[Bottom Gun]

I just finished writing the following letter to a lady I met on an internet chat site. She was very friendly until I mentioned hunting. She then told me of her distaste for hunting and hunters in general.
To make a long story short, I decided to write the following letter to her. Since she probably won't even bother to read it, I decided to post it here as well in hopes that it might prove beneficial to someone here if they should encounter an anti they feel might be worth trying to convert.
To those who might find it boring, I apologize. To those who feel it may be of some use to them, please feel free to copy and use all or part of it.
Please let me know if it turns out to be of use to anyone since I'd like to think I haven't wasted my time writing it.
My apologies to anyone named Bubba or Billy Bob. The use of your name wasn't mean as a slam on you.
I'll keep you posted on this lady's response.

Here it is:


Hi (Name withheld),

Gee, I sure hope I'm misunderstanding what you're trying to say.
I'd like to try to explain hunting the way I see it. Please try to be objective when you read it. That's all I ask. I'd hate to think I'd wasted the time it has taken me to write this for you.

I'm not real big on golf or tennis, but if I had a chance to meet a nice lady who was an avid golfer, I certainly wouldn't pass on meeting her simply because I didn't like the game of golf. Heck, I'd probably ask to play a round or two with her before I passed judgement.

Yes, I like to hunt. It's not my sole passion in life, but I do enjoy it.
I put in for deer and elk tags every year. Arizona has a lottery system for tags.
If I'm drawn for a tag, I hunt. If I'm not, then I don't.
If I hunt, it's normally for two to four weeks in the fall.
I don't shoot anything I'm not planning to eat, nor do I "trophy hunt". I do not have heads hanging on every wall in my home.
I will not take a shot unless I'm certain of putting the animal down quickly and humanely. I do this because I respect the animals I hunt and have no desire to be cruel to them anymore than I'd abuse my own pets. I like animals.
I don't waste any of the meat and I give a lot of it away. . .much of it to people who couldn't afford to buy steaks or roasts otherwise.
Incidentally, I think wild game is better than supermarket beef shot full of steroids or hormones.

I wish people who are so down on responsible hunting would take the time to research it before closing their mind to it. I wish they would educate themselves and THEN form an opinion instead of parroting the emotional hype spewed forth by animal rights activists like Mary Tyler Moore and others.
I wish they would take the time to talk with a conservation officer. The officer will tell them that hunting is an essential part of game management and conservation. Most game animals require management these days because their numbers are increasing while available habitat is on the decline.

Many anti hunting people have never seen a wild animal in its habitat, nor have they ever seen a winter kill. If they had, they would probably think differently about hunting.
In case you never heard the term, a winter kill is the result of too many animals and too little food. It can happen naturally during an especially severe winter, but it's more often caused by man.
It happens a lot to deer in the Northeastern states. Animal rights groups will lobby, petition, etc to have certain areas will be closed to deer hunting. If they are successful, the deer population explodes since these groups normally forget to educate the deer on birth control.
Once the snow starts, food becomes much less plentiful for them. The sad fact is, this is the time when they need nourishment the most to generate the energy needed to stave off the cold.
The patch of woods which has enough vegetation to support X number of deer during the summer, now has 2X, 3X, or even 4X the amount of animals competing for what little food is left during winter. In this situation, it's not only the sick and weak animals that suffer, they ALL suffer.

I've seen winter kills in person and I've seen many photos taken in other areas. It's not a very pretty sight. Many starve to death, many are killed by vehicles as they leave their forest and wander into populated areas in their frantic search for food, and many more emaciated animals must be humanely put down by conservation officers. It's a terrible waste of a valuable natural resource.

Meanwhile back in the city, the anti hunting activists pat themselves on the backs for "saving" these deer from hunters. The sad fact is that if the deer had been hunted, the population would be thinned down to a reasonable number proportionate to the amount of available food and the balance of the herd would survive the winter in good health. This is why, in states like Arizona, the Game and Fish Dept carefully keeps count of the game and issues the appropriate number of permits each year.

Now don't get me wrong. I don't blame the activists for what they're trying to do because they simply don't understand the situation. They're coerced into "taking action" by some well known celebrity who has most likely never stepped off the pavement, so they march in their leather shoes shrieking at anyone within earshot with their signs. They petition. They demonstrate against the killing of God's creatures. They spray paint on stranger's furs. Then, after a busy day of saving God's creatures they'll stop at a restaurant for a good steak or pick up a bucket of chicken on the way home.
They never stop to think about where the steak, the chicken, or the leather for their shoes came from.

Perhaps they think domestic cattle and chickens are gently euphemized by a vet in a sterile environment? Or that the animals are forced to watched the Rosie O'Donnell show until they lose the will to live?
I'm afraid it doesn't work that way. I'm not going to go into detail, but I'll guarantee that if you ever take a tour through a "processing facility" (We used to call them slaughter houses before it became too offensive to some people) it will sicken you. It sickened me when I went to visit a friend who worked in one.
Personally, I'd rather participate in a seal clubbing expedition than work one day in a "processing facility".

The point I'm trying to make is that game animals are normally harvested more humanely than our domestic animals are.
Most hunters are responsible folks who expend a lot of effort to take an animal cleanly. Unfortunately some of the media likes to portray hunters as snaggle-toothed unshaven hillbillies named Bubba or Billy Bob who spray the forest with automatic weapons in hopes of dropping a deer so they can saw the horns off and leave the carcass to rot. The media ignores that fact that many upstanding professional people hunt. Ted Nugent is an avid hunter. Jimmy Carter used to hunt. Charlton Heston hunts to name a few.

OK, I've bent your ear long enough. Now I'd like to issue a challenge:
I'd like you to join me next season. You don't have to hunt, but I'd like you to come along so you can see how a deer or an elk hunt is conducted. You say you like the outdoors so I'll guarantee you'll have a good time and you won't have to witness anything disturbing or drink blood or any of that nonsense. You won't have to gather wood, cook, or wash dishes, etc. You'll be my respected guest.
You will, however, witness the comradery, the friendly rivalry, good natured ribbing, the wonders of nature and the excitement in addition to some fun times around the campfire.
You can use my motor home and I'll pitch a tent for myself. I guarantee you'll be very comfortable and have fun as well.

What do you say? Will you hold off forming an opinion on hunting until you've had chance to see what it's all about?

The gauntlet has been thrown. Do you have the nerve to pick it up or are you afraid you might have to change your way of thinking?