I understand the cocerns people have about animal cruelty, to some extent. I may not like how some people behave, but the ban on hound hunting (which I voted for, would take it back if I could) and 713 are misguided attempts to correct a percieved wrong with law. Management of wildlife resources by the "People" is a $hitty idea. Most people simply don't know enough to make informed descisions. To boot, management has nothing to do with these bills. If you think PETA would spend a dime on a non-animal rights bill you are sorely mistaken.

PETA openly pronounces it's goal to end recreational harvest of all current game species. Fish, foul and four-legged. If you think that an anti-archery bill, Anti-firearm bill or Anti-fishing bill are that far off, you are in for a nasty suprise.

First, PETA and some other animal rights groups have already begun drafting the measures for several states (including Washington).

Second, though the difference between using traps/poison and fishing for steelhead are night and day to somone who knows anything about either, they might just as well be the same thing in the mind of "indoorsmen" of Washington (who outnumber us by a large margin). PETA has an ongoing campaing to end fishing because of the pain inflicted on fish. They call C&R fishing "Ritual Torture". The worst part is that what they say about the pain a fish feels when hooked in the soft tissue of the mouth is "true". Being hooked does generate a significant brain response that is almost guaranteed to be a "pain" sensation, how the fish interprits this is anyones guess (considering they have a brain the size of a JuJuBe). The point is when PETA says "Fishing Hurts" they will have evidence to sustain it. Most of the people who voted for I-713 probably did so because traps hurt animals. It can happen again.

Take away from my ranting only one thing if you can. BE A VOICE FOR REASON. You non-angling/hunting friends family and coworkers have only you and other outdoors people to look to for advice when this kind of animal rights garbage gets on the ballot. I spent weeks telling everyone I knew that 713 was a damn mistake. You want real suprise? Some people told me that they knew nothing about it and were going to vote "yes" becasue it would stop some kind of cruelty (they voted when I told them it was a bad prescedent).

Your voice matters!

P.S. I do hope 713 gets unrveled because of it's ambiguity. If we had all talked to everyone we knew about BAN, this would probably be a moot point.