European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 18, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 10 letters the stars and stripes monday november 18, 1985 replies to letter criticizing Hunting i would like to Lake Issue with a recent letter. This letter condemned Hunting presenting a great Deal or data in 9 very partic ular manner. The writer presented her Point quite clearly and evidently did an admirable amount of Homework. 1 do not wish to Dis Pute the Points raised As Hunting is a subject about which both partisans and opponents have a Mountain of data. Both detailed and self serving. Parties on both sides of this subject err in presenting their viewpoints couched in statistics missing the Basic Issue. That Hunters of reload off the pub Lic coffers making the majority foot the Bill for their bloody pleasures does t seem to me 3 cause celebre either. I won t bore your readership with the Cost of resident and non resident licensing that is paid every year millions of Hunters. I won t mention that in Many places Hunters must pay to Hunt certain lands. There is no Point to be served to Point out that the excise on weapons and ammunition is Only a Small part of the Federal game commission s budget. That in t what s got hackles up. I won t debate the morality of Hunting. Morality is an incredibly Over used word today often used to mean How dare you vary from accepted patterns of con duct you ill bred Cretin what pastimes we enjoy arc largely a mutter of Back ground and Persona taste. For instance. 1 was raised in a Semides cart area. Skiing and snowman building weren t Loo big. Still i Don t mind that wide swaths Are Cut from mountainsides to create ski runs nor do i mind a neighbor Selling off for a weekend at the chalet. I figure that that s the Way he or she has fun. Can t begrudge anyone a Day in the outdoors even on artificial Snow. The Issue seems to be in this mentioned writer s mind that Deer and other animals arc killed. Can t dispute that. Is it wrong beastly and cruel personally i was raised in a household where. A. Hunting was of and we hunted for the animals that we wished in the seasons set aside and b. We minded our own business leaving morality to been forced on a familial level. You Sec this is the Point that has me upset extremists on just about every Issue the writer was not an extremist let me say. But an obviously sincere opponent introduce emotionalism and spurious data into their arguments. As anti Hunters an Throop morphine wildlife condemning Hunters As wasteful cruel Beer guzzling layabout to do Hunting extremists some times claim to do the animal a favor drilling it so that it does t die of aids or something. The Point of All this is simple if you Are a Hunter or an anti Hunter raise your Chil Dren accordingly. If you Don t like the Way our Public lands arc being managed write to your elected officials. If you do like the Way wildlife management efforts have been going do the same. Finally i do not wish to defend sport. There is nothing As far As i can see to defend. Hunting is enjoyed millions nationwide on lands bom Public and Pri vate and has been just about forever. Not Hunting is enjoyed As warmly millions and has been for just about As Long. The sincerity of our Hunting citizens to the preservation of the wilds if in ques Tion can be tested on an individual level. The conviction of non Hun Leri can be tested if need be the same Way. Our wild lands arc steadily shrinking. A fact. Some species of wild animals and Birds Are being Well managed and arc More populous today than when Columbus landed. Another fact. This management run even at its most base moral level at least As much for the animals and Birds Benefit As for any Spe Cial interest group is bankrolled with pub Lic and private funds from Hunters fees and non Hunters taxes. Deer Are fed Pic Nic tables arc built outhouses Are painted signs arc posted ducks Are banded and habitat is preserved and created with these funds. Hunters Benefit True. They pay the same taxes. Leave t. Person to his or her own tastes. Hunting is belter for me and maybe worse for you Here to stay. Hunters Are a class of people Worth knowing before starting All of the condemning. If you feel the need to Wear your heart on your sleeve you might try to do so with some understanding be you a Hunter anti Hunter plumber anti plumber or whatever. Hell referring Back to skiing com Parison. I might decide to condemn skiers. You d be Daft to want to regulate or eliminate skiing As i want to eliminate Hunting. Nothing is killed with skis of yeah i reply you be never seen me on skis . Hewitt Augsburg Germany. Federal commissions exist for the purpose of managing All types of natural resources minerals forests watersheds the air we breathe. These Are legitimate expenditures of Public funds for the Public Benefit to ensure that these resources Are used widely and that they Are conserved for future generations. Such is the charter of the Federal game commission. It is a legitimate use of Public funds. Us efforts support not Only game Ani Mals but Benefit non game species As Well. Witness the Many thousands of Dol Lars spent in protecting the obscure red acc faded Woodpecker native to the South cast and what about the lowly Snail Darter a two Inch fish that held up the construction of the Clico dam for More than eight years. Witness also the record Harvest of Moose this year in Maine a species that just 20 years ago was near extinction in thai land. 1 applaud the management efforts of the Federal game commis Sion for both the obscure As Well As the spectacular wildlife species. To say that the commission exists for the sole Bene fit of Hunters is a distortion of truth if not an outright lie. Regarding the manipulation of habitat is there no other explanation for controlled burning of forestland More than 400,000 acres according to the writer than As a scheme to provide Mure Deer for Hunters to kill having been raised in the West where the mention of fire and Forest in the same sentence was cause for general alarm i was astounded the practice in the Southeast of deliberately setting forests ablaze. A professional forester employed a pulp paper Mill explained that each year the dry underbrush and grasses were burned off at a time when the Trees would not be damaged the heat of the fire a period of no growth. This he said was done to Avert the destruction of the Forest in the event of fire to other times of the year. Here then is another possible explanation for the deliberate burning of Forest land. How valid it is beats me i m not a forester. But i will admit that the practice did provide More browse and hence More Deer. Similarly were 18,000 acres of for est clearcut for increased game production or were Thi forests Cut to Harvest Trees were 33,000 Miles of roads created to provide Access to wilderness for Hunters or were these roads made the