it does oppose using a domestic animal to demonstrate wild game field dressing – whether it was killed in front of the class or not.
“It would be gruesome,” he said. “It’s not appropriate for kids.”
McDaniel said he had no area to keep the pig that was to be used for the class, so he slaughtered it Saturday night.
He said the demonstration would have occurred after the last hunter education class and would have been optional for the 39 members.
Mikitik said about 13,500 people took state hunter education programs from state-certified instructors last year. There is no minimum age.
Hunters born after Jan. 1, 1972, must take the course, which averages about 17.5 hours.
Rob Tucker: 253-597-8374
[email protected]
Originally published: August 22nd, 2006 01:00 AM (PDT)
Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Contact Us | About Us | Site Map | Jobs@The TNT | RSS
1950 South State Street, Tacoma, Washington 98405 253-597-8742
© Copyright 2006 Tacoma News, Inc. A subsidiary of The McClatchy Company
