My name is Chris
Bradford. I am a resident of Pitt Meadows, a husband, father of two, and I am an
angler and hunter. Thank you for the opportunity to have such an open forum on
this topic.
This topic is
always an emotional one for people, as some believe that there is no need for
hunting in our “modern” society. They will say that "there are
butchers, so you can get your meat there.” Fair enough. BUT, under that
SAME thought process, I could propose that there are a number of other things
our "modern" society can do without.
Libraries for
example. ALL the info you could ever need is available online, and
devices like a Kindle let you download and store all the books you want.
Museums are
another. Every artifact in a museum could have its picture taken and be
downloaded for your viewing pleasure.
Little girls
baking cookies with their grandmas. There are bakeries all over that sell all
kinds of baked goods, and they are cheaper too!
All of these are
things are no longer needed in our "new" society. Now just think how
absurd that sounds! Well, to those of us in the hunting community, so too does
banning it.
For us, the
smell of neoprene waders, rubber boots and freshly poured coffee in a musty
marsh, is the same as the smell of those cookies baking in the oven. The
lessons of gun safety, ethical shot selection, proper game handling and
preparation for the table is the same as the measuring and mixing of
ingredients, the dangers of a hot stove and the greasing of a cookie sheet.
The ever changing
early morning light, filtering in and filling a frosted pre-dawn forest to
reveal a fresh scrape or a rub is equal to the depth of the painter's brush
stroke, or the light cast on a sculpture and the shadows created, revealing its
true beauty.
The pride that is
on the face of the little "pig-tailed" girl as she hands you a
homemade cookie, is the SAME pride we have all felt, and our children now feel,
when we serve our legally harvested wild game to our appreciative family and
friends.
I believe
that this council has the understanding to realize that eliminating hunting
from this area, as development and nature collide, will only increase the
amount of human and wildlife conflicts.
A lesson taught
to me by my grandfather, is that "the most dangerous bear in the woods, is
the one that has lost its fear of man."
I believe that
creating a buffer zone for Pinecone Burke Provincial Park will allow all users
to safely co-exist and maintain a healthy, non-threatening wildlife population.
As has been
previously mentioned, by this council, the correspondence with the hunting
community has been respectful.
That is because
hunting is all about "respect". Respect of the environment.
Respect to the conservation of a healthy animal population. Respectfully
sharing the land with others and most importantly, respecting the game
harvested. As hunters, we are respectful that there will be those who do
not like it. We would ask not that you "respect" hunting, but
rather that an open and objective mind be kept during these discussions.
There is a
misconception that hunting is about "killing", this is simply not true. The death of an animal, be it a fish, bird, bear, deer, cow, chicken or
pig, is simply a "part" of the process to bring meat to the
table. Society just does not give the same "Disney" treatment
to the last three. Make no mistake, "Fog-horn-leg-horn", "Porky
Pig" and the "cow that jumped over the moon" are just like
"Winnie the Pooh" and "Bambi". They are all fictional
cartoon characters!
Deer and bear are
"wild" animals. Mistaking them as anything else is neither “safe” for
the community, nor "respectful" to their wild nature.
There is
lots of area for us all to, safely use.
A buffer zone will work. We can all safely co-exist.
I hope that
council will consider all information when making its decision.
"Goose Hunter at Dawn" photo from gunsandsupply.com.
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