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Quote of the Week - “What I like about Christmas is that you can make people
forget the past with the present." -Don Marquis
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Common Sense
The Progress
Editorial
December 9,2021
From the Staff
In defense of the ethical
hunter
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff Writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
Last week I wrote an article about
black bears’ hibernation patterns in north
Georgia. I got in touch with my usual
contact with the DNR and was directed
to the state bear biologist for an inter
view. Without knowing I’d be calling,
this biologist spoke with me for nearly an
hour. His genuine enthusiasm for bears
was obvious, and endearing. It was clear
that he has a profound respect for bears,
and in more general terms loves animals
and the natural world.
The conversation made me think
about all the other DNR folks I’ve inter
viewed over the years who seem to have
the same high regard for nature - and be
cause DNR officers are responsible for
enforcing wildlife and conservation laws,
the conversation also made me think
about the hunters (and fishers) I’ve met
since moving to Pickens County. In my
experience, these people are (for the most
part) deeply connected to the natural
world, carry a profound respect for the
environment and the animals that inhabit
it, and want to ensure healthy animal
populations for the future. How unfair it
is that for many people these ethical
hunters still have a bad rap, accused of
being gun-toting mouth-breathers, and
bloodthirsty murderers who kill for the
fun of it. (That accusation sounds hyper
bolic, but is stated again and again in
comments posted in response to articles
written by hunters defending themselves
as animal/nature lovers).
In one poignant, thoughtful piece by
animal advocate Paolo Marchesi, “Why
I Hunt. How Did an Animal Lover Like
Me Become a Hunter...?,” he discusses
his animal activism (including participat
ing in protests), and his abhorrence of the
factory farming system.
“The reason I became a hunter is be
cause of my love and respect for animals
and nature.. ..I am not going to stop eat
ing meat, but I can assure you that when
I take down an elk with my bow and eat
healthy lean meat for a year or two I feel
a lot better than when I take a bite off that
plastic wrapped piece of beef.”
With all of his obvious compassion for
animals, and finding what he feels is the
most ethical way he can to eat meat,
Marchesi still gets slayed in the com
ments section by several readers.
“You lost me at ‘hunter ’... You can’t be
a nature and animal lover and hunt...it’s
that simple. ’’
And...
“You try to justify your murder of an
imals with this crap [B.S.J story ...killing
animals should be banned and people
like you should be jailed. ”
He goes on to defend hunting as a nec
essary way to control animal populations
- having seen animals die from starvation
in areas that aren’t managed - and how a
lack of predators makes “natural balance
impossible.” Around a decade ago the
U.S.D.A. thinned the deer herd in Bent
Tree, which enraged several residents
there. Marchesi, an Italian who moved to
Montana in 1999, also applauds the U.S.
fish and game agencies for putting in
place and enforcing responsible and nec
essary hunting regulations.
I found numerous other articles writ
ten by hunters who felt the need to de
fend their reputations. Nate Granzow, in
“I Love Animals and I’m a Hunter. No,
That’s Not A Contradiction,” points out
the savagery of nature in the wild, and
how hunters enter into the natural world
as one of nature’s predators. He also dis
cusses the difficulty taking an animal’s
life even after decades of hunting.
“One can be a part of the natural order
while still showing kindness and tender
ness toward all animal life - domesticated
and wild...,” he writes. “To prey, a
human hunter inserting themselves into
this world is no different than the pres
ence of any other predator....That
doesn’t mean I don’t still feel a sense of
sorrow and mournfulness when I suc
cessfully harvest game. Sure, there’s a
sense of elation, too -1 put in a lot of hard
work and came away with organic, nutri
tious, humanely harvested food for my
family - but it’s tempered by the knowl
edge that I alone was responsible for tak
ing this beautiful creature’s life for my
benefit.. .We don’t derive joy from caus
ing pain, so we do our best to be merci
ful.”
He calls hunters the closest observers
of nature, and he touches on their mas
sive contributions to wildlife conserva
tion (and in a different article how
declining hunting populations have had
negative impacts on environmental con
servation efforts). There are certainly
some bad apples who poach and engage
in other immoral and disrespectful prac
tices, but by and large I’d argue that there
are overwhelmingly more ethical hunters
out there than not who care as much -
and sometimes more - about animals and
nature as any non-hunting animal lover.
Tell us your thoughts with a letter to the editor. E-mail to news@pickensprogress.com
See letter submission guidelines on the Letters to the Editor page or call us 706-253-2457.
