There's a new hunting legend in the mountains of Western Maryland.Born to the woods, she's 4 1/2 feet tall and 8 years old, with a shock of light brown hair and a steady trigger finger that put two bullets into a black bear's chest cavity Monday, according to her and her father and granduncle, who were hunting with her. State officials backed the claim by Sierra Stiles and credited her with the first kill of Maryland's second bear season since hunting the animals resumed after a half-century ban.
I’m not into hunting and this story kind of freaks me out, but I thought it was post-worthy nonetheless. Are kids really allowed to hunt? Yikes.
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If kids are allowed to eat meat, then I don't see any issue with allowing them to hunt.
"Are kids really allowed to hunt?"
In NY, A minor at least 14 years of age may hunt with any rifle or shotgun, provided he/she has a valid hunting license and is accompanied by his/her parent or guardian. Not surprisingly, it would appear that gun laws are more lenient in MD.
That is an awesome story. I cant believe that she's 8 and has already bagged a black bear. Sounds like a fable inspired by the likes of Annie Oakley and Davey Crockett!
How would you like it if you were just walking along, minding your own business, maybe looking for food, and some damn 8 year old jumps out from behind the tress and fires two rounds into your chest? And then posed with your dead body for the newspaper on top of it? If I were a cub and walked into town and devoured some some big, fat guy, I don't think people would be saying, "wow, that was impressive for such a small bear." No, this is not something to be applauded. :)
How absolutely barbaric!
mr. bear,
It is unfortunate that you were not given the gift of opposable thumbs anywhere in the evolution of your species. It would make the dynamic between bears and humans much more intersting if you too could pick up a .243-caliber rifle, look goldilocks dead in the eye and say: "make my day". On the up side of things, evolution has seemed to engineer your species with a level of consciousness less than that of humans (often reffered to as semi-consciousness). Generally speaking, this type of consciousness will allow you to be content in everything you do. Meanwhile, Goldilocks (who obviously doesnt understand that life is one and indivisible) will probably live a tormented life of mental and emotional attachment and suffering. I guess you just need to take the good with the bad. Keep your head up.
Eight's a smidge on the young side, but as long as she can hold the rifle and aim it, she should be able to shoot what she likes with adult supervision. Every so often, an 8,10,or 12-year-old girl will pick up a deer around here. It's uncommon, but not unheard of. One of those things that urban, liberal feminist types tend to overlook.
According to David Sedaris, the blind are allowed to hunt in Michigan.
If she was hunting for food and got scared of the bear, then good for her (about the food) and I can understand (about the bear). That's one less factory-farmed meal in her belly. But if it was for sport...
Well, I heard a wise saying once. Hunting is only sport if the animals get weapons, too.
It is kind of a shocker, but apparently, hunting is growing in popularity among women.
I personally take issue with hunting as a sport, and have very grave doubts about allowing children to use firearms. That's just me, urban feminist that I am.
But at the same time, if an adult woman chooses to hunt, well, that's her right.
Incidentally,
Check out http://www.womenhunters.com/
What other hunting site have a poetry section, or a forum about pink compound bows? Hee.
Heh. In rural WI kids were regularly excused from class during deer season to go hunting. All you have to do is take a gun safety course. There isn't anything particularly barbaric or awful about hunting. Maybe you've lived in a city all your life and that's why you're squeamish. They're just animals. /cry
Well excuse me, I thought we had an extinction problem on this planet, not only because we occupy far too much land for dwellings, farming etc but also due to the fact we alter the balance of nature by exterminating every entity that has the misfortune to cross our path.
Enjoy your deer ... hopefully with a healthy dose of CWD.
Enjoy your deer ... hopefully with a healthy dose of CWD.
And this is why nobody will ever take you crazy assholes seriously. I'm an entomologist, and I'm as much for preserving the planet as the next scientist. But the trend I've noticed is that the hippies don't actually know what they're talking about 90% of the time. Seriously. Legal hunting just isn't a big deal.
I don't have a problem with hunting, by kids or adults-- I just think it's a lot better if they eat what they kill. If we're talking about moral superiority then hunting is better than eating meat from the supermarket by a long shot (har), considering the unfairness to both the cows and the people that slaughter them. The meat industry is pretty corrupt. At least deer are 'free range' the entire time up until they get shot.