| ||||||||||
 
Dr. Ronald P. Rogers CHIROPRACTOR Support for your body's natural healing capabilities 270-384-5554 Click here for details 
  
Columbia Gas Dept. GAS LEAK or GAS SMELL Contact Numbers 24 hrs/ 365 days 270-384-2006 or 9-1-1 Call before you dig 
Visit ColumbiaMagazine's Directory of Churches Addresses, times, phone numbers and more for churches in Adair County Find Great Stuff in ColumbiaMagazine's Classified Ads Antiques, Help Wanted, Autos, Real Estate, Legal Notices, More... 
|
The Truth About Hunting in Kentucky Adair County author and frequent CM contributor Chris Bennett recalls a sudden stopping of school bus, when he was a kid. The driver had spotted a rare creature in Adair County, a deer! Today, without hunters and predators to keep their numbers in check, deer can become unhealthy and major nuisances. He says the same has become so with the Sandhill Cranes. Their return has been thanks to the Kentucky Fish and WIldlife, which is responsible for the enjoyment of a greater abundance of wildlife today. He asks that all visit the Kentucky Fish & Wildlife website and