Hunting bald eagles...

[Reltov420]

http://digitaljournal.com/article/321184

This REALLY infuriated me. A permit to hunt eagles? Even for religious purposes, fuck all that. My religion requires that I kill indians that hunt bald eagles. I wonder if I could get a permit for that? I just need to harvest 40 or 50 a year to appease my deity.

[Gelston]

It is just an animal. They've hunted them for God knows how long. It isn't as if they are going on mass extinction sweeps.

[Bhaalizmo]

I don't think any endgangered animal should be hunted, and I don't care if you think your deity says it's ok. I'm all for preservation of any species facing the danger of extinction.

I worked at a remote fishing lodge in Alaska for a summer, and it taught me all I'd need to know to hunt bald eagles were I so inclined. (Here's where it was if you care. http://www.yesbay.com/) Every day after the charter boat guides finished butchering the days catch, I would load up a skiff with 6 to 12 five gallon buckets overflowing with fish carcasses. Mostly salmon (pinks, sohos, or kings), Halibut, various Cod (rock, and ling), and the occasional odd other species. Taking the gruesome haul I'd drive the skiff 100 yards out into the bay where there was a small rock island directly off the tip of our dock within full view of the main lodge windows. Climbing the slippery rocks while hauling buckets of bloody guts in each hand was a good exercise in balance and dexterity. I'd deposit the fish carcasses up on these rocks and many days the bald eagles wouldn't even let me finish unloading the days haul before they'd be circling and taking turns diving in to get their piece. I was often literally within 10 feet of 5 or more wild bald eagles at once, so taking a few out in the name of the flying spaghetti monster wouldn't have been all that difficult were I so inclined. Still, in an environment where you have an apex predator like the bald eagle it would seem silly to go after them instead of the plentiful seals, bears, etc..

[Gelston]

The bald eagle isn't on the endangered species list anymore(It was removed in 1995). It has recovered and the population has stabilized. It is not even considered a "threatened" species anymore.

[Bhaalizmo]

I'm still opposed to the killing of raptors. They're awesome. Lets kill something lame like skunks or cats.

[Androidpk]

I'd eat the fuck out of a fried bald eagle.

[Bhaalizmo]

Bla bla bla remote fishing lodge with an island off the dock..

Wow, the internet is cool. I found a pic of the place I worked, along with the dude who was my boss, and his perv dog.

Notice the island off the end of the dock. That's where I dumped the fish carcasses at, and we'd have a couple dozen bald eagles out there every day.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b19/Wolfnatas/Alaskastock_201HS_AN0002_001.jpg

[Warriorbird]

Messing with bald eagles is not American. They may be scavengers but they're our scavengers.

[Celephais]

Religion is not a good excuse. I think it's bullshit to give any considerations by way of religion.

Bald eagles might no longer be endangered but I agree, they're just awesome, fuck off Indians, if you wanted to be killing bald eagles you should have won that war to keep your land. Have a little respect for the symbol of the great nation that stomped your ass.

[Gelston]

I think they should be allowed to hunt them, but only using the tools their ancestors had. Made exactly the same way and from the same materials. I feel that going beyond that is turning it into just hunting and no a religious deal.

[DCSL]

The most important thing I gleaned from that article is that we have a National Eagle Repository. "Are you finished with your dead eagle? Dispose of it in a responsible and proper manner by sealing it up and sending it to our National Eagle Repository!"

[Gizmo]

Sorry I thought this was a thread about hunting down women with shaved vaginas.

Ignore my presence here

[Gelston]

I thought Indians used every piece of a kill?

[Latrinsorm]

One fundamental characteristic of religiousness is the division of the world into sacred and profane. This makes the outrage hilariously ironic.

[Tisket]

Ignore my presence here

So, business as usual then.

[Stanley Burrell]

Yeah, I want to install a camera mechanism on one of those fake owls I have, with a rotating turret inside of it to spray birdshot at these shitting machines in every which way, but it's illegal because I'm not an Amer-Indian. And if you don't believe me, let me put in an et. al, hold on.

(et. al Burrell, S., Countermeasure ... flying shit machines 1:1 pp. 0-0. 3030ADHD)

[Mighty Nikkisaurus]

This reminds me of when the native americans in WA state went on their whale hunt and it created a huge shitstorm.

At this point I don't believe for one second it has to do with religion or culture and has a lot more to do with enforcing the more unsavory part of the various treaties they were given because (severely paraphrased) "Fuck you whitey". I don't get particularly riled up over it because I suppose if I was descendant of a population that was quietly genocided with the tiny faction of survivors shoved onto the shittiest bits of land, I'd probably take pleasure in killing certain things just to piss the pale faces off, too.

