Let me say first, I am glad Jim Zumbo is back in the hunting world’s good graces.
That said, I’m not sorry he had a rough time of it. I think he had it coming, but I am hopeful that the “hunting family” got a dose of reality from his error.
Prior to his becoming a (temporary)pariah within the shooting world, I had never even heard of him. Come to find out he is this big time hunting Guru been oll over the world and if it lives in the woods he has shot and eaten it. Bully for him!
Then one day he is bloging about how “assault weapons” had no place in hunting and should be banned form the hunting grounds, and how hunters did not want to be “lumped in the group of people who terrorize the world with them, which is an obvious concern. I’ve always been comfortable with the statement that hunters don’t use assault rifles. We’ve always been proud of our “sporting firearms.” This really has me concerned. As hunters, we don’t need the image of walking around the woods carrying one of these weapons. To most of the public, an assault rifle is a terrifying thing. Let’s divorce ourselves from them. I say game departments should ban them from the prairies and woods” He even went so far as to call them “Terrorist” weapons. The backlash was swift and terrible! In less than a week he was dropped or fired from just about all of his TV shows, columns and endorsements. Anti- gun forces pointed to how fast the ax swung as proof positive that the pro gun people are zealots and essentially ended one of our own to avoid “healthy debate” on the issue. I understand that Mr. Zumbo was on the receiving end of a VERY um….Lively phone call from Uncle Ted Nugent who brought him down to his ranch for “reeducation” I found myself beginning to wonder if it was overkill as well and then it started; Anti-gun politicians and organizations began quoting him and he became their poster child for a renewed assault weapons ban. This was never Jim’s intention, but now he understood why they axed him so fast. His careless words were giving aid and comfort to the enemy!
Remember geometry in school? “All Squares are rectangles, but not all rectangles are squares”? Well my Hunting Brethren across this country would do well to remember that while all hunters are shooters, not all shooters are hunters. I do not now nor do I have any intention to hunt, but as fellow shooters, I support ALL pro-hunting positions and legislation that comes my way, and I allow hunting in the woods behind my house. My firearms are semi-autos (that were banned under the Clinton AWB) and pistols. I shoot at targets at an outdoor range and thats about it. I do belong to the local sportsmens club becuse they own the range I use. I am somewhat of an enigma to them because I am the only member that never shows up to meetings and I dont hunt or fish which they REALLY can’t figure out. Simply put, all firearms owners are in this together and we have to learn to support each other’s rights and sports. The Antis are out to get us all…one at a time until none of us have so much as a BB gun. Your deer rifle is safe today, but tomorow it will be a “High powered sniper rifle” and keep in mind under HR 1022, any weapon that had ever been used by the military or police would be banned as an “assult weapon” Kiss your mossberg 500 goodbye…
Bottom line is this: Hunters are NOT safe from gun control now or ever….just becuse they tell you that hunting arms are not what they are after, you should add the word “Today” to the end of their claims. You need to support ALL Lawful gun owners, All Lawful reasons for ownership, ALL types of guns, ALL the time and Non-Hunter shooters will help you when PETA and their ilk try to get rid of YOUR sport
2alago 
What Zumbo showed is that, there are still plenty of hunter types who don’t get it about the 2nd as of yet. That the Right isn’t about them, it is about all citizens defending their rights against a tyrannical government. And that when they speak out against us, in turn they are hurting themselfs.
For when they are done with us gunny folk, the fudds are next.
Many Hunters I meet just don’t get it. I have met anti-gun Bow Hunters, and of course many gun hunters that beleive the AWB was acceptable.
How could something so crystal clear as the Second Amendment, be completely misunderstood, By a good portion of the Hunter/Shotgunner crowd??
It happened for a very simple reason. Folks trying to defend their “rights” only quoted the last half of the Amendment, the selfish all about me part.
The battle cry for gun rights advocates for years and years has unfortunately been the second half of the Amendment, the “Rights” part of the Amendment. But unfortunately for this Nation, everybody forgets the first part of the Amendment, the Personal Responsibility part!
None of the Founding Fathers ever even remotely envisioned the Second Amendment “protecting the right to collect firearms”, “protecting the right to hunt”, protecting the right to go plinking”
Nope, they certainly didn’t. What they believed in was so simple; it created the shortest Amendment of them all. They believed that YOU had the PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY to DEFEND YOUR COMMUNITY, STATE, and NATION. And that RESPONSIBILITY required YOU to have the RIGHT to acquire the necessary ARMS to do so.
