Jimmy Houstans shame

[WaubeeCharlie]

What really stinks about this in my view is that Ronny Dunn Shot a buck with a high powdered rifle and his son also shot one, but he is a singer and makes his living singing. Jimmy Houston makes his living being a sportsman !! He bottled and tried to sale this hunt as a fair chase hunt. I really don't care if a person rasies and sells his live stock, be it hogs or deer. It is breed and raised by a farmer to sell. A person buys this livestock and I don't care how, when he kills his freezer meat. BUT DON'T TRY TO SELL ME ON THIS BEING A F-A-I-R C-H-A-S-E H-U-N-T
And thats what Jimmy tried to do. I have been a big Jimmy Houston fan for years and suported his not wanting to put a beer company sticker on his boat even if he lost his angler of the year standing with ESPN. He flat out and out droped the ball on this one, and should have just came out and apologized to every sportsman in this country for his part of this cheap actions!
Charlie

[raporter]

An Open Letter from Jimmy Houston
« on: February 07, 2006, 02:15:01 PM »

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During the first week of February, we received a message from Kyle Crawford about a vicious attack against Mothwing and me by the National Wildlife Federation, PETA and "concerned" hunters.

I asked Kyle to get me the numbers of those who sent e-mails and I would call them. I called every number he gave me on Friday, February 3. Naturally several of the numbers were probably PETA affiliated, some were not available or didn't answer, but I did get to talk to eight or ten actual hunters. I didn't ask these guys to alter their opinion or their passion. I simply wanted them to know the facts from me.

First, I want to apologize to any hunter or non-hunter who has been personally hurt or damaged by my deer hunt at Bellars. The primary inference on the video produced by the National Wildlife Federation is that I shot or was hunting drugged deer and that I
was doing it in a 3-6 acre pen.

1. The Federal Drug Administration asked me for three packages of the meat to test for drugs. I had no idea what drugs they were testing for - I actually thought they might be looking for a steroid maybe used in raising big deer. They tested the meat and found no drugs. Then they asked me if I would give them the rest of the meat. I voluntarily did this and this meat was also tested. I specifically asked the FDA agent at the trial if any drugs were found in my meat and he told me NO-there was none. By the
way, we had already eaten some of the meat and it was perfectly ok.

2. I was not hunting in a 3-6 acre pen. We were hunting in a high-fenced area and the stand that they had me in was within 10 yards of a fence. This fence went over the hill and we could not see how far it went. As I testified in the trial, we went over the hill and never did reach the other end of the high fence. There is no way I could estimate the size of the area. It could be 50 acres, it could be 500 acres. The entire high fence area, as I was told was 1200 acres, but, yes, there were section fences. The fence that is seen on the video is the same fence we were beside. There is video shot in one direction and video shot in the other
direction of the same fence. Bear in mind that the camera was in a different stand than the one I was in. I got in this tree stand at 7AM on this morning and shot the deer at 11:10. That is over 4 hours. It was 20 degrees.

3. Russ Bellar did come out and check on us around 9:00AM. We saw several deer; we even saw a deer go under the fence. The buck I shot was a 6 ½ or 7 ½ year old buck and was chasing a doe. There were literally hundreds of deer on Bellars place. At the time, nothing seemed unusual other than it was really cold. I completely agree with all hunters about shooting drugged deer in pens. This is wrong. I share your same passion and have spent my entire life hunting and have worked diligently to promote,
protect and preserve this great heritage.

Have I ever broken a law or been put in an awkward position? Of course. Should I be singled out and crucified for hunting at Bellars where hundreds of others have hunted? I don't believe so.

From the very first day I was contacted by the Federal Wildlife Department, I have cooperated fully and truthfully. I was always called "a witness and or a victim" by the prosecution and I did testify for the state. This is indeed very hurtful when you have given your entire life to the promotion and betterment of hunting and fishing.

We see on television every day where individuals attack, blow up, kill and maim people all over the world. We call these folks terrorists and wonder how anyone could develop that much hate. Yet with a few seconds of produced video, hate has welled up so much in some as to want to destroy me, our television show, and any company we are involved with.

Again, if I have hurt anyone, I apologize and ask your forgiveness.

By the way, we did not air that hunt on television and never portrayed any pictures to anyone as fair chase, high fence or otherwise. I just learned this week that the picture was on some websites and asked that it be removed. We decided not air the hunt when we learned there was some controversy surrounding Bellars Place.

Yes, had we known then what we know not, we would not have hunted there but that's why hindsight is 20-20. Was it wrong for me to hunt there? Absolutely!

Obviously this letter won't satisfy everyone, particularly those anti-hunters whose desire is to keep this on the front burners and watch Jimmy burn. They love nothing more than making hunters attack hunters. But, to the real hunters who read this, I apologize for any hurt or disappointment I have caused you.

Good hunting, good fishing and May God Bless!

Best Personal Regards,


Here is his apology if that is what you want to call it. Looks like everyone was wrong but Jimmy, and besides everyone else was doing it.x(

[fishboy]

Ok....I have read all this and debated whether to put in my 2 cents worth but here it is.

I love to fish...I love to hunt (or at least used too when I still could) and I am proud to be associated with people who do. However I see that there is just as much hate and unwillingness to try to understand here as there is in any other group in this world.

