Please Urge Florida Water Management District to Ditch Bowhunting Proposal

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BACKGROUND | SOURCE PETA

The Suwannee River Water Management District in Oak Park, Fla., is considering leasing its lands to bowhunters in an attempt to raise funds for land management activities. Reportedly, the district delayed moving forward with the proposal until July, but the plan for bowhunting remains on the table! Your voice is needed today!

Bowhunting is among the cruelest forms of hunting. Bowhunters often spend hours following bloody tracks before finding wounded deer. Many are not found, and their deaths are slow and painful. It can take weeks for them to succumb to their injuries. Families are then torn apart, and young and weak animals starve or die of dehydration.

Please urge Suwannee River Water Management District officials to ditch bowhunting—and then forward this message widely! The district can humanely capitalize on natural areas by charging visitor-use fees for hiking, biking, and kayaking!


WHOM TO CONTACT

Send polite comments to:

The Suwannee River Water Management District Board

Telephone: 386-362-1001

Email using this Web form


SAMPLE LETTER

Dear District Officials,

It has come to my attention that the Suwannee River Water Management District in Oak Park, Florida, is considering leasing its lands to bowhunters in an attempt to raise funds for land management activities.   Please allow me to illustrate a few of my concerns.

First, killing deer artificially increases food supplies to the remaining deer, the consequence of which is increased reproduction and an ensuing greater deer population. In fact, studies have demonstrated that the continual cycle of seasonal hunting is responsible for a rebound, or larger herd populations, in subsequent years.

Second, bowhunters often spend hours following bloody tracks before finding wounded deer, if they look at all. Many deer are not found, and their deaths are slow and painful. It can take weeks for them to succumb to their injuries. Families are then torn apart, and young and weak animals starve or die of dehydration.

Third, this type of mass killing using such a brutal type of slaughter in such a central and visible location would certainly adversely affect both visitation and tourism; it would be financially detrimental to continue with such a cruel and unnecessary killing, and although I do not currently reside in Florida, I would be unwilling to consider it as a potential vacation destination if this bowhunt continues.

Please act ethically and with compassion and cancel a potential bowhunt; the district can humanely capitalize on natural areas by charging visitor-use fees for hiking, biking, and kayaking.

I know your time is limited and I want to thank you for your attention to this urgent matter.

NAME

one thing i will neither
understand, or know,
the reasons why anyone
would want to hunt
with a bow.
to inflict anguish,
slow death
and pain severe,
to the creatures
that mother earth
holds so very dear

Karen Lyons Kalmenson