Hunting Prohibited

Dear Editor:

The debate on whether hunting should be allowed has been raging for years. For thousands of years, man was responsible for providing food for his family. This almost always included a weapon of some sort. The gun has proven to be the most efficient way to kill an animal and provide food. Now that society has progressed enough to sell the meat our family eats in a plastic and Styrofoam packaging in the grocery store, some people have decided to eliminate hunting.

But what about those of us who want to be self-reliant and provide for ourselves? I am a 16-year-old hunter with at least five years of experience hunting. I have gone to every gun safety class that has been presented in my community. I eat the meat from the animals I shoot, and I am careful to leave the environment as I found it. Why should someone who doesn’t like hunting be allowed to tell me what I can and cannot do?

I do not want to take responsibility for all hunters, as I know there are irresponsible hunters that give hunting a bad name. I realize that not all people like the concept of killing and shooting animals. But I am not forcing them to hunt just because I like to. Some feel that hunting is violent. It is only violent, in my opinion, if you do shoot what you do not plan to eat.