Quote Originally Posted by John Sukey View Post
Consider that the depletion of waterfowl AND the passenger pigeon was NOT the fault of hunters. Rather it was due to resturants serving the birds. I would class the people using "punt guns" in the same category as those factory workers providing the material for your steak dinner, pork chops, and Chicken McNuggets. The supply was thought to be endless, until it wasn't there anymore.

John, I disagree with you're not holding the hunters accountable. That's like saying that drug users are in the wrong, but not the drug dealers.

Though in their defense, I'd say that such massive amounts of slaughter helped them to earn some money, in the days when most folks, especially in rural areas, might be considered somewhat impoverished by today's standards.

Only recently, I found an item in an history book, referring to factories of the late 1800s, where power transmission pulleys were arranged above the factory floors to get power to each work station. This item mentioned in passing that the belts for the pulley systems commonly were made of buffalo hide!

In those days, people thought, "There are so many, they'll be around forever".

Up at Hawk Mountain, the locals did not shoot to eat; they shot just for sport and left mounds of dead hawks and all sorts of raptors around the mountain top.

In Italyicon, during bird migrations, the Italians today still take to the mountain tops and blast away, just for "sport", leaving the birds, including songbird flocks arriving from Africa, to rot on the ground.

Regards,