Give the gift of life at Red
Cross blood drive
WEATHER
By William Dilbeck
HI
LOW
RAIN
Nov.
30
59
31
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Dec.
01
64
40
.00
Dec.
02
66
45
.00
Dec.
03
70
46
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Dec.
04
65
51
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Dec.
05
57
52
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Dec.
06
58
30
.30
Mt. Zion Baptist Church
invites our friends from the
community to give the gift of
life this Christmas by partic
ipating in a Red Cross Blood
Drive at our facilities next
Tuesday, December 14, from
10 a.m. until 3 p.m.
Low blood supplies
throughout the Covid crisis
are compounded with a tradi
tional slump in blood dona
tions during the holiday
season, so we encourage you
to consider signing up to
“love your neighbor as your
self.”
If you are eligible to do
nate, regularly donating pro
vides a boost to your own
health; think of it like an oil
change for your body. The
Red Cross encourages ap
pointments, which can easily
be scheduled by visiting
www.RedCrossBlood.org
and entering the Sponsor
Word “MtZionJasper", or by
calling 1.800.RED.CROSS.
A Red Cross Blood Donor
app is also available to facil
itate appointments, provide
an electronic donor card, and
offer “Rapid Pass”, a feature
that saves time at check-in on
the day of the drive. Mt. Zion
is located at 1036 N. Main in
Jasper.
(USPS 431-820)
Published by Pickens County Progress, Inc.
94 North Main Street, Jasper, GA 30143
(706) 253-2457
www.pickensprogressonline.com
DAN POOL
Publisher/Editor
Published each Thursday at Jasper, Pickens County, Georgia. Entered
at the Post Office at Jasper, Georgia. 30143 as Mail Matter of Second
Class. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to PICKENS COUNTY
PROGRESS, 94 N. Main St., Jasper, GA 30143.
One Year’s Subscription: $39.59 in Pickens County and in Gilmer,
Cherokee, Dawson and Gordon counties; $50.29 in all other Georgia
counties; $59.92 out of state.
#lbe ^>cj)ool
Other Voices
The Consequences of Honesty
By Chris Feldt
Life isn't always fair. Life
isn't always easy. Sometimes
people get the short end of
the stick.
Over the years I've
learned some hard lessons.
One of the best is as follows:
It is easier for most people to
do the wrong thing. Being
honest takes courage. Being
able to own up to your mis
takes takes strength. And not
being a lying jerk takes guts.
Most people would rather
lie than confess a mistake.
Most people surround them
selves by butt-kissing pock
ets of affirmation, lest their
bubbles of reality be shat
tered.
Our insular culture has led
us to abandon contrary
friends in the same way we
turn the channel when we
don't like the programming.
I've always been brutally
honest with friends. That ten
dency alone eliminates me
from the popularity contest.
But I have been loyal. I don't
believe that calling out a
friend, mentor, anyone is a
personal attack. Constructive
criticism maybe, but not an
attack.
But some people falsely
believe they are beyond re
proach. They are not. They
never have been.
Recently this tendency
has made me a few unin
tended enemies. I thought
they were my friends, but
they weren't. The thing about
friendship is, especially in
the case of my close friends,
is that we can challenge each
other. A friend can tell me
when I'm screwing up. A
friend can tell me when I'm
on the wrong path. If I cannot
count on my friends to do
this, then I'm left with only
my internal barometer to
judge situations. I don't know
about you, but I like having
another set of eyes on a prob
lem.
But not everyone feels
this way. Some people think
honesty is a relative concept
and that the truth needn't be
non-fictional. But I cannot
keep these people in my life
and they cannot keep me.
Like oil and water, we do not
mix. We separate for a rea
son.
It is better to have honest
enemies than lying friends.
[Chris Feldt moved to
Georgia in November of
2018 with his lovely wife and
two-year-old daughter. He
has a passion for history,
writing and hiking.]
South Cherokee/Jasper
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1623 East Church Street • Jasper, Georgia 30143
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(6 Hour Course)
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]
Brand new
lawn mower engine
Honda Vertical
OHC Engine —
160cc, GCV Series,
7 / 8in. x 3 5 / 32in.
Shaft, Model#
GCV160LA1A1A-
BLK.
Still in box,
bought new but got wrong size shaft.
Should fit lawn mowers,
not wood splitters.
Original cost $225 at Northern Tool
plus shipping. Will sell for $125.
770-894-1709