Urge Montgomery County, Maryland, to Stop Bowhunting: Sample Letter

Exlbris

BACKGROUND

Montgomery County, Maryland, is reportedly considering expanding the use of bowhunting in an attempt to reduce deer populations. Your voice is needed!

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 Montgomery County officials to halt all bowhunting—and then forward this alert widely! If deer control is insisted upon, please share these tips.



WHOM TO CONTACT | COPY/PASTE INTO YOUR TO:

ocemail@montgomerycountymd.gov;
councilmember.andrews@montgomerycountymd.gov;
councilmember.berliner@montgomerycountymd.gov;
councilmember.elrich@montgomerycountymd.gov;
councilmember.ervin@montgomerycountymd.gov;
councilmember.floreen@montgomerycountymd.gov;
councilmember.rice@montgomerycountymd.gov;
councilmember.riemer@montgomerycountymd.gov;
councilmember.leventhal@montgomerycountymd.gov;
councilmember.navarro@montgomerycountymd.gov;
county.council@montgomerycountymd.gov


SAMPLE LETTER

Dear Honorable Leggett and Montgomery County Council,

It has come to my attention that Montgomery County, Maryland, is reportedly considering allowing bowhunters to kill deer in an attempt to reduce deer populations. Although this hunt are would be inherently cruel based on the premise alone, it is important to recognize it is based on erroneous information.

Please allow me to illustrate a few of these concerns. First, ecologically, populations will fluctuate according to conditions and naturally-occurring food sources; it is the interference of humans that causes imbalance. To blame and slaughter the deer for human encroachment is both irresponsible and unjustified.

Second, 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.

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 Montgomery County, I would be unwilling to consider it, or nearby, as a potential vacation destination if this deer cull continues.

Fourth, 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.

Please instead examine alternative, non-lethal options such as fencing, fertility control, and relocation according to established protocols, which, when using these methods appropriately, have all proven successful in curtailing deer populations. Please see these tips.

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

NAME

bowhunting to reduce population of deer?
one thing is for certain, manunkind still
not thinking, clear.
if those so called humans found themselves
on the wrong end of an arrow,
away goes their macho as they
quiver like a sparrow.
so put away your prehistoric notions and toys.
treat animals as you wish to be treated,
grow up little girls and boys!!!!

Karen Lyons Kalmenson