gathering food from the wild a right or a privilege?

I have never given this much thought before now, but I ran across this link

http://fw.ky.gov/righttohuntandfish.asp

and it got me to thinking. (dangerous I know, but I cannot help it)

I always considered hunting as a right. No it is not listed as a right in any founding documents that I am aware of, and legally hunting is treated as a privilege, like driving a car, or owning property (one for a different discussion). I was taken aback somewhat when I read:

"The citizens of Kentucky have the personal right to hunt, fish, and harvest wildlife, using traditional methods, subject only to statutes enacted by the Legislature, and to administrative regulations adopted by the designated state agency to promote wildlife conservation and management and to preserve the future of hunting and fishing. Public hunting and fishing shall be a preferred means of managing and controlling wildlife. This section shall not be construed to modify any provision of law relating to trespass, property rights, or the regulation of commercial activities."

This is part of a ballot initiative to be added to our states constitution. In the times when kings ruled the lands, hunting was at the kings will, and commoners were not allowed. I am glad to see our laws changing for the betterment of freedoms. At the same time it is sad that laws must be written to ensure our freedoms.

As soon as I read your title, B4 I had even opened it, I thought of the king's laws concerning hunting and even harvesting wood. I agree, it is a right, not a privilege. And, based on what I read in the Bible, I'd say it's a God given privilege.

Dizzy, I have assumed it was a God given right, without question. So to see a proposed amendment to our States Constitution was kind of a shock. Of course I'm gonna vote to enact this, since there must be a perceived threat to hunting for this to have passed the legislature.

Very interesting indeed! I am sure there are those "sickos" out there who would love to take that right along with many other rights away from us whatever state we live in.

I've seen comments posted elsewhere that Georgia and Alabama have already enacted similar laws and many states will have this on their ballots this year. Look for it in your area

Yes Rohn, sadly there are many misguided but well meaning people who seem to think that plant and animal life should be elevated to having all the same rights as you and I. I'm not kidding, one group actually filed a law suit claiming that cutting down a tree was murder.

anyone here gathering nuts?? NO not family tree kinds, but walnuts, Hickory nuts, etc.

I wanted to get some hickories this year, I've never had them and I have 1 in my yard. The squirrels beat me to it. I've never eaten black walnuts and just didn't have time to get any. Maybe next year.

I love black walnuts. There was a BW tree near one of my previous residences and I loved to pick up the nuts. They are delicious especially in fudge. Now I have no place to gather nuts of any kind.

There's a ton of them in a couple of places around here. They're a native tree.

native nut trees are a free food source, and so are the squirrels that feed on the nuts. Black walnuts are tasty in fudge, chocolate chip cookies (small amount of small pieces), brownies, or just plain or toasted and salted. The two down sides of the black walnut are the outer hull or husk, and that extra hard and thick shell. A hammer is almost needed to crack open the shell making getting large pieces very difficult. The outer hull stains everything it touches. So getting the meat from the hull and shell can be a lot of work, but it is worth it.

In this area, we have walnut, mockernut hickory, several types of oaks, pines, wild black cherries, red maple, mulberries and persimmons as food trees. The native chestnuts were wiped out years ago.

Then there's the shrubs, some native and some naturalized that are also good for food. We have a lot of both Russian and autumn olive around here. It's hard to tell the difference between the 2, but it doesn't really matter which you get.

Mulberry and Persimmon are great for preserves or jellies, black cherries can also be used but are so small it's hard to get enough to do anything with.

Native chestnuts were wiped out here as well. I plan to plant some chestnuts next year, but they will be improved and resistant varieties.