Just think - these folks are packing heat
If hunting were a fandom, Jim Zumbo would be a BNF. He's a sportman, writer and blogger with corporate sponsors and his own television show. One hopes the benefits are good because he'll need surgery to remove both feet from his mouth. Blogging about his recent sponsored coyote shoot with the new Remington .17, he opines

I must be living in a vacuum. The guides on our hunt tell me that the use of AR and AK rifles have a rapidly growing following among hunters, especially prairie dog hunters. I had no clue. Only once in my life have I ever seen anyone using one of these firearms.

Having established his vast ignorance on the matter, he goes on to offer his expert opinion.

I call them "assault" rifles, which may upset some people. Excuse me, maybe I'm a traditionalist, but I see no place for these weapons among our hunting fraternity. I'll go so far as to call them "terrorist" rifles. They tell me that some companies are producing assault rifles that are "tackdrivers."

Sorry, folks, in my humble opinion, these things have no place in hunting. We don't need to be lumped into the group of people who terrorize the world with them, which is an obvious concern. I've always been comfortable with the statement that hunters don't use assault rifles. We've always been proud of our "sporting firearms."

Bambi says, "Eet moar chiken."

This really has me concerned. As hunters, we don't need the image of walking around the woods carrying one of these weapons. To most of the public, an assault rifle is a terrifying thing. Let's divorce ourselves from them. I say game departments should ban them from the praries and woods.


And heads explode. By the next morning his blog has been swamped with 1200+ responses screaming, "SPLITTER" and Outdoor Life, the mag which sponsors his blog, responds. Scroll all the way down and then back up just above the apology. Read the apology while you're there, because that's the point at which people just lost their shit.
There's a petition! Zumbo is the topic on blog after blog after blog. Boycotters. They're like Islamic terrorists, in a way. Outdoor Life pulls his blog. He's fired by Cabela's, Mossy Oak, Hi Mountain Seasonings and, unsurprisingly, Remington. No more television show for you, Mr. Zumbo!

NRA says: GDIAF.

He'll always have Ted Nugent, though.

One might think, despite being roundly ash canned by... well, everyone, that he still might be able to resurrect his career. Too late! For Sarah Brady, yes, THAT Sarah Brady cuddles poor Zumbo's quotes to her chest and swears she will never let go. Or a page on MySpace labeled "Brady Campaign" with links back to the official site says it anyhow, and for really cheesed off gun people that's more than enough. (MySpace article is friends-only, linked to copied text, MySpace account is here.)

Mad props to white_serpent for finding copies of the hard articles. I was 24 pages into a 52-page thread before you came through for me. &hearts!!