Hunting Badge

[Rick Schnase]

The proposed Hunting Badge is fantastic! Please let BSA know you support the proposed Hunting badge. Hunting should be a priority of BSA.

[commish3]

Hunting should be a priority of BSA?

[Scouting179]

I heard, but am not sure, that this is hunting with a camera.

FYI, back in the old, old days, like pre-WWII scouts were allowed to take guns on campouts.

[hacimsaalk]

FYI, back in the old, old days, like pre-WWII scouts were allowed to take guns on campouts.

cool wish we could do this now

[hacimsaalk]

Hunting should be a priority of BSA?

it should be at the top of their list at least

[commish3]

Shouldn't top of the list be helping young people to make ethical decisions based on the values of the Scout Oath and Scout Law? Isn't ANY merit badge less than .001 percent of the advancement program that is just .1 of the methods we use to accomplish that mission?

How does any single merit badge rate as a priority for an entire scouting movement?

[hacimsaalk]

Shouldn't top of the list be helping young people to make ethical decisions based on the values of the Scout Oath and Scout Law?

i think we're doing a pretty godd job of this, so i think we can change our focus long enoguh to get this merit badge through.

[mrsrayzor]

I'll have to agree with Commish on the priority issue. The real purpose of scouting should never be put on the back burner, but everything scouts do (activities) should lead to that ultimate goal.

I do think the Hunting MB is a great idea. When I was growing up we grew up with guns (hunting rifles, shotguns etc). We were taught a healthy fear of guns and what they were capable of. Kids are so curious about guns and it's a good way for them to learn and satisfy some of this curiosity in a positive environment. That they have a purpose and it's not killing people. Also the other educatonal issues with hunting. Culling populations, having the meat to eat, etc.

Just my thoughts.

DRay
Committee Chair

[jdfarmer]

My son, though only 11, loves to hunt. He also likes to trap. He is involved the the 4-H Shooting Sports, both rifle and shotgun, which has an organized competition on the local and state levels. I also know of several others on our troop who are active in the program. Without this MB, we are doing our guys a disservice.

[twilightann]

The boys are excited about this merit badge! When do the requirements come out??

[PaulSWolf]

The boys are excited about this merit badge! When do the requirements come out??

IF it's approved, it would probably be announced concurrent with the release of a new "Boy Scout Requirements" booklet. It could be 1/1/2006, 1/1/2007, or later, subject to the evaluation currently under way.

[turkeyhunter_1]

I think that the hunting merit badge is a great idea. Whether it is with a gun or a camera, the skills needed to accomplish the goals of hunting are the same. We are here to help guide the scout to achieve their goals. As a Hunter Education Instructor, I've seen lots of young kids that have an interest in hunting, but no parent that knows how to teach them the skills they need to be successful at it. Scouts provide lots of opportunities to try new things. I think hunting should be one of them.

[pipestone1991]

I'll have to agree with Commish on the priority issue. The real purpose of scouting should never be put on the back burner, but everything scouts do (activities) should lead to that ultimate goal.

I do think the Hunting MB is a great idea. When I was growing up we grew up with guns (hunting rifles, shotguns etc). We were taught a healthy fear of guns and what they were capable of. Kids are so curious about guns and it's a good way for them to learn and satisfy some of this curiosity in a positive environment.

Just my thoughts.

DRay
Committee Chair

This is why we have rifle and shotgun mbs, NOT hunting.

[bearpatrolleaderinctown]

pipestone you are right that is one of the purposes of the shotgun and rifle meritbadge but the kids that dont go hunting all that some get is a knowledge that a rifle is able to put a hole in a paper and that a shotgun can make a clay target turn into dust.

[pipestone1991]

pipestone you are right that is one of the purposes of the shotgun and rifle meritbadge but the kids that dont go hunting all that some get is a knowledge that a rifle is able to put a hole in a paper and that a shotgun can make a clay target turn into dust.

In the rifle mb book there is a thing about hunting but no reqs.....instead why doesn't National make it require a report that must be written about the pros and cons of the sport?

[bearpatrolleaderinctown]

Because they will make the badge harder for people who go hunting and no see many cons to it if not any and more pros than national wants to see all they would do is make national become animal righ activists and anti-hunting activists and people who go hunting would no longer join boy scouts and go join 4-H where there are projects that are about nothing but hunting. im not saying that boys should not join 4-h because they should and if i said that i am sure my 4-h agent would killl me but they would rather do just 4-h then balance both boy scouts and 4-h

[Swim4lyfe]

Hunting? Like, boom kill an animal?

A Scout is kind. A Scout knows there is strength in being gentle... Without good reason, he does not harm or kill any living thing - BSA Handbook, 11th edition.

Hunting as killing animals seems to be a bit on the questionable side concerning ethical Scouting. However, if it is similar to the Stalking merit badge, which required Scouts to merely take pictures of animals instead of killing them, then that would be better. However, killing animals does not seem to be a part of the Scout Law.[/i]

[FrankJ]

A Scout is kind. A Scout knows there is strength in being gentle... Without good reason, he does not harm or kill any living thing - BSA Handbook, 11th edition.

Dinner or pair of shoes seems like a good reason to me. I will admit that this is a subject that reasonable people can disagree on.

[Mrw]

Hunting purely for sport is not kind and not very environmentally sound either.

Hunting because you will use the meat from what you catch for dinner is completely different.

Since we no longer have natural predators in many areas, hunting is necessary to replace that.The number of deer in our suburban neighborhood is overwhelming and the damage they do trying to find enough to eat in the winter can be pretty incredible.

Hitting them with cars and allowing them to starve due to over-population is much less kind than hunting. A hunting badge that emphasizes hunting for food rather than sport is not really against the BSA's outdoor code principles.

[Swim4lyfe]

Hunting purely for sport is not kind and not very environmentally sound either.

Hunting because you will use the meat from what you catch for dinner is completely different.

Since we no longer have natural predators in many areas, hunting is necessary to replace that.The number of deer in our suburban neighborhood is overwhelming and the damage they do trying to find enough to eat in the winter can be pretty incredible.

Hitting them with cars and allowing them to starve due to over-population is much less kind than hunting. A hunting badge that emphasizes hunting for food rather than sport is not really against the BSA's outdoor code principles.

Now that I can go for. As long as those principles are tought through the Hunting merit badge, then I may vote for it.