Kimberly Miller and Lisa Wager, I appreciate people like you who attempt to engage in an intellectual debate armed only with emotion instead of facts.

Let me point out a few inaccuracies in your diatribes of the last few weeks. In fact, hunting seasons are designed to not only cull male animals, but also include a doe or cow season. Therefore your argument of too few males producing multiple births has no basis.

Secondly, the NRA’s major focus is to promote gun rights and ownership, not hunting. While it does have programs for youth, these programs teach gun safety, proper use of a weapon, and marksmanship, not hunting. The NRA funds these programs, not you.

There are no “Hunter Harassment” laws that keep you from spouting your unfounded opinions either vocally or in print. There are laws that were implemented to keep people like you from going into the field and harassing people engaged in licensed, lawful hunting activities, thus violating their rights.

With regard to your claim of hunting pushing species to extinction, I refer you to the Dec. 9 edition of Time magazine. These are the current populations of a few animals as reported in this issue: Deer – 32 million – +800 percent; Wild Turkey – 8 million - +1,500 percent; Black Bear – 450,000 -- +320 percent; Raccoon – 5 million -- +2,700 percent. All of these increases were in the last 60 years.

You again made the ridiculous claim that skilled hunters shoot game at 500 yards with great success. I have hunted for 60 years and would never attempt a shot like that. The last two animals I harvested, an elk and a caribou, I donated to the food bank. You should just get your tofu turkey and other unpalatable foods ready for a Christmas that most of us would view as unsavory.