Urge County Board to Vote NO on Deer Hunting

The Will County (Illinois) Board will vote Thursday on whether to allow deer hunting in county forest preserves.

The Will County Board will decide at its May 13 meeting whether to allow the program - that may include sharpshooting and public hunting with bows and shotguns. If approved, hunting would begin this fall.

Preserves would be closed to the public -- the tax-paying public, mind you -- while these jackasses get off on killing innocent animals.

Unfortunately hunters -- including at least one on the county board -- have come out in full force in favor of this proposal. In fact, I heard that one board member wanted to kill only male deer. (The males have the antlers, showpieces for one's wall.) But it's the females one must target if they want to reduce the population.

Kenneth Sanderson, of Crest Hill, said: "It needs to be done, and it needs to be done by hunters, not sharpshooters. I'm all for anything that will open more ground for hunting. I just bought my son his first bow. This would be a golden opportunity for him while providing a public service."

Well, thank God for this guy, providing a public service and spending quality bonding time with his son.
Killing is fun for these people.

You have to cull the deer, and archery is a better way to do it," said Nelson Mack, a New Lenox bow hunter. "This is better than going up to Wisconsin."

It's like a stay-cation. How cool is that!

For the past decade Will County, the county in which I grew up and currently live, has been one of the fastest-growing in the country. And local officials love that.

But this suburban sprawl has encroached on the homes of animals. And now county officials claim there are too many deer, using the same argument: If we don't kill them, they'll starve.

Yet the board hasn't looked into other less expensive, more humane options. They simply want to kill.

They'd never condone killing people because our numbers are out of control. But deer feel the same pain as people.

The Bradley family, of Homer Glen, were against any form of hunting.

"I live in the woods. I feel like I live with them," Laura Bradley said. "The only aim that should be taken at a deer is through a camera lens. It's not that there are [more] deer, but less acreage. It's not their fault."

Unfortunately, the plan to allow deer hunting was decided long before it became public -- despite what board members have told the media.

Public hunting was proposed after weighing other options such as repellents, fencing, trapping and relocating, fertility control and reintroduction of predators.

But we still have a small chance to change the minds of board members. Please e-mail the members of the Will County Board and urge them to vote NO on deer hunting. Even if you don't live in Will County, please make your voices heard.

Will County Board e-mail addresses:
fstewart@willcountyillinois.com; janderson@willcountyillinois.com; Katrina.Deutsche@gmail.com; csinger@fpdwc.org; lauriewillcounty@live.com; tomweigel@att.net; ann.dralle@sbcglobal.net; countyboardlaurie@yahoo.com; mwisniewski@willcountyillinois.com; chuck.maher@gmail.com; jtraynere@comcast.net; jimblackburn49@hotmail.com; lgoodson@willcountyillinois.com; bsmith@marketmailers.net; rocklaw94@aol.com; worksol@sbcglobal.net; debcntybrd@hotmail.com; Konicki@willcountyillinois.com; DHSwillcounty@yahoo.com; walteradamic@att.net; stjohns.church@comcast.net; denisewinfrey@sbcglobal.net; wfstax@juno.com

(Photo courtesy of Zoobangoo.com.
Second photo courtesy of TheCuteReport.com. Looks like your dog, doesn't he?)