The Hunt Was Not Meant to Be Enjoyed

The headline of your story “Women Find They Enjoy the Hunt as Well as the Next Guy” (March 21) was disturbing, but to read that this woman shot a doe with a shotgun astonished me. I am a septuagenarian and maybe times have changed, but when I was growing up in Montana many years ago, one shot deer with rifles and one didn’t shoot does.

Hunting is an unnecessary relic from times when people needed to put food on the table. It is declining in popularity because more and more people recognize that it’s a cruel and barbaric pastime. It would be even less popular if state fish and game organizations, gun manufacturers, the National Rifle Assn. and a handful of pro-hunting organizations didn’t hype and promote blood sports and contribute heavily to politicians.

WALLACE DANIELSON

San Diego

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It’s really sad that the woman from Virginia cannot be invigorated, have her senses stimulated, simply by enjoying the quiet and beauty of the woods without killing an animal.

I’m a cross-country skier and thoroughly enjoy the chance to experience nature. Bringing a gun to shoot a living creature certainly negates the whole beautiful experience.

BERNICE

VAN STEENBERGEN

Long Beach