Nov 11 2006

Editor, The News:

Re: Big gun, small brain? (Letters, Nov. 8).

Mike Rogozinski's contribution to the Letters page was critical of hunters and quite far from the truth.

He would do well to remember that the amenities of scenery and wildlife both here andother places,the likes of whichhe and others enjoy, are the legacy from generations of organized hunters and fishers who fought on the front lines of the environmental movement fordecades before it became fashionable, sociable and the subject ofmainstream conversation.

As to his reference to children and the lessons they learn, I would ask when was the last time he tookhis children aside and explained the workings of he natural world they see around them? When was the last time he took them to a shooting range or a fish andgame clubto let them see for themselves what the shooting sports and, more importantly, the people are like.

He makes reference to the cold and cruel world that a young girl sees when she stumbles upon a dead animal, presumably killed by a hunter. Whether or not this is the actual case here, I cannot say, but I would speculate that this same young girl, and certainly not her parents, have never given a momentsthought to the sheer levels of terror and fear (somethingno hunter wishes on his quarry)that domestic animals experience in the last moments of life as the smell of death emanatesfrom the slaughter house prioras they await their turn to be processed into the burgers or nuggets that these same people enjoy in the new fast food outlet built onwild-land onthe drivehome in their SUVafter their walk on the nature trail.

Soon thispoint, Mr. Rogozinski and I share the same outlook onhow cold and cruel we superior animals called humans can be.

I would suggest that Mr. Rogozinski read some of the works from authors like Leupold, Audubon and our own Roderick Haig-Brown before he passes judgement on big gunned, small brained hunters.

Gregg Rogers

Maple Ridge