Related articles:

My opinion Andrew M. Greeley : Hunting's in genes, but it's hardly sport

Health Care
Neurological Associates of Tucson
Operations Manager Trades/Construction
Sundt Construction
Small Business Owners Legal
Munger Chadwick P.L.C
Associat For Commercial & Corporate Transactions & litigation Trades/Construction
.
Welders, Fabricators for structural steel General
TECHNICIANS Office and Clerical
Dr. Wayne Goodner, DDS
Front Office PT Office and Clerical
Manheims Tucson Auto Auction
Vehicle Title Clerk

I might dismiss Rev. Andrew Greeley's stereotypical comment about "overweight" hunters that appeared in his column, "Hunting's in genes, but it's hardly sport," Feb. 23, as simply ignorant, were it not for the fact that he's the author of numerous books. With that much experience writing, he knows how to choose words carefully.

Greeley claims hunting is some sort of release for raging male testosterone, although his contention flies in the face of the most recent statistics, which show there are more female hunters than ever before. Furthermore, it is preposterous to suggest that male humans would resort to unethical or immoral behavior, simply because their bodies produce testosterone.

A conversation with a hunter would reveal that even with high-tech equipment, most hunters still come home empty handed. According to Arizona Game and Fish Department statistics, the average success rate for deer hunters is approximately 20 percent. If you follow Greeley's logic, and conclude that humans possess such a great advantage over prey species, then why isn't that success rate much higher? It stands to reason that a pursuit in which you are successful only one in five times is certainly a "sporting" challenge.

When hunters enter the wild they are playing by the rules of nature, not man. They are faced with overcoming the animal's natural instincts, habits and skills. A rhino may not see well, but its sense of smell is unequaled. A bear may appear slow and lazy when in your local dumpster, but in the wild they are stealthy, fast and wary. Every animal from the mourning dove to the bull elk has survival instincts honed over millions of years, instincts many humans have lost, each presenting unique challenges to the hunter.

Hunting and fishing are also much more. Sportsmen pay $3 million a day through a variety of taxes, donations, permits and licenses, funding that has brought the pronghorn antelope, elk and white-tailed deer back from the brink of extinction. Were we to allow rampant packs of timber wolves to thin the herds, odds are good that most Americans would never have the opportunity to even see these magnificent creations.

Big game permit numbers in Arizona are determined by paid, professional wildlife biologists, thankfully, not preservationist sociologists like Greeley. Sportsmen can take an animal only during prescribed times of the year, using certain methods. That strict regulation and sound science are what make hunting a critical component in the management of our wildlife resources.

He tops if off by alleging hunting isn't safe and compares hunting to a junior high school team taking on the Detroit Pistons. The National Safety Council's 1995 statistics showed that for every 100,000 people who played basketball, there were 2,540 injuries, 716,182 in all. That makes basketball more than 300 times more dangerous than hunting, where only seven injuries took place for every 100,000 participants (for a total of 1,094 injuries nationwide).

Add the fact that firearm fatalities remained at record lows last year, and Greeley's piece was an insult to American hunters and and modern-day wildlife management.