logging Industry Oil and natural Gas exploration teams or perhaps ranchers who prefer to distribute feed to their livestock truck rather than horseback. As to the thousands of pets killed traps i have Little sympathy. I m not a trapper but it seems to me that Iraq links Are generally placed Well away from in habited areas. So what s the Domestic dog and cat doing while running free in the wild i be read that More Deer Are killed in the Northeast each year dogs than Hunters. I witnessed a Friend s 4-h project sheep Herd of 40 animals reduced to Only 12 in less than two weeks neighbourhood pets in California. A pet belongs at Home and owners who allow their pets to run free Are either ignorant or uncaring of the damage that Little Fluffy and Musty can do. When attacks Are levelled at Hunters All too frequently it is on an emotional and moralistic basis. We re a Bunch of blood thirsty killers. Docs the same apply to your local Butcher or did that steer voluntarily commit suicide. At Home i kept a Garden. I derived great satisfaction in providing for fam ily the fresh vegetables that i grew from seed and harvested. I derive a similar satisfaction when the meat on the table is a direct result of efforts. I Don t Hunt for subsistence any More than 1 Garden for subsistence and frankly Corn fed beef tastes better and is a lot cheaper than wild game. But the satisfaction is real. Please in future attacks against Hunting spare me the moral judgments and present facts in an unbiased Light. James a. Cox Rhein main a Germany. I believe the writer truly loves Ani Mals if not wisely at least fully. Don t Stop but please Wake up and smell the Coffee. If the Hunters of our country had not under the Wise leadership of Hunting and sporting clubs during the 1930s and later organized grown and lobbied we would not have a larger Deer population in the United Stales today than at the time of Columbus or the protected wetlands for water fowl of All kinds that exist today. You re right about Many animals dying in the Burn off and Clear cuts and i Grieve for the loss. I Don t propose that every step of Progress was valid and Many were planned biologists not Hunters. 1 Only propose that what Hunter started the rest of us or you if you prefer will continue. Only a non meat eater can truly criticize a Hunter. I Don t agree with the vege tarian but i can at least empathize with his position. the Way and May i qualify this right Here i do not believe in inflicting or allow ing to be inflicted unnecessary pain and suffering on any creature be it wild or Domestic we should see to their welfare but i stand behind the Hunting kill As mrily As the Slaughter of a cow pig or horse. Your sacred cow is another Man Standard fare. Two David n. Smith Parma sons Germany i would like to thank the stars and stripes for recently publishing letters from your readers concerning animal welfare and the cruelties of abandoning Pels Hunt ing for sport killing animals of Ihei fur and cockfighting. It s heartening to know there Are people who care enough to write in about the Many aspects or animal welfare. It s a Sib Jet a lot of people could t care Ess about or Are ignorant about but one that is vitally important. Animals Are living creatures worthy of our care and respect. Ures. printing these letters you Are provid ing a tremendous Opportunity to open peo ple s ryes to the cruelties inflict econ a Mals. These letters arc a form of humane education thai will hopefully make people aware of the truly sad plight Many Ani Mals Are faced with today. Laura i. Dunlop Karachi Pakistan. The object of meat packing Hosoi and commercial fishing fleets is also to kill animals. How can the writer also not agree thai it is killing regardless of the killer s motives As far As i am concerned those who demand Ivory make illegal poaching profitable those who crave fun make trapping that bloody Hobby and those who freq Cal Kentucky Fried Chick in provide a convenient excuse to murder millions of innocent chickens for profit. Buying our meat in neatly wrapped packages for generations has so insulated millions of us americans from the reality of the food Cycle that seeing Granny wring a Chicken s neck is nauseating. Havin the experiences educated out of him he president of friends of animals can he from his just finished porterhouse Steak and expound on the evils of Hunting. Let the vegetarians protest respect their opinions. As for most of us if we Are unwilling to say no to schnitzel and in Stead to go stalking a wild asparagus checking Carrot traps or fishing for water Crest we ought not to tread on the rights of responsible citizens who May also Hunt Nelson Perkins Vilseck Germany. I like millions of other people am an animal Lover. I am not one of those people who says trapping and Hunting Are cruel without knowing anything about it. I have read Many articles and talked to Sev eral people about trapping and Hunting. As far As Hunting goes what gives nun the right to thin out the animal Popula Tion if everyone were to do that we would have no animals left in the world. As for trapping everyone who has. Heart would think that is sick. Those Ani Mals suffer. Most trappers still use steel traps and even those who use rubber trips arc not doing the animals any favors. Have you Hunters trappers Ever put your hand or foot into either traps it it very painful. Animals sometimes bite their leg off or stay alive for Days suffer int. Sometimes the wrong animal is can Jet Skunk Badger Cic and is then just thrown away. Also Many trappers do not Check their traps for several Days they just leave tit animals suffering. I could go on and on but i will jut Sty that people who kill animals for any son have no feelings or conscience a make me and Many other people Hack l would much rather sit Down to a dinner of vegetables rather than a Steak. Don t think for a moment that wild animals have m feelings because they have More than most people think. Shane Root Raf Ben Walen in und first it is interesting to note the a Tia Oer of figures and percentages that appear throughout the letter. I could easily conic. Up with some equally impressive numb Tel and percentages to support the other Smo of the argument. That however would not prove anything except that we should always be careful about blindly accept statistics As proof of anything. It seems fairly Clear that the to primary objection to Hunting is that Tefr valves the killing of animals. I would to to ask her a few questions concerning up objection. Do you Ever cat meat do a Ever eat anything cooked in animal of 00 you own or have you Ever bought i made of leather shoes cot Del / if the answer to any of these que on ?.y. Then you arc responsible � inc killing of animals and you re a Hyp. Maybe you la think about that tic next time you condemn Hunters As cow blooded killers. Or the next time you Villa inc commissary. It Lageman corp Pingen Germany
