Hunters must look around

I have been visiting the LaConner area every winter for over 15 years for the exceptional bird-watching opportunities. Many of the birdwatching sites also allow hunting, so I am familiar with the mutual accommodation between birdwatchers and hunters. Recently I witnessed a hunting incident that I found deeply disturbing.

A huge flock of snow geese were covering a field adjacent to Best Road, south of Chilberg.

The geese were quite close to the road, and many people, including a family with small children, had parked on both sides of the road so they could stand at the edge of the field and watch the geese.

We were all marveling at the beauty and the spectacle of the birds.

As frequently happens, something startled the geese and they took flight.

The first to rise were no more than 10 feet off the ground when the shooting began – hunters had been hiding in the shrubbery surrounding a house next to the field.

Dead geese began falling onto the field, and what had been a scene of awe and beauty instantly became chaos and destruction.

I am aware that hunting on private land is legal with permission of the landowner. However, just because something can be done doesn’t mean it should be done. Killing geese in front of a family with small children who had stopped to admire the birds? Shooting into a flock so close and so dense that it would be impossible to miss? How is that “fair chase”? While the hunters were not visible to us, we onlookers were plainly visible to the hunters before the shooting began. I hope local hunters will in future be more aware of the impression they are making on the public when they hunt on lands adjacent to public roads.

C. Smith

Seattle