Read that again please, it is not about you and your “right to bear arms”. It is about your RESPONSIBILITY to defend the Nation and in doing so preserving the RIGHTS for ALL.
Jim Zumbo rightly deserved his treatment, as does any so-called pro-gunner that beleives the 2nd Amendment protects “Their” Rights, but they do not have to defend the rights of others.
Amen Brother! I have a freind who is a kool aid drinking liberal who not only acepted the cup from Obama but went back and said “please sir, I want some more” On one breath he was telling me how the AWB was common sence and he was concerned about “Rednecks runnign through the woods with AK-47s” Meanwhile I live in Rural New Hampshire, and resembles that remark! His next breath he is showing me this “plinking gun” in a magazine…think it was a Hi Point 995, cant be sure. Ironicly he and I both grew up in the very place that the date in April occured at… I guess only one of us was paying attention to our surroundings!
BTW have been busy…sorry it took to long to approve your comment!
Sorry , but I think Zumbo was right in the first place, he was just too much of a redneck writer to write it correctly so everyone could comprehend the message beyond “terrorist”. I think everyone missed the point. Assault weapons are fine on the target range and in battle. We already have laws in place on what is acceptable for “hunting”, but perhaps maybe we should be more stringent. You would think that with game animals “fair chase” should come into play somewhere, especially if you want the sport to continue to exist.
I can’t defend “hunting” when you can kill an animal from 800+meters , or pepper it with lead in a matter of seconds. It becomes “shooting”. Where is the hunt?
Technology will become the crutch for defense against anti-hunting sentiment. There are weapons that were designed for “hunting animals” and weapons that were designed for “hunting humans”. The human ones are obviously well advanced and weren’t really intended to give a chance of “fair chase”.
But I guess it’s all a matter of of opinion on how you view “hunting”. To me it’s not getting into position for an 800 meter shot, or decking out in assault gear so I can “survive nature” or pretend I’m rambo. I HUNT THE ANIMAL KNOWING IT’S CAPABILITIES FOR SURVIVAL. I’m not interested in getting too many advantages. Sorry but hunting NEEDS gun control if it is to survive. No, you won’t lose your guns- there is a huge place for recreational shooting. Take them out to the target range and have fun. We are not at war with our deer and elk herds! Have some respect for the animal, it IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY, or the anti’s will walk all over us.
With all due respect Shaner, Zumbo’s comments about “assult weapons” were not gramtical errors. He took potshots at me and my black rifles, and not once in his article did he concede that there are sports for non-hunter shooters. He put “assult weapons” and “ban” in the same article and that is the only inch the Anti’s need to take a mile. For lack of a better term, I have noticed a certain arrogance among hunters that what they choose for sport is somhow morally superior to making holes in paper and piling up empty brass like me. Even your reply referenceing decking out in “assualt gear” and “pretending to be Rambo” shows in how little regard you hold non-hunters. If you want to climb a tree at 4 am sprayed down with synthetic deer piss, knock yourself out. I will support you, I will fight for you. I will help fight against unreasonable restrictions on Hunting ( A reasonable restriction has to do with proximity to occupied dwellings etc.). All I ask in return is to support those of us who pistol shoot, favor black semis. Keep in mind the Antis use “hunting” as a measure for gun bans. If you can’t use it for hunting, then you shouldn’t have it. When the Zumbos of the world publish agreements no matter how passing, it fuels the fire. We both know that crime will not drop if ANY gun ban is put in place, we all saw that in D.C. over the last three decades. If you think for one minute that ANY firearm is immune from banning, I suggest you talk to hunters in England and Australia. BTW do you remember the Late Ted Kennedy’s rant about cop killer bullets? He went on a tear about how these bullets were of no use for hunting as deer didn’t wear kevlar. He was talking about .30-.30s! I’m not a hunter, but most of my freinds use a .30-.30 or .30-06 when they go after deer. Real “cop killer” bullets are in pistol calibers.
Shaner, the antis could care less what is a hunting arm, a sporting arm, or a self protection arm. They want them all gone, they are just willing to do it one step at time. Today they are mine, tommorw they are yours. Please, ALL shooters need to stick together. And if It makes you feel any better, I would not dream of bringing any of my current rifles out should I ever go hunting, I would find out what is the APPOPRIATE arm for the game I am seeking and use that. Thank you for your comment!
2alago
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunting_and_shooting_in_the_United_Kingdom
Actually, there is good news if you want to do some hunting while in England. Check the above link for information. Apparently it’s quite popular, with shotguns and rifles permitted.