The following is certain to be thought provoking. It certainly has been for me for the last few days as I try and call myself a hunter amidst the masses in this, the 2002 firearms season.

Firearms deer season opens in Michigan every year on November 15th. We all look forward to it, even I, who spend every day after work in a tree stand, stalking or a ground blind bow hunting from October first. Many head up north to their favorite deer camps. I've never taken a deer with a firearm in my history of hunting. I've shot plenty of other game: caribou, black bear, and numerous antelope species in Africa, with several different calibers of firearms. I've taken several deer with my bow.

Year after year, for the Michigan opener, as I am sure in many other states, an army of well appointed hunters heads out to fill deer tags. But is it really a hunt? Shouldn't we call it a shoot? Isn't that what it really is? Few can really say they were hunting. It's a waiting game and a shot on opportunity.

You ask, why and how can I say this?

Here's why: Opening morning is a race to hit any deer as they are caught unaware of what is going on. Pretty soon there are bands of animals running, tongues hanging, scared witless with hunters stationed nearly around every tree stump for miles. The contestants hope the guy on the next property scares some his way so he might have a chance to put a tag on something. Most deer taken are shot on the run, trying to escape the wall of lead following them non-stop during the daylight hours. Shots ring out like a battlefield all day. Wounded animals are lost; and several hunters are shot and killed during this frantic two-week period. I think this is a sad state. This is not hunting.

I have never seen this hunting in Africa. The animals are plentiful; they are wary, but it is due to constant predator pressure. They are, however, not constantly running in fear and relegated to nocturnal hours. Hunting them isn't easy; it's sporting and requires generally a bit of work getting close enough. You will walk and stalk for hours and sometimes days. However, the chances for a successful hunt are MUCH greater. This is hunting.

Why is it so different?

For one thing, their hunting season is very long and in many cases, year round. There is no tremendous rush of thousands of hunters trying to fill tags in a very short period of time. There is no battlefield volley continuing all day. Animals are harvested on a quota system. Studies of populations are done every year and each property is issued a number of harvest permits per year. Clients come in and shoot game, keeping a balance of male and female animals. Game is harvested to put meat on the tables and game populations do not suffer.

Why aren't we doing this same thing in America? Why aren't hunters issued a certain number of tags, per year, per sex of species and said to take your allotted number whenever you want? What is wrong with this system? Pressure on the deer herds will be minimum. Game isn't running scared and forced to become nocturnal within days. Young animals aren't stressed out before cold winters come in and make it harder for them to survive until the next spring. Fewer hunters will be wounded or die from another's bullet.

In this day and age, we should not have unbalanced ratios of male and female deer. People should not be killed by other hunters. Game should not be faced with overcrowding in some areas and rancid disease infecting and spreading state to state. Game should not be running scared and nocturnal within a matter of hours. We can do much better, so why don't we?

I can see many advantages to this system for our game management purposes. It's time to re-think hunting and how we do and what we really call it.

* The Views expressed here are of the Author and do not reflect the views of WomenHunters.*