N. McStay: Moffat county resident and landowner | CraigDailyPress.com

N. McStay: Moffat county resident and landowner

As a child and young adult, I grew up in a household that hunted for the sake of provisions for our family. I now have my own family, and we continue the practice.

My father and husband prided themselves for being able to provide for the family and the enjoyment of hunting. But hunting has gone astray. What happened to the time when hunting was considered an art and skill? The thrill in the stock and the accuracy of the shot. Not to mention the benefits of the meat.

What I have seen is a display of poor marksmanship, total disregard for the land and disrespect to the animals for which they (hunters) so cherish. How can a so-called sportsman shoot into a frightened, galloping, near exhausted herd of animals? Only to count the one that goes down and not all the others that were wounded and maimed in the process. There should be a mandatory skills check off, both mentally and physically, for every hunter. Sighting in your gun is not good enough, for the paper target is not at a full run going over terrain that is otherwise impassible. If you have paid several hundred dollars for a license then another few thousand to be guided, wouldn’t you want to go home with something other than an exhausted, heaving elk that had just ran 10 miles to elude all the other Joe hunters?

Have you ever tasted the meat from such a animal? I do not have anything against to practice of hunting but I do have an issue with all the “sportsmen” that cannot shoot.

I know for a fact that game management with hunting is essential for the health of the herd, population control, reduction in the spread of diseases, not to mention land management both public and private.

Please take the time to harvest game in a sportsmanlike manner and thank you to all the other hunters that shoot responsibly and are willing to take the maimed and wounded as your own.

N. McStay

Moffat county resident and landowner


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