Guest Column
John Janelli
‘Terrorist’ label doesn’t fit duck hunters

I am a licensed New Jersey waterfowl hunter and taxidermist. I’d like you to know how much I resent being referred to as a "terrorist," per the Coalition to Stop Hunting Now, which seems hell-bent on ending duck hunting in its areas of the garden state. For the excellent people, who are not so easily led by these emotionally charged citizens against a pastime that has been part of our heritage for generations, please let me explain what they do not tell you.

For starters, a hunter needs four separate forms of documentation before he or she can go into the marshes, rivers, bays and inlets to hunt. First, a valid New Jersey hunting license must be procured, only after a three-week safety course involving orientation, written testing, and a shooting proficiency examination.

Second, a New Jersey waterfowl stamp must be purchased, along with a federal migratory bird stamp, the proceeds of which sales go directly back into the environment. These funds aid state and federal agencies in maintaining and procuring land and waterways that are so essential for a balanced habitat for all species of wildlife that all citizens can enjoy and utilize. Last, but not least, a Harvard information program number must be applied for before hunting ducks, geese, brant woodcock, rails, snipe, coots, or gallinule.

This form of hunter registration enables our wildlife biologists, who are second to no other in the nation, to randomly interview hunters about the harvested birds they obtain to determine future season dates and overall health of the game obtainable by law. Hunters must use nontoxic shot rather than the heavier lead that traditional shotgun shells have been loaded with for more than 150 years. Only six ducks may be taken in one day, and hunters are held accountable for every bird taken.

Furthermore, I have never known any incidents where a hunter mistook a Jet Ski, sailboat or kayak for a flying duck.

As for the person that is appalled at the sight of a duck blind or awakened by the sound of gunfire, try to understand how tolerable other people have become of loud crowds, congested highways, public indecency, and drug and alcohol abuse during the entire tourist season along the Jersey shore. To the resident who grew up having shell casings in their yard and greenhouse windows shot out, please don’t confuse vandalism with the sport of waterfowling. Just because a gun is used in a crime doesn’t mean an intelligent sportsman is to blame.

We’re not terrorists, and that term should never have been allowed to be used in a newspaper. It reflects the pure irresponsibility of the editors to permit it to happen. No one does that at an airport checkpoint where insinuating a person or group of persons to be of terroristic intent is as punishable as any infraction of the public’s safety.

In addition, a duck blind can only be constructed if: (a) the hunters have written landowner permission; (b) the hunter are on a federal or state land sanctioned for such activity; and (c) a New Jersey hunter may have his or her license permanently revoked for any infractions of the 450-foot safety zone law. Drunk drivers don’t even face that stiff of a penalty the first time around.

Most important, we must realize that licensed hunters are the only means of keeping our renewable wildlife resource in check. Take a good look at the golf courses, cemeteries, lawns, backyards or school grounds, but be careful where you walk. Thousands of Canada geese have made these places into their own protected toilets. With an on- and off-season from Sept. 1-Feb. 15 in various parts of the state, the geese still dominate their home range in uncontrollable numbers, and they are extremely expensive and unhealthy to clean up after.

While burdensome to the general public that must coexist with these large birds, their numbers speak very highly for sound wildlife management that only the hunters themselves should be applauded for.

To stop hunting in any area would also hurt the economy of the town that sells groceries, gasoline, or sporting equipment. Motels, restaurants and boat rentals would also suffer form this loss of revenue.

In reality, who are the people that want this activity stopped? Are they residents that have lived here all their lives or the people that move down from the cities, which afford no privacy at all from many other severe forms of lifestyle interference? Ask yourselves, if they succeed at stopping the duck hunts, what next will they try to stop? Maybe this time it will be your lifestyle.

John Janelli of Union City has been hunting ducks along New Jersey’s coastline for 32 years