If work associates were asked if they wanted to ELR prairie dog hunt, there would be no shortage of takers. However, views from this statement would be far from reality as this statement would not be correct. Words matter. There is no easy way around this. When knapweed starts to take control of a grain field, the invasive species must go or the farmer's livelihood may be placed at risk, not to mention the neighbors.
Montana law articulates this best. State departments are authorized to establish programs for the suppression of vertebrate pests when they are injurious to agriculture. No doubt, agriculture is a valuable resource to the farmer, the vegetarian, and others. Suppression is none other than forced removal. Forced removal is a way to rid an invasive pest and less destructive to the environment than poison. The supersonic to subsonic sickle is a tool of use for this purpose.
What's most interesting when collecting a group of volunteers to suppress vertebrate pests ELR, some of the volunteers are additionally opposed to long range hunting of game. How can this be? Words matter. Two primary terms form the root to this difference, resource and risk management. In Montana, game animals are a resource to the state. This resource is available under permit for the use by all hunters. Hunting game animals is managed as a privilege, not an entitlement. As such, most hunters will respect this relationship and expect the same from other hunters. This brings in risk management. Long range hunting is surrounded by a barrage of uncertainties. The resource is game, a risk (as with any form of hunting) is not allowing enough room with uncertainties for a clean harvest. Risk management is a process where the hunter recognizes pending uncertainties and applies control measures to reduce or eliminate an unwanted waste of the resource. Tools of use to assist with risk management will be addressed later and additionally ties into the OP's question. Suppression of vertebrate pests. Grass or grain is the desired resource and not removing vertebrate pests is a risk to this resource. The term "hunting" is often associated with a requirement for one shot one kill. The term "suppression" can be associated to forced removal using tools without regard to range or number of shots required. The term "long range" by itself may tend one to believe the uncertainties are not fully accounted for leaving too much room for a misplaced shot. The term "effective range" is often associated with risk management where a hunter is aware of their capabilities to include the uncertainties and apply measures to effectively harvest a resource without unwanted waste. Although "long range" and "effective range" may be one in the same, articulating effective range up front with risk management will help pave the way toward acceptance of this hunting preference.
A great method to familiarize a sportsman with the requirements of risk management utilized during a big game hunt is during vertebrate pest suppression. This serves two fold. First, the sportsman is engulfed in the intricacies with a bullet traveling over a long time of flight. After the first shot in an infested agriculture field, from observation unwanted troublesome vertebrate pests take to hiding with an exception for those at great distance. To reduce the risk with destruction of the grain field, the extended range vertebrate pests require forced removal whether to the liking or disliking of others. Sportsman opposed to long range (effective range…words matter) hunting that have never shot at great distance will have the opportunity to help preserve a community farmer's way of life, and for whatever reason they sure seem to enjoy helping out and want to keep coming back. This leads to the second point. Effective range hunting is not the same as extended range vertebrate pest removal although some may equate it to just that. With such a small target so far away during suppression removal, there are bound to be misses. Although every effort is made to not miss, one can only squeeze so much blood from a turnip. Remember, the goal is removal by force and to not attempt such a shot places the agricultural product (the desired resource) at risk of destruction. Assume the risk, manage it to the greatest extent, and take the shot. Percentage of success for one particular shot may be low. However, first round success is not a requirement with suppression unlike hunting, eventual forced removal of the pest is. This second point additionally parallels risk management. As with a previous post, I fully concur with the use of Applied Ballistics solvers specifically when dealing with transonic and subsonic flight and associated drop. The only way to know for sure how a bullet will react to transonic and subsonic flight is to shoot them and observe the drop. This will determine if a particular bullet will be able to maintain a desired level of accuracy and/or precision transitioning in and between these zones. Added benefits with suppression removal is the ability to effortlessly bring a laptop to the field. I strongly recommend the addition of the Applied Ballistics (AB) Analytics package as support to another Applied Ballistics solver. This package not only allows the use of Litz custom drag with a drop scale factor but adds the ability to utilize WEZ, a hit percentage analysis tool. When managing risk during a big game hunt where the first shot is a requirement to strike vitals, I now specifically utilize WEZ as a tool to assist with risk management. Ask if uncertain how to use WEZ for this purpose. Lastly, I've suppressed many vertebrate pests ELR with a few in the transonic to subsonic range. Most of the suppressions required more than one shot. When one shot one kill is a requirement, risk management directs the maximum distance for the shot. Vertebrate pest suppression is different and should not be used to connect the two.
"Does anyone after work want to suppress vertebrate pests that are injurious to agriculture in the supersonic to subsonic range allowing a farmer to make a living by providing quality grain used for a vegetarian loaf of bread not made out of knapweed? Afterward, we can take some pictures with our suppression forced removal tools!"….words matter.