[Liagala]

I suppose if I was descendant of a population that was quietly genocided with the tiny faction of survivors shoved onto the shittiest bits of land, I'd probably take pleasure in killing certain things just to piss the pale faces off, too.
Having cause to take pleasure in doing shitty things doesn't make the things any less shitty.

[Asha]

Bald Eagle Lasagne.

[Reltov420]

Eagle lasagne is great, but I prefer scrambled eagle eggs for breakfast.

[Asha]

Standard bro.

[Mighty Nikkisaurus]

Having cause to take pleasure in doing shitty things doesn't make the things any less shitty.

I don't disagree, but bear in mind I'm also just incredibly cynical and apathetic about most things.

[Tisket]

This reminds me of when the native americans in WA state went on their whale hunt and it created a huge shitstorm.

At this point I don't believe for one second it has to do with religion or culture and has a lot more to do with enforcing the more unsavory part of the various treaties they were given because (severely paraphrased) "Fuck you whitey". I don't get particularly riled up over it because I suppose if I was descendant of a population that was quietly genocided with the tiny faction of survivors shoved onto the shittiest bits of land, I'd probably take pleasure in killing certain things just to piss the pale faces off, too.

tl;dr YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED


Ah, the Makah exercising their sovereign right to kill gray whales. I remember that clearly. The only indian tribe to include their right to hunt whale and seal in the treaty they signed with the U.S. government. But while I'm sure there was some "fuck you whitey" sentiment in play I think more than anything it was economically motivated.

The Makah occupy the most remote northwestern bit of land in the U.S. so gambling wouldn't be the boon it is for other tribes. Whales however sell for a fuckton of money in Japan's markets. Since the Makah are the only people with the legal treaty rights to hunt, both Japan and Norway contacted them about buying any potential whale meat they might harvest. The Makah even considered the possibility of building a processing plant on their reservation but before that could happen they had to get the gray whale removed from protection by the Endangered Species Act.

That whole thing would make a good movie. The Makah started lobbying Washington D.C. as far back as 1989 to have the gray whale removed from endangered status. Otherwise, treaty or not, they wouldn't be allowed to hunt them. They suceeded a few years later and just months later notified the U.S. government they were going to hunt for "ceremonial and subsistence purposes."

The Clinton administration, in an effort to appear to show support for minority rights, endorsed the petition and granted the Makah $200,000 which they used to create a tribal whaling commission and to hire a public relations firm.

But while still waiting to hear the outcome of their petition, the Makah tangled a whale in their salmon nets. They butchered and distributed the meat and blubber without federal oversight. This muddied things for a while but finally the International Whaling Commission decided that the Makah failed to demonstrate "aboriginal subsistence need" and refused to grant a license because of the 70+ years since the last Makah whale hunt. They then inexplicably turned around and granted the Makah the rights to harvest up to five gray whales in a one year period, for a total of 20 in any five year period.

The public outcry was pretty intense. Bomb and death threats led to roadblocks into the reservation. There were reports of stores refusing to serve tribal members. Protesters lined the roads near the reservation and something like 300 environmental groups condemned the hunt. Oddly enough, Greenpeace supported the Makah's aboriginal right to kill whales however, a rogue splinter group of Greenpeace called Sea Shepherd got aggressively involved in the protests. They painted a miniature sub to look like an orca whale and to broadcast killer whale sounds to scare away the gray whales in the area of the proposed hunt. They gathered a flotilla of protesters to blockade Neah Bay and caused general mayhem in the area.

One of the funniest moments was when the whaling crew captain responded to heckling while they tried to practice by saying, "Save the beef. Go stand in front of a McDonalds." Bumper stickers that said "Save a Whale, Kill an Indian" were common, someone wanted to petition the government for a license to restore his forefathers right to kill indians, a protestor on a jet ski got run over by a Coast Guard cutter while she was trying to get close to the whaling canoe. Fun times were had by all.

Anyway, after getting permission to proceed, the Makah agreed to allow a biologist to pick an appropriate whale, and promised to use a high speed method to kill the whale instead of the slower traditional method. They succeeded in 1999, harpooning then dispatching a juvenile whale with a .50 caliber anti-tank rifle and using motorized support vehicles to drag the carcass to land where it was butchered and distributed.

Beforehand they prayed and observed rituals asking the spirits for protection during the hunt...unnecessarily since their was something like 800 National Guard troops with automatic rifles and the Coast Guard to maintain and patrol a 500 yard zone around the hunters (PAWS or PETA, I can't remember which, filed suit in federal court claiming this violated their first amendment right since no protester could photographically document the hunt).

