Letter: Hunters should act like sportsmen

Dear Editor:

As a lifetime Green River resident and hunter I write this letter in disappointment.

I take pride in the city and the people who live here. Residents enjoy the outdoor activities that are abundant in this area, and each September and October the sportsmen and hunters enjoy going on the big hunt. In the past this meant tromping through the mountains looking for the elusive six point elk or a trophy mountain deer.

This has changed for many. For the last nine or 10 years, the family ranch I grew up on has become bombarded with hunters. First bow hunters in September and then rifle hunters in October looking to kill the deer and moose that graze in our hayfields.

These animals have no fear of humans; you can walk within 10 feet of the “wild animals” for the big hunt. Each year residents offer to clear the fields to protect our hay. (I would gladly lose 100 bales to the animals).

Hunters ask for permission and when told no, they go to the top of the bluffs overlooking the property to trespass, or they line the mountain sitting on private property in hopes of killing an animal without actually hunting. Over the last four or five years I have found the gut shot dead animals, and I have heard every excuse in the book as the brave men are only doing it because their son or wife drew out.

This year the so called hunters have bombarded my family and I with calls to kill the big moose or deer which have posed for numerous photos all summer.

I have lost respect for the people I know who call this hunting and for the people I don’t know who trespass to kill and not hunt. I am happy to say none of my close friends have asked, because they are hunters and sportsmen.

It is only September; I hate to see what October brings as 30 hunters line the bluff on private property or sit at the corner above our property to shoot an animal that won’t run from humans. Last year one of these hunters shot over the top of the house toward the golf course and interstate to kill a deer within 100 feet of my parent’s home.

I challenge the hunter to go hunt for game that have a chance, spend time with your children on a real hunt (the time spent not the kill is the important thing), quit teaching them how to lie and trespass,

I challenge the sheriff’s office and Wyoming Game and Fish to patrol and be a visible presence this time of year as people shoot off of main roads, trespass, and endanger people as they shoot toward our home, the interstate, Gaensslen ranch and the golf course, along with violating numerous game laws.

Most of all I challenge the true sportsmen to go hunt which means tracking, calling, and stalking wild game. If not, contact me next year and I can put a deer or moose in our corrals to make it easier for you.

A great president, Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt, turned down that offer while on a bear hunt in Mississippi.

I hope to see the true hunter return.

Bill Hodges

Green River