We Won!
"Vote NO on 2" wins 54% of the vote

January 4, 2004

Dear Sportsmen & Friends:

The campaign to defend bear hunting and trapping in Maine is a major turning point for Maine’s guides, sportsmen and rural businesses. The Maine Professional Guides Association has never needed you more than we do in this critical battle.

The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is coming after every one of us - coming after everything we love about hunting, trapping and fishing in Maine today.

HSUS is armed with experienced campaign staff, millions of out-of-state dollars, and a grand agenda to end all hunting nationwide.

Petitions are now circulating for a 2004 referendum vote to ban bear hunting with bait and dogs and bear trapping in Maine. They claim to already have over 100,000 signatures.

The Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine (SAM) is leading the fight to defend hunting and trapping – with key partners, the Maine Professional Guides Association (MPGA), the Maine Trappers Association (MTA), and many other supporting sporting groups.

We hope to have your active support.

"It Truly is About ALL Hunting!"

Do not make the mistake of thinking this campaign is only about bear hunting and trapping. HSUS chose these for their first ballot attack in Maine because polls told them this is where we are most vulnerable – few sportsmen are involved, and the general public is largely uninformed about bear and wildlife management issues.

If they win this one, we'll be fighting for our heritage every year against an onslaught of ballot measures until there is nothing left to defend. We’ll be like the frogs that got boiled!

Humane Society of the United States (HSUS)

HSUS is the most aggressive anti-hunting, anti-trapping, animal-rights organization in this country. They know what they're doing. And they don't hide their goals.

They have openly stated their intent to end all hunting and trapping. They spend their entire annual budget of over $65 million to achieve those goals.

And they have been very successful in other states.

They work closely with other national animal-rights groups. They launch an average of seven lawsuits a year to stop hunting, trapping, and fishing on federal lands and elsewhere. They lobby Congress to shut us out of national forests and ban hunting and trapping there.

And they have won ballot measures in other states to stop all trapping and hunting of a variety of game animals.

These people are relentless fanatics.

And now, they’ve challenged Maine sportsmen.

"The Outcome is in Your Hands"

Your response to our request for help will determine the outcome of this battle. It is a battle we cannot afford to lose.

Let me tell you why this is so critical.

Hunting over bait is the most common and traditional method of hunting all game in Maine!

Whether you are sitting in a wetland filled with rice waiting for ducks, watching an apple tree waiting for a deer, or placing bait near your stand hoping to get a bear - We use scents and lures in many types of hunting.

It's all bait. Even anglers use bait for fishing.

An attack on bear baiting is an attack on all hunting – even on fishing too!

Hunting with dogs is also a great Maine tradition - whether you're chasing rabbits with a beagle, grouse or woodcock with a setter, or bear with a hound.

An attack on hunting bear with hounds is an attack on all hunting with dogs.

When these radicals are pounding the airwaves with attacks on hunting with dogs and bait - they're attacking YOU - even if you never hunt bear! And they'll do irreparable harm to your favorite hunting methods if we let them go unchallenged.

Understand what they're coming after…

"They're Coming After You and Everything You Believe!"

Experts tell us we need at least $1 million to win this fight, and that is daunting. We must raise $2,300 every day until voters render their judgment on this proposal on November 2, 2004. Some experts think we need twice this much. We know HSUS will outspend us.

So we are asking you to give this campaign as much as you can afford - and perhaps a little bit more than that!

At the end of the campaign, we should all be poor. But hopefully, we will be rich in hunting, fishing and trapping heritage that has been defended and sustained.

"Join Us and Win!"

Many individuals have already given over $1,000 each. Associations and businesses have given even larger sums. But even $25, $50 or $100 will make a big difference. On the enclosed donor form, we offer you a variety of thank you gifts for your generous support. The Monacchio print is really spectacular! And you'll love the T-shirt and hat.

We are also asking you to join our Coalition, Maine’s Fish & Wildlife Conservation Council, by donating and volunteering your time. There is so much to do - and so little time.

Right now, most Maine people know nothing about bears. They don't even know bears are hunted in Maine!

We have a major job ahead to educate Maine voters about bears, bear management, and bear hunting and trapping.

If voters only hear about these things from HSUS, we're dead. And so is all of our hunting and trapping heritage.

Voters will be so turned off to hunting and trapping by the barrage that is coming from HSUS, every form of hunting will soon be in jeopardy.

Thankfully, our polls show that we have very powerful authority figures who voters will listen to and respect, including game wardens and wildlife biologists.

We will beat HSUS at the grassroots, and then we will blow them away on television - if you give us the ammunition - the money - and your time and help.

"Get Moving and Contact Us Now!"

The Maine Professional Guides Association is giving this campaign everything we’ve got – and we are counting on you to support and help us.

Support Materials - Enclosed are some support materials to arm you for the fight. They have been prepared so you will have factual and accurate information – not hearsay and emotional babble. This includes:

Information about Black Bears, Wildlife Management and the Traditions of Bear Hunting in Maine, prepared by the professional wildlife biologists at Maine’s Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife.

Information on how professional Wildlife Management Ensures a Healthy Bear Population in Maine, prepared by the professional wildlife biologists at Maine’s Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife.

Frequently Asked Questions and myths about bear hunting, and the referendum, with scientific and factual answers by the professional wildlife biologists at Maine’s Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife.

Background on the Humane Society of the United States, as well as other supporting anti-hunting organizations, with quotations from their own websites, brochures and leaders clearly demonstrating that their goal is to stop all hunting, not just bear hunting.

News Articles of actual black bear attacks on people and pets.

References to Websites for further information, facts and goings-on.

This information will help you set the record straight. Feel free to copy and share it with others. You can convince the uninformed public about the value of bear hunting, and hunting in general.

You can also expose the full agenda of these out-of-state animal rights radicals – to stop all types of hunting. They even want you to give up your pets, become complete vegetarians, and to give animals more legal rights than "we the people."

This is the Big One – the referendum that will decide whether Maine, and ultimately the entire country, loses it all – or stops the animal rights fanatics cold, and chases them right out of the state.

We look forward to having you join with us.

Sincerely,

MPGA Officers and Board of Directors:

PS: Need more convincing that HSUS wants to stop ALL hunting?

Check out these websites:

Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife – http://www.state.me.us/ifw/

Maine Professional Guides Association - http://www.maineguides.org/referendum/

Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine – http://www.samcef.org/bear_referendum_information.htm

Humane Society of the United States – http://www.hsus.org

"Please Give Us Your Help Now – It Really Counts!"