First of all, non hunters find dead animals unpleasant to look at. I've been doing hunting stories for years, and I still haven't gotten used to it. Brave old me does the interviews, and sends the photographer in to the butcher shop to get the video alone.
Like any activity, a few bad hunters give the rest a bad name. You know the ones-- the ones who shoot too close to homes, who leave a mess in the woods, aren't careful, break the rules, etc.
Is death the best method of population control? I don't know. I'm just throwing that out there. Thanks to killing bears at the Avoca airport, and a friendly turkey in Tunkhannock, the Pennsylvania Game Commission has developed a reputation for taking death as the easy answer.
Should we control growth better? There are many roads I used to wander when I was doing my hunting stories. Some of those roads are now housing developments.
It's clear we have to do something. You should listen to all the police radio activity, and see the news releases that come in to my office. Crash after crash after crash caused by collisions with deer.
The state really does need to change. The start of bear season was moved to a Saturday a few years ago. That seems to be working well. There's no reason we can't do the same with rifle deer season. Shorten Thanksgiving break for the schools. It gives you another snow day pad, or you can graduate earlier in the spring.
Why do we still have a Game Commission and a Fish and Boat Commission? A merger makes sense on so many levels.
Look, there are a lot of responsible hunters out there. Some hunt to eat, and others donate the meat to food banks and those in need. Deer hunters pump $ 1.6 billion into the state's economy. It helps fill hotels in the off season after Thanksgiving and before skiing.
The whole activity seems to have a major public relations program.