I know that sometimes celebrities lose track of reality and think that commom laws may not apply to them as much as to us but I'm sorry Fellas, Jimmy Houston has just never given me that impression and I am inclined to give him the benifet of the doubt. He admits what he did was a mistake and it was one of the worse things he could have done since he is so involved in the outdoors community. He cooperated with the authorities when asked to. This is a matter of record, not speculation. He has apoligized to eveyone he can apologize to.

There is no one person that detests Canned hunts more than me. I am extremly dissapointed to find out that Jimmy would even go on a hunt where the animals are fenced in, no matter how many acres but just because he made a bad decision doesn't make him a bad person. I don't know him...never met him...probably never will..but I know that I will give him the same benefit of the doubt that I have been given in my life when I have made some very poor decisions. That is a conclusion that each of us has to come to on our own. I would hope that if I make any more bad decisions in my life I will have a few understanding people around me that are willing to listen and try to understand when I admit I have made a mistake.
Thank You for my chance on the soapbox,
Steve
"let he without sin cast the first stone"

[raporter]

http://www.judici.com/courts/cases/c...&ocl=IL075015J. Click on dispostions and you will find Jimmy is no rookie to game violations.

[BassBest]

I dont want to argue to the point of frustration, or to upset anyone but I would like to adress my opinion again. Whether it be good or bad. But I like Jimmy, all of his fishing shows show the upmost respect to the fish and wildlife, and to the audience. But I will say this, you can't push or force game to go anywhere, period. If they were in a pen of let's say 1- acres, and Jimmy sat in one spot and waited to kill game, boom. Nothing is wrong. What it seems like is being said is that IT WAS NOT FAIR CHASE.

There was a post on here title "Biggest Bass Caught" or something like that, and it had a section that was for "biggest bass from a pond" LOL, I laugh and laugh. A bass is not worth telling about if it was caught from a pond, even a 10 acre pond. So yes, if Jimmy was hunting a 10 acre field that is fenced in, it is not worth adressing. but I do not believe that Jimmy would need the publicity of that. He doesn;t need the money, or the reputation. Someone could have readressed the situation to sound worse than it was, like all critics. All the best fishermen we know televise fishing episodes that were from a pond, and the photographer makes it look at all possible like the largest body of water possible, but the fish were not forced to bight. Just like game is not forced to go anywhere, they go where they want to go. try telling a bull where to go, oh goodbye., The fact that everyone is willing to shame Jimmy for hunting in a controlled environment whether it be large or small, think about it. In the post of biggest pond bass, don't even mention your catch. Because it is not worth mentioning, anyone can catch a bass in a pond, and will not take liong at all to catch the biggest bass (9 lbs I believe was mentioned), wooooo, if I put a 15lb bass in my bathtub and let it grow to 25 lbs, i have the world record. Pretty easy. Let's focus more on what our wildife will produce in the future for our kids rather than if someone took " the easy route". Which I agree could have been done, he may have taken the easy route, but not to mislead anyone, hell, I dont know, just dont hat ethe guy for one problem, look at what he did for the fishing industry after all his years of success, dont get rid of him for one little "out of bounds" route.

I just can;thate the guy for it, if you do, you are entitled to your own opinion.
Take care

[Danny]

I really have no dog in this fight, but I find that I am curious about your position. What is the appropriate size of water that makes a fish catch viable?

Also, why do you keep calling them ponds vs. lakes? What is your definition of the two?

When I was in school, Biology class actually, we were taught that a pond is any body of water, regardless of size where the water allowed sunlight penetration all the way to the bottom at its deepest point, while a lake, regardless of size, did not allow light penetration to its deepest point.

From what I've read, there is a HUGE difference in drugging a deer, and herding it toward a hunter vs. fishing in a farm pond or lake, that may not meet a certain size limit. In order to meet the same criteria, you would have to somehow sedate the fish, while not taking away the hunger and/or bite reflex, and you would then have to pen them in a small area, and then you would have to actively herd those fish toward the fisherman's bait, and then you would have to make the biggest fish bite. How do you do that?

And to whomever said you can't force a bull to go where you want it to, well you obviously never were a cow farmer. I've helped herd the cattle, I've cut the young of the year out from the herd, I've even herded a huge bull up the ramp to our truck to take it to market. I assure you, the bull did not want to go up the ramp. And no, we never used electrical stimulation. However a bucket of cracked corn, and a trail of the favorite food of the animal will do wonders to get the animal to go where you want it to go.

Danny

[JoeB]

Hunts like the one Jimmy was on certainly leave a bad taste in my mouth, but I can't believe the number of people who are comparing shooting a drugged deer in a pen to catching a bass in a farm pond. The attitude seems to be that someone fishing in a pond is in some way taking advantage of the bass he catches. I would agree that in some ponds a 5lb bass is easier to catch than a 5lb bass from Laurel lake, but I'm not about to say that the guy who caught the pond bass in some way violated the rules of fair chase. Ponds are where bass live. Shooting a drugged buck in a 3 acre enclosure is a whole other situation. That's just buying the priviledge of slaughtering an animal and then bragging about what a great hunter you are. I think there's a huge difference.