Sent to the Journal News – 12/25/03
letters@thejournalnews.com 250 words or less.
12/25/03
In his “In Reply” article, hunter Peter J. Dronzek speaks glowingly about hunting, but despite his claim that “bow hunting is extraordinarily efficient,” the truth is that most of the deer shot by bow hunters are wounded and never retrieved.
In its report, “An Assessment of Deer Hunting in New Jersey,” the NJ Division of Fish and Game documented the percentage of deer that bow hunters shoot but do not eventually find: “Langenau (1986) found that archery deer hunters were estimated to have retrieved 43% of the deer hit by arrows…”
This state’s hunting agency is openly admitting that bow hunters wound 57% of the deer they hit with arrows. What will happen to these deer? It would surprise no one to learn that many of them run into roadways where they are hit by cars.
In fact, deer/car collisions increase when hunting season opens. Hunters “driving” deer may inadvertently scare the animals into the face of oncoming traffic, while other deer who are running for their lives away from hunters meet a similar fate. State game agencies artificially manipulate deer herds for maximum sustainable yield so they can reap the profits from the sale of hunting licenses, weapons and ammunition.
The New York Bureau of Wildlife is to blame for the frequency of deer/car accidents today.
To learn what you can do to stop the spread of the awful disease of sport hunting, contact the Committee to Abolish Sport Hunting at 845-256-1400 or see our website at
http://www.all-creatures.org/cash/
Joe Miele, Vice President
The Committee to Abolish Sport Hunting
Box 562
New Paltz, NY 12561