So I wouldn't call their methodology "traditional" at all. The upshot is that it turned out to be such an expensive undertaking, what with all the protections needed to defend against protesters, that the poverty stricken Makah plans for further official hunts are probably sidelined for good. There was an unofficial hunt unsanctioned by the tribe a few years ago by five tribal members who shot and killed a whale but the Coast Guard interrupted them and took possession of the kill only to have the carcass sink before getting it to land.

For those of you who bothered to read through, my thanks. I go to rest now as I am exhausted. Typing is hard work.

[Tgo01]

I really don't understand why people get so upset about whale hunting. I understand there are animal lovers out there that don't like to see any animal be killed and butchered and I understand that, it just seems when it comes to certain animals likes whales and dolphins they go particularly crazy. Remember a few years ago there was a big movement to get people to stop eating tuna fish? Y'know because dolphins were getting caught in the tuna nets and dying? Well what about the fucking tuna fish?!

[Tisket]

My title should be "Queen of the run on sentence."

[Tisket]

I really don't understand why people get so upset about whale hunting. I understand there are animal lovers out there that don't like to see any animal be killed and butchered and I understand that, it just seems when it comes to certain animals likes whales and dolphins they go particularly crazy. Remember a few years ago there was a big movement to get people to stop eating tuna fish? Y'know because dolphins were getting caught in the tuna nets and dying? Well what about the fucking tuna fish?!

Yeah, there is something like 1500 to 2000 whales taken worldwide every year for mundane commercial reasons and you don't hear a peep. I think though that one of the reasons for the huge protest response was that allowing cultural privilege to determine a groups right to hunt whale could lead to a Pandora's box of other groups with a whaling history to demand the same right.

[Reltov420]

That whale stuff makes me want to apply for a 'native american hunting permit' even more. They can't discriminate against my religion any longer! I need indian skins for my rituals! I need baby indians to club too, to make fine clothing out of! Only 50 in any 5 year period, what's the harm?!?!?

[Androidpk]

I bet whale tastes delicious.

[Tisket]

I have tasted it and I did not enjoy the experience. But I'm not a fan of meat in general so take that as simple opinion. Maybe it has to do with expecting it to taste like fish and instead it tasted sort of gamy to me. Perhaps that was the fault of the preparer though.

[Androidpk]

I might have to pass if its gamy, not a fan of that kind of taste.

http://i40.tinypic.com/34fjll5.jpg

[Drunken Durfin]

http://digitaljournal.com/article/321184

This REALLY infuriated me. A permit to hunt eagles? Even for religious purposes, fuck all that. My religion requires that I kill indians that hunt bald eagles. I wonder if I could get a permit for that? I just need to harvest 40 or 50 a year to appease my deity.

There are 50 indians left?

[Archigeek]

Let them hunt a few eagles. I grew up near one of the reservations here in Minnesota, and I respect their right to their religion. It's not like they made up a religion solely for the purpose of being able to hunt eagles. Plus, it isn't really like bald eagles were nearly extinct because of indians. It was because of poisonous chemicals our industries dumped into the air and water. Thank God we enacted environmental rules that helped bring them back from the brink. So in honor of eagles coming back (they really are amazing, I see them while fishing all the time now), I say let them kill a few and use the feathers for their ceremonies.

PS: the existance of suburbia kills more wild life than hunting does. So if you don't like wildlife being killed, stop moving to the suburbs.

[Reltov420]

Man, I hate suburbs. Give me mountains in the middle of nowhere any day. Also, Eagle are much more valuable to my spiritual endeavors ALIVE, than dead. I saw 2 of them lock talons and do their spiral downwards thing the other week, quite the impressive display of aerial acrobatics.

[Stanley Burrell]

I might have to pass if its gamy, not a fan of that kind of taste.

http://i40.tinypic.com/34fjll5.jpg

I'm not really awake so I just read "whale" "onions" and then my brain allowed me to have motor movement. There was much lulz. You had to be there.

2¢ - I think whaling is worse than hunting the most endangered bird species because a mentally retarded cetacean is still a very smart avian. By comparison, or flying narwhales.

[Asha]

I might have to pass if its gamy, not a fan of that kind of taste.

http://i40.tinypic.com/34fjll5.jpg

:lol:

[Stabbyrogue]

Made me think of this thread.
Mmmm. Seal.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=ffe_1335589970

[Archigeek]

Made me think of this thread.
Mmmm. Seal.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=ffe_1335589970

That is a ton of fat under the skin. I have skinned a few animals, but nothing quite like that. Back in the day I too would always start at the back feet and work your way to the top. It's the only way to do it really. Grandma got the job done fast!

[Tisket]

Poachers learn speed in the field.