Some outdoormen to consider backing Kerry [View All]

[unfrigginreal]

DENVER (AP) - Bob Elderkin's vote would appear to be a sure bet for President Bush on Nov. 2. He is a hunter, part of a conservative-leaning group of outdoorsmen that is 38 million strong and avidly supports gun rights.

But after backing Bush in 2000, Elderkin and some like-minded outdoorsmen say the Republican won't get their vote again because of his environmental policies.

"I can't vote for Bush knowing what it's going to be like the next four years," said Elderkin, a retired Bureau of Land Management employee in western Colorado where natural-gas drilling is booming. "With John Kerry, it's an unknown. As far as Bush goes, it's going to be 'Katie, bar the door.'"

Sid Evans, editor of Field & Stream magazine, said American sportsmen are divided on the president's environmental policies, finding themselves torn in some cases between the GOP's Second Amendment backing and a push to make more public land available for energy development.

http://newsobserver.com/24hour/politics/story/1742739p-9576098c.html

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Many will read this as a sign for Kerry to push his environmental stands but what's really needed are ads in close Midwestern and close Southern states that show Kerry hunting . This group already knows that Kerry will be better on the environment but they're not so sure that he won't take their guns.