I sent him an e-mail telling him some concerns about how misleading his article was...here is his response, he may join the forum...seems like he actually wants to
get to know some of us..so try to be nice..
Thanks for your email. I've gotten a lot of email about this piece, some really nasty stuff from anti-hunting people who used obscenities to describe what they thought of me for killing woodchucks, and mostly angry but civil email from people who, like you, think I don't know what I'm talking about.
I expect to hear from people telling me off and I try to listen. Let me clear up a couple of things. I'm not against killing or managing wolves. I didn't say that in the article, and I don't believe it. Wolves cause plenty of problems and whatever number people agree on some are going to be killed. Okay with me.
I didn't like the television show for a few reasons. It was promoted as a show that was going to take on the wolf issue and shed some light on it, and I thought it didn't do that. If the Sportsman Channel wants to reach anybody outside of already committed hunters it did a bad job. The show took an issue that polarizes people and jumped right into to the polarization.
And, I regret to say, I made the same mistake. I took a kind of snotty tone to slam the show, and should have emphasized the idea that there needs to be more discussion between people with different points of view. For that I apologize.
But I don't think I slammed Randy Newberg himself. It was one episode of his television show. The Sportsman Channel sent it to me in hopes that I would write about it because they were saying it really was a serious consideration of the wolf problem. And it wasn't. Once you go on television and promote your show in a certain way, it's fair game for reviewers.
I also said I couldn't get it that it was "fun" to kill a wolf. That's my opinion and if you think I'm nuts for saying it, or some kind of tree-hugging weirdo, fine. But I can't see that as bashing him.
Finally, I hope to write more about this issue. And I'm open to anything you or other hunters have to say. I'm on vacation now but when I get back I'll email you again if you're serious about the hunt talk forum. I would be willing to go on it, as long as it's okay with people who are on it to write about my experience. If you'd rather we could talk on the telephone first, off the record. I'd like to find a way to present the point of view of hunters, but the thing is, the people reading it are mostly nonhunters, so the approach of just saying they are wing nuts won't get any point across.
Sincerely,
Jim Gorman
