Bow hunting is humane
We read the same ill-informed criticism of bow hunting every September, and all the misrepresentation, and even the lies that go along with them (Readers respond, Sept. 19). I really do believe that it's time for the emotional reactionaries to learn to tolerate lifestyles and activities that have been accepted and practiced for centuries.
After the Native Americans advanced bow hunting, our forefather migrants to this land have carried that torch to even greater advances with compound bows, fiber optic sights, razor tipped arrows and mechanical string releases all in the sole effort of making clean, accurate shots that will dispatch an animal as quickly and painlessly as possible. Some hunters prefer traditional equipment and are proficient bowmen, and bow-women. I know quite a few ladies who bow hunt. Ninety-nine times in 100, a single arrow is all it takes, and the deer is on the ground, expired in about 15 seconds.
I hunt and have taken deer with both rifle and bow. My father hunted, my grandfather hunted and my great-grandfather hunted. It's a tradition that I plan to hand down to my grandchildren too. It's a fine heritage steeped in a rich past that respects and admires the game we take.
We understand that too many deer are the source of many problems in our suburban and rural areas, but of late, they have even ventured into urban areas where they were never seen as recently as 10 years ago.
Too many would arbitrarily end bow hunting based upon the ignorant premises that they are helping or saving the deer from the mean, cruel hunters. The only thing they are doing is to help them starve, stunt their growth and become sick or even hit by cars and trucks, many times dying a slow, agonizing and early death as they crowd themselves out of their rightful places in the woods.
Steve K., Towson
HSA results are questionable
Thank you for raising the discussion about the high school assessment test results in Maryland ("Testing the HSAs," Sept. 23).
Last spring I worked at a local high school and went through the process of trying to get students ready to take their HSA tests and ended up helping many of them complete their bridge projects. Many of these students couldn't solve problems that were equivalent to the first month of algebra I, but the teachers were told to work with them so they could complete their projects. The process was totally wrong, wherein the school, math department and ultimately the teachers were blamed for these student's inadequacies. Many of the students refused to even try to do the work and insisted that even the simplest problem was beyond their grasp. So the teachers were required to do the problems with them, rather than holding them responsible. That is why so many students completed the bridge projects "successfully."
