The time of year is approaching when the main thing on many people’s minds is trapping. But we aren’t just talking about where and when to go trapping, or what to say to your boss if you want to skip work to go trapping. We’re also talking about a very important Montana trapping ballot coming up on Nov. 8. If it passes, it will ban trapping on the state’s public lands. Vote Clinton or vote Trump, that’s your decision, but please make sure you vote NO on i-177. The campaign has been primarily funded by out-of-state animal rights groups. If they win this, they’ll be one step closer to banning all trapping and hunting, and to their ultimate goal of making us all vegan. We’re serious, that is their goal.

Times like this highlight the importance of supporting your fellow sportsmen, even if they don’t partake in the same outdoor activities as you. Uniting sportsmen was the subject of our latest blog post, and if you want to learn more about the Montana ballot, read what the Sportsmen’s Alliance has to say. We liked these two op-ed pieces about the Montana vote, too: Trapping doesn’t hurt pets, as long as pets controlled and Vote no on the anti-trapping initiative.

Other states are also considering the future of outdoor pursuits, notably Kansas which will soon be voting on whether fishing and hunting are a right or privilege.

In other trapping news, New Zealand continues to find ways to control its invasive possums, with a booming fur trade and now a dog food trade. And what’s not to love about a 10-year-old Minnesota girl who loves trapping (above)?

Activist Shenanigans

Meanwhile, the activists are up to their usual shenanigans. Pamela Anderson is trying to promote her anti-animal-use lifestyle while praising Vladimir Putin. “He loves wildlife,” she opines, but he’s also an avid hunter. Should someone tell her? And these heartless people hurled abuse at a child with terminal cancer because he wanted to try bullfighting, with one telling him to “just die”.

There have been a few articles examining the real agenda of animal rights groups. Our favourites include a piece about how they want to end all animal domestication, including pet ownership, and this one about why it’s unethical to oppose animal research. Good news includes the failure of this “fundamentally flawed” animal rights bill in Canada, and a piece on TruthAboutFur about how one man took on, and beat, some animal rights bullies.

As winter is rolling in, we are thinking about fox fur-lined parkas (above) and otter fur scarves, like the ones the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge wore when they visited Canada in October. And if you know anyone who is on the fence about wearing fur, be sure to share the following TruthAboutFur post. We think it is a pretty clear explanation about Why we must wear leather and fur.

Other articles that caught our eye included this one about the cost of groceries in the far north of Canada. We hope this makes activists think twice about criticizing the way of life up there, including the hunting. One of our contributing editors was a guest on a fashion podcast and talked about the fur trade. We’ve got your wildlife lesson sorted for this month with some interesting information about mink and bobcats. And our fur photo of the month award goes to the Royal Family of Denmark, who were photographed in seal skin for the latest Greenland stamp (above). Animal rights activists were not impressed but we certainly were.

Let’s end with our two favourite videos of the month: one documenting the pros and cons of the fur trade, and this one, a lesson on why it is a bad idea to text and walk. We’ll give you a hint why: bearssss.