Larry Reaves

Recent Activity

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  Larry signed the petition | almost 3 years ago

  Stop Marijuana Arrests
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  Larry commented on the article | almost 3 years ago

  Killing the Lions to Save the Deer--To Kill the Deer

  Meat from stores costs *a lot* of money.  Most of the people who hunt around here either raise their own meat or buy the animal from their neighbor.  Believe it or not, there is far more poverty in this country than most people realize.  Here's some statistics for you (from http://www.census.gov/prod/2008pubs/p60-235.pdf):
  
  In 2007, the poverty rate was 12.5%... so 1 our of 8 Americans lived below the poverty line... I'm sure that figure is much better now (yeah right).
  
  So what was the poverty line in 2007? $21,203 for a family of four
  (that one is from http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/income_wealth/012528.html)
  
  How far below the poverty line was the average poverty stricken household? $2,451 per capita ($9804 for a family of four)
  
  So, how do you recommend one feeds a family of four on $11,399 a year? 
  

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  Larry commented on the article | almost 3 years ago

  Killing the Lions to Save the Deer--To Kill the Deer

  Why does everyone assume hunters hunt for sport?  Sure there are those that do, but the VAST majority hunt for food.  Here in West Virginia, 3/4 of the population hunts, and we are raised to not kill anything unless we are going to eat it.  If you hunt something and don't eat it, you are keeping someone else from eating.  It's not a sport, it's not a game, it's survival.

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  Larry commented on the article | almost 3 years ago

  Killing the Lions to Save the Deer--To Kill the Deer

  "This isn't about "saving" any deer; it's about preserving the chance to kill them for a species that doesn't need to kill them by killing off another species that does need to hunt them for survival."
  
  Some people do hunt them for survival.  An average size deer will feed your family for a couple weeks.  That's a lot of money saved, and when you don't have much money it makes a big difference.  As for those who say we don't need to kill animals at all, I disagree.  Personally, I have been vegetarian.  I'm not now, but I eat way less meat than the average person.  But, I'm lucky enough to be able to afford the rediculous price of non-meat foods.  Many are not so lucky.  Most people I know who hunt for food also have huge gardens, but they can not grow year round.  It's easy to not eat meat when you can get fresh fruits and vegetables, but it's much harder when you're stuck with 6 month old canned stuff because that's all you can afford.
  
  I'm not saying that this is the proper way to manage wildlife, but they have managed to get themselves into a bad situation through mismanagement, and this seems like one of the better solutions.  Would you rather let the mountain lions overhunt the deer and then starve to death when the deer population gets too low?