This group, Friends of Connecticut Sportsmen was formed because we haven't had a strong presence in Hartford, and no professional Lobbyist at all, since Bob Crook retired. PETA, HSUS, Friends of Animals etc all have full time, paid lobbyists working hard to end Trapping, fight against Hunting and Fishing, and basically take away our ability to do things we currently do. They use well funded, well organized tactics, and pretty much nothing they espouse is based on Science, just emotion. They fight a bear season, fight against expanded Sunday Hunting and seek an end to Trapping.
So we formed a Non-profit, a 501(c)(4), and we started fund raising, with a goal of hiring a Lobbyist and fighting for the rights of Hunters, Fisherman and Trappers in CT. 2020 was a very difficult year for fund-raising, Covid shut down most Clubs' Game DInners and as a result many of them had less money to work with. Our Legislator Game Tasting Event (at the Capital) was cancelled due to Covid, just 2 days before it was scheduled to happen. A Game Dinner we were a part of was cancelled as well. Despite all this, we managed to raise about $25,000 and we hired a Professional Paid Lobbyist.
Our group has been concentrating on Clubs so far, and we have probably 25-30 clubs who have donated to this important cause. We also have a GoFundMe page and many individuals have donated there.
Our hope is to have a network of "citizen activists' who will help spread the word of both good and bad legislation in Hartford, and Testify on bill, both those we support, and those we oppose, and of course, it take money to do these things.
All of the people working on this are volunteers (except the Lobbyist), we donate our time, and we buy our own gas to drive to meetings.
Ask yourself: What does your Hunting and Fishing and Trapping mean to you? Are you willing to fight for expanding your opportunities? Will you fight against losing access, losing seasons, etc? If everyone who baought a Hunting License, a Fishing License, and a Trapping License donated $1 per license you bought each year, we'd raise enough to make a real difference. Yes, that means some of you would be contributing $2, or $3 each year. Does your hunting passion warrant that much?
We have all heard the phrase" If you are not a part of the solution, you are part of the problem. Ask yourself, what are you doing to help? And commit to doing more in 2021 than you did in 2020. Send more emails, donate a few more bucks to worthy causes, spread the word to your fellow Hunting Club members, and fishing buddies.
Has your Club donated yet? If not, why not? Will you make a motion to support the cause? A few Clubs have donated the yearly maximum of $2999, and a couple dozen more have donate $500, $1000, or $1500.
Just yesterday Barry Hall of Newbury Archery donated the max, if you stop in, thank him.
We have Facebook page if you're on Facebook, and in case you have not been paying attention, there are a large number of bill introduced in Hartford that would really hurt if they passed.
Who is your lobbyist? Hoping/praying it’s someone basically non-political with a strong Science background who can dig into the facts, speak to those facts on both sides of the issue, and present a coherent analysis of what makes sense (which will ALWAYS include preservation of sport hunting (NA Model) and trapping, because, DUH).
Until the Antis are willing to fully fund (or at least get closer to it than Sportsmen do) an effective, statewide birth control program to keep all of these populations in check, there is simply no rational argument.
nehunter's Link
nehunter's Link
I don't see many Bowsite guys names on the donation list?
Btw, Lusi is my girlfriend. She did a monthly recurring donation.
Ace's Link
Friends of Connecticut Sportsmen was definitely involved in this effort, but credit goes to a lot of people, including some big time friends we have in the Legislature in Hartford. And we can't forget that the Governor did the right thing. We also had some working against this effort, so ... we have so much more to do.
Go and buy your license if you haven't already, this will help demonstrate that the early opening resulted in increased sales.
Keep spreading the word about Friends, and if you can contribute a few bucks, we can make a real difference.
The Executive Order is posted at the link.
It's great now, but opening day is something special.