# Tournaments Hunting/Fishing a Good or a Bad Thing?



## Centerfire (Jan 13, 2006)

I was just curious what is everyone's opinion on Tournament Hunting and Fishing.

I'll kick it off with my opinion - I'm against it

Tournaments are usually promoted with the intent on putting money in some ones pocket or filling their hotel or bar. It is economic not sportsmanship. To me it seems like it takes the sport out of hunting and fishing. The main thing for me is to see game and know it's there - not necessarily shooting or catching my limit.

This really applies to game with no limits - such as prarie dogs or predators I've had more than 1 outing runed by organized competitions where large groups take over the area for an entire weekend. Is someone who shoots 600 prarie dogs or 12 coyotes in a weekend a better sportsman than me? I see it as someone who took away the equivalent of a dozen afternoon outings for other guys. How many walleye or bass are thrown back when they knew they were hooked to deep to make it so they could hold out for the a bigger fish to increase their stringer weight.

I personally do not care to have someone travelling the circuit come into my area to fish out the trophy bass then leave.

What do you guys think


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## MRN (Apr 1, 2002)

I concur.

Can we start bashing someone now? 

M.


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## Horsager (Aug 31, 2006)

The benefit of a fishing tournement isn't the tournement week itself, it's the ability to promote the fishing on a certain body of water based on the results turned in by tournement anglers. Devils Lake and Oahe would be two shining examples of this in our area. I have had far more instances of inconsiderate "weekend" anglers than I ever have with tournement anglers. Without tournement anglers we wouldn't have some of the nice equipment or well thought out boats that we do, they are for the most part the innovators.

Hunting tournements are done (in my opinion) for the benefit of the surrounding landowners. It is the efficient removal of VERMIN from their land, be it Prairie dogs, or furbearers.

I don't participate in either hunting or fishing tournements, but I'm not really against them either.


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## Norm70 (Aug 26, 2005)

From what I have seen from tourney hunting it really isn't real. They release birds(pen raised chuckar or quail???) in certain place and it is almost a garuntee that the dogs will get them up and then they are shot.

I believe there is not sport in it. It is about working the dogs in an enclosed area and killing birds. Part of the sport of hunting is scouting, walking or setting up decoys, and not knowing when or where the birds will be.

If the sport is about the dogs have them get the birds up and not shoot them. If it is about the shooting have them shoot a clay target along when the dog gets up the birds.

It really hurts the sport of hunting because essentually not what it is about, it is about killing.


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## Horsager (Aug 31, 2006)

I agree with Norm70 about the Bird tournements. They look more like the field trial/hunt test crowd trying to gain support from the hunters who don't generally take an active interrest in such things.


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## Csquared (Sep 5, 2006)

Centerfire, you asked for opinions so here's mine. I wonder how many tournament anglers actively donate to organized hunting groups to help keep the PETA people at bay. I also wonder if those anglers understand that they're next after PETA, and the Audubon Society, etc. tires of beating on us hunters.

I don't think it's a stretch for a group that opposes sport hunting to also object to large, organized groups of corporate sponsored men using electronic equipment in $25,000 boats to seek out living, feeling fish, and when found sink treble hooks deep into their eye, fight them to within seconds of death, tear that hook from said eye, and then release back into the lake so the next $25,000 boat has a chance to do it all over again to that poor, little fishie....all in the name of competitive fun!

I say all this to bluntly illustrate how important it is for ALL fisherman to help us hang on to our rights, because I AM the type to say "I told you so".

As to the tournament hunting, all I've heard of is crow and coyote tourneys, and my favorite kind of coyote is a dead one so I have no problem with the hunts, but I'm aware of how some others view them, and that does concern me. We need to be VERY careful of what image of "hunting" we put in people's faces, and I'm afraid organized tournaments may be pushing it.

What do the rest of you think?

I'm off my soap box now. Thanks for the opportunity to vent.


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## Ande8183 (Sep 18, 2005)

There is a new hunting tournament that has gotten a lot of attention.

http://www.worldhunt.com/WHATourHome/Lo ... fault.aspx

The story was covered in Outdoor Life, where I first found it, and in that issue they were going to have a hunting tournament in a high fenced area. There were going to be 8-2 person teams, and they would be able to shoot 2 deer. These deer would be shot with the bow and arrow and a rifle. The story gets extremely rediculous when they started to talk about how these deer will not be killed. The hunters would be shooting tranquilizer darts, then the WHA officials would come out and score the deer and revive the deer.

They were also trying to make hunting seem like a wrestling match. The hunters were named like, Hack, aka "The Machine" and such. it is the most rediculous thing I have ever seen.

Thank goodness for concerned hunters and citizens. After a stong opposition to the tranquilizers, the WHA finally changed the rules. Now they are harvesting the animals.

I have never read a hunting story and been so upset when I was done. This is similar to the Texas ranch that allowed people to hunt real game over the internet.

What's next?


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## Fossilman (Mar 12, 2006)

I'm against it totally................My opinion of cource :wink:


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## bmxfire37 (Apr 26, 2007)

i think fishing tourneys are ok..we all pay..all the fish are returned.. who ever practices the most ( or gets lucky ) wins. as far as hunting tournaments...thats like begging someoen to shoot a bunch of deer.


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## Acer (Aug 17, 2007)

For the most part they are bad. Some areas that can handle it then its ok. Take LOTW, Sak, DL, any of the great lakes, etc. These areas have thousands of acres of water and could hold a vastly large number of fish. Now let's say lets hold one on any lake that is small. The fish can get hit so hard that it can potentially damage the fisheries. I've heard tails of the hundreds of eyes that have to be taken away in trucks due the fact they are already dead or would never survive release back into the water, that's waist in my book. This last fall when the idea came to hold the PWT on Sak and drive all the way back to Bismarck to hold the weigh in. How many of those fish would have survived? Same thing with a goose hunt tourney. Granted if there is a million snows in an area and a how many can you shoot contest comes up then go for it. But when you got 1000 Canadas in an area, such a tourney could move the birds out of that area for a long time. They're not as dumb as we think they remember the areas that they had gotten shot at so much and they do tend to avoid those areas. I say if the area can handle it then go a head and give it a shot...but if it's too small and the population you're after is on the smaller side...why do it?


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## toolman (Aug 18, 2007)

I dont have a problem with fishing tournaments as long as the fish are handled properly-some anglers dont handle them properly or even try to. Classic slobs give the rest of us a bad name just like in everything else.


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## Turner (Oct 7, 2005)

Come on boys, we are starting to implode on ourselves. Tournament hunting is usually associated with predators. The reason there is no limit is because the game and fish have set the limits based on surveys they have done. For those thinking that deer hunting is a tournament, they are wrong. They have big buck contest, rack, or weight and what ever else they can think of. Only the tags given out in our lottery system can be filled, so there isn't a mass harvest of deer.


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## barebackjack (Sep 5, 2006)

You also have to remember a fishing tournament is a much more "controlled" environment, you cant leave the lake. Hunting tournaments (predators) are much harder to police. Personaly I think theres alot of shananigans that occur at alot of callin contests, i.e. using snowmobiles, extra guys, etc.


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## Mr. Lee (Oct 12, 2002)

I fish a lot of bass tournaments every year. To say that tournaments hurt a fishery is BS.

What really happens is that the fish become warier and harder for people to catch them again.


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## bmxfire37 (Apr 26, 2007)

i can see hunting yea... ok maybe...but fishing they all go home! or atleast in the same general lake


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