Well, there's a few different ways of looking at this.
First, I totally understand the reasoning behind the Migratory Bird Act. There are, unfortunately, people and entities in this country that would wipe out an entire species if there was a buck or a cheap thrill in it. That's why the Passenger Pigeon is extinct and the buffalo almost became extinct. The Carolina Parakeet was totally wiped out just for feathers to decorate ladies' hats.
However, the law is too tightly bound in the paper and not spirit. There are people who found abandoned nestling crows, raised them, and love them as pets. They're also breaking the law. The same with game birds. See, you can shoot all the crows you want in some states. But to keep one as a pet is against the law. This is simply ridiculous beyond words. A person can shoot as many Mourning Doves in a season as the law allows. Let him find one as a nestling, raise it, and then it imprints and he keeps it, he's breaking the law. What kind of law permits death but not life? Why would a hunter not be allowed to give life as well as taking it? No one's saying he should be raising them and selling them as pets. But to find one that would ahve died, what, he can't go get a permit? The law is too tightly bound in paper and, as a result, it actually causes as many deaths at it prevents in many cases.
There are also people for whom raptor feathers have Spiritual significance. That being Native Americans, both enrolled and unenrolled. There are lots of Natives who are unenrolled and actually have more Native "blood quantum" than some actually enrolled in a tribe. In the Cherokee, for example, if your ancestors did not appear on the various federal government rolls, you're not a Cherokee according to both the tribe and the feds. Bearing in mind that these federal rolls came as the result of the Trail of Tears that thousands of people died on. So, if your ancestors resisted and hid out to preserve their own identity of life, then they actually lost their identity. Why does this matter? Because those unenrolled Natives have no legal right to possess raptor feathers. So, here, the federal government technically denies religious freedom as guaranteed under the First Amendment. What happens if a Native of 50% Indian blood quantum intermarries outside the tribe and his children are 25% blood quantum and the tribe has a 25% blood quantum requirement? If they intermarry, their children lose the religious freedom to possess raptor feathers. These are things to think about. In such cases as unenrolled Natives, they may have to break the law for their own religious faith to possess raptor feathers they find. Is it their fault that certain federal government policies resulted in the destruction and/or relocation of tribes and those tribes were forced to model themselves after that federal government? Again, things to ponder.
I'm not saying anyone should fletch arrows with raptor feathers. We don't need to. And I'm not disputing anything others have said here. I just wanted to bring up some other points of view that others have touched on. Thanks.
