Hunting Weapons

It was one of those raw, chilly mornings that typify late autumn in the treeless beauty of the high plains near Casper, Wyo. My son and I were up early in a gently falling snow, surveying the hills and gullies which formed the subject of his master’s degree research.

Many pronghorned antelope and a few deer grazed nearby, alert but unconcerned with our presence. Quite suddenly, we heard the distant but distinct sound of light machine-gun fire apparently coming from a neighboring ranch. The gunshots were increasingly clear, carried to our location by the soft wind. The deer and antelope seemed to have sensed it, as well.

As we crouched low on the slope of a deep gully, peering over the ridge, we saw great numbers of antelope racing toward us. The ranch was bordered by barbed-wire and when the animals reached the fence many jumped over it. Some ran through it and away in frantic bounds along both sides of the gully. Others became entangled and impaled upon the wire.

As the sound of hoofs receded, the guns abruptly ceased. The quiet of the morning was restored except for the sporadic bleats of the trapped antelope. Later, some of the animals were freed from the wire. Others, badly injured, were destroyed by the local sheriff and his deputy.

Inquiries as to the reason for the machine guns, the legality of the exercise, were met with grins and calm assurance. “That’s just Ted and some of his boys. They sure love to hung with them Uzis.”

As I stood there with my son, my mind flashed back to another time years ago when I, a young boy, was walking with my father in a Nebraska field. We were hunting. I had not yet been allowed a weapon of my own and his, as always, was an old Springfield bolt-action rifle with one round in the chamber. Dad’s view was simple and effective. If the deer was close enough to hit easily, one round was enough. If far off, in brush or forest, one shot again was sufficient and prudent. Thus a hunter learned to stalk, listen, and shoot well.

And now it is 1989. Purportedly rational men tell us that semiautomatic weapons, easily converted to full automatic, are the necessary God-given right of all hunters and “sportsmen.”

Wars require a broad variety of killing devices. But the plain truth is that these massively destructive weapons are of no legitimate use to the mentally well hunter or target shooter.

RICHARD G. BERRY

Redondo Beach