Posted on 09/17/2005 9:08:12 PM PDT by neverdem
GREEN MOUNTAIN NATIONAL FOREST, Vt. - Chomping wad after wad of Bubblicious Strawberry Splash gum and giggling as she tickled people's necks with a piece of grass she pretended was a spider, Samantha Marley could have been any 9-year-old girl.
A couple of things set her apart, though. She was cloaked in camouflage from boots to baseball cap. And propped next to her on the seat of a truck was her very own 20-gauge shotgun.
Samantha, a freckle-faced, pony-tailed fourth grader, was on a bear hunt. Not the pretend kind memorialized in picture books and summer-camp chants, but a real one for black bears that live in the woods of southwestern Vermont and can weigh 150 pounds or more.
She had won a "dream hunt" given away by a Vermont man whose goal is to get more children to hunt, and she had traveled about 200 miles from her home in Bellingham, Mass., and was missing three days of school to take him up on his offer.
"Almost everything you hunt is pretty fun," said Samantha, grinning and perfectly at home with a group of five men, the youngest of whom was nearly three times her age.
At one point, as the group crossed a wooden bridge, Samantha's father, Scott, who had accompanied her - and had filled out her application for the hunting contest - teased her that trolls lived under the bridge.
"Dad," Samantha said with bravado, "I got a gun."
The dream hunt - all expenses paid, including taxidermy - was the brainchild of Kevin Hoyt, a 35-year-old hunting instructor who quit a job as a structural steel draftsman a few years ago and decided to dedicate himself to getting children across the country interested in hunting.
His efforts reflect...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
And that's your rationale for being so rude to her?
She's allowed her opinion and one would think that *here*, of all places, her opinion wouldn't be summarily mauled by those who don't hold to the same.
If you want to get really techinical, even a complete "vegan" who reads a book is guilty of "blood on their hands" because quite a lot of books are bound with hide glue.
People would be amazed at the unexpected places "animal by-products" will pop up if you're willing to pick things apart to their individual atoms, as it were.
You can get utterly ridiculous with the issue, if you're so inclined.
Personally, I'm not.
That's my view about it. Too young and immature!
Yes it's true that eggs,fish, milk are animals and animal products. They're not blood BUT I'd not want to drink milk from a factory cow. I don't wear leather or fur. It's not my style. If you want to discuss further I can talk in freepmail. Otherwise, that's pretty much what I believe and practice.
Always have to think of the old tooth paste commercials. and the following sceptical rhyme;
Why reeks goat on yonder hill
when all he eats is chorophyll.
I agree...females seem to be more natural "targeters". Maybe they see better on sighting/lining up targets.
"I didn't catch the condescending tone in it that you seem to imply"
I didn't read the article, as I've never signed up for their online access. I just assumed they see it as a negative thing. On the other hand, all the MSM is in their "relatively conservative" part of the spin cycle. They build a little credibility after the outrageous lying of the Presidential election, preparing to fool a few more people when they start outrageously lying 4 years from now.
I live in Blue Country too and read local papers. I grew up reading the Sunday NYT. Back then, however (I am 54) the NYT was completely different. They taught me anti-communism!
"What a country we would have if EVERY 9-year old girl had her own shotgun and went bear hunting with her Daddy!"
That'd require an awful lot of bears.
But I do get your meaning.
Here's one thing I've battled with 'ethical vegans' over. That is bee pollen and honey :-) BTW, I'm used to my conversative brethren 'protests and disagreements' over this issue. I just wish that liberals weren't the ones so pushy about things like organic farming and small,independent farming.
I mispelled it too...it's chlorophyll. It's good for the teeth and in a natural toothpaste formula I have hehehe.
Honey is bee barf....LOL!
[aren't you sorry you even got outta bed this morning?]...;D
Not only that but eggs are chicken menstruations and bacon dead pig ass. Such was explained to me before and now that I've told this to petronski, that's what he says on the telephone :D
If a person is introduced to hunting (if should so choose) at an early age, they benefit from it. Where they learn discipline, always safety first, fair chase credo, adherence to game laws and the awesome responsibility which goes with the use of firearms, that is a good thing. IMO, it is something that carries over into their growing up to become responsible adult citizens.
I had guns and hunted before I was ten years old, same for our children, and it is the same for our grand children.
Some pics of our grandson, turkey at age eleven, at age twelve, he took an antelope, deer and elk. Now that he can pull a 40 pound draw, has graduated to archery and does most of his hunting with a bow.
http://hstrial-rchambers.homestead.com/Photo_Album.html
I agree with you. Nice pics too.
"Woolite" can be your friend. clothes and pets bathed/washed in woolite lose their aromatic intensity very quickly.
My tag goes both ways. We're ALL entitled....blah blah blah.
Mucho congrats to you and Petronski, BTW.
Goodnight, and may God bless you both, keep you healthy and I pray all your children are hale, hearty and full of the joy of life.
You may later curse at me for these prayers, but in the long run, you know they are all for the good.
LOL!
[I wonder how many FReepers will go to bed with empty stomachs tonight or skip breakfast tomorrow?]
Thus my tag line.........:o)
thanks..the sentiments are appreciated. Good night.
You meant "livin' in the sticks", not "living in the sticks", right? ;-)
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