Bambi's Mother in the Cross Hairs

The New York Times ^ | 12/02/02 | staff

[Billthedrill]

Hey, come on up to Washington - we have an explosion in the mountain lion population of late, the Anointed having illegalized dog and bait hunting of those animals a couple of years ago. Now the mountain lions have discovered another delicacy - granola-munching hikers! It is very, very difficult not to have a certain sympathy for the mountain lions in this case...

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

Here is another consideration: kids are probably more into computers now than hunting. That may or may not be a significant factor. Also, paintball games, silly as it might sound, might be diverting possible hunters as well. Then there was the ban on bad-looking single-fire rifles.

However, those two factors you mentioned are big reasons: harsh hunting regs, and fewer predators. It might seem abrupt, but don't forget the foaming-at-the-mouth wackos that Clinton unleashed in the EPA for 8 years. They grabbed up all kinds of land by hook or crook.

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

LOL! Funny pic. =]

[Darksheare]

Yes.

[Kenton]

Every year around deer season I get somebody to bite on one tired old gag of mine... some kindhearted soul will find out that I'm a hunter and as me, "You don't really kill Bambi, do you?".

"Of course not," is my reply. "My grandfather killed Bambi nearly 50 years ago for Chrissake!"

[headsonpikes]

"...you can't really go wrong with jerky."

Now, that would make a good bumper-sticker! ;^)

[jjm2111]

My parents live in the quintessential NJ suburbs. There is maybe 2-3 acres of woods nearby. The deer that live in those woods are no longer afraid of humans. If I run through the woods, they don't run from me.

A little hunting is in order.

[jjm2111]

I'd love to shoot every single Canadian goose I come across.

[2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten]

If you are right, and it is really 1910, I'm going on a real estate buying binge. My descendents, living in 2002, will be incredibly rich as a result of my shrewd selections.

Guess I need to read twice before posting. Still .... it does seem like there are a lot more deer around, even if it is 2002 and not 1910. And sorry, about your descendants, guess they'll have to work for a living after all LOL.

[tcostell]

I was as shocked as you were. A pro-hunting position on the New York Times op-ed. Just wait till the reader mail backlash tomorrow.

[Capriole]

This in the New Marx Times? AARRGGHH! My heart!

I have the explanation for this article. You remember the old saying, "A conservative is a liberal who's been mugged"? Well, this is the same thing. A hunting advocate is a liberal who hit a deer on the roads of Westchester County and totalled his BMW while he was commuting to his job at the New York Times. Now he's all outraged and horrified and wants all the deer killed. Typical.

[RKV]

LOL!

[Chancellor Palpatine]

Venison is good as a sausage or in a chili, but too gamey if done as steaks, roast or meatloaf.

[El Gato]

Never heard of a shotgun or a muzzleloader?

Not to mention bows, long, compound and cross. Cross bows would seem an excellent choice for smokepole types wanting to "convert". They don't tend to wake up the suburbanites either. Out of hearing, out of mind is another factor.

[RKV]

Some of us don't want to convert - but going covert sounds like a good option:)

[El Gato]

I guess it would be too much to ask to legalize "silencers" so that the noise wouldn't bother the neighbors, would it? Probably, but wouldn't it be fun to watch the gun grabbers argue against it? Of course suppressors are actually *required* on at least some ranges in Finnland, and it doesn't seem to have set off a wave of gangland style shootings.

[El Gato]

Some of us don't want to convert - but going covert sounds like a good option:)

I actually meant something more like branching out, getting more hunting time and taking more deer each year.

[wcbtinman]

"...more than 1 billion for repairs."

I would bet that the number is significantly higher than that.

One of my drivers came in 2 weeks ago with the left front of my Peterbilt caved in. Hit a deer going about 60mph, and did $14,000. in damage. Incredibly, the deer got up and ran off.

That little incident will cost me about $3,000. out of pocket, and I don't even get to eat off it.

[El Gato]

Try that again

I guess it would be too much to ask to legalize "silencers" so that the noise wouldn't bother the neighbors, would it?

Probably, but wouldn't it be fun to watch the gun grabbers argue against it? Of course suppressors are actually *required* on at least some ranges in Finnland, and it doesn't seem to have set off a wave of gangland style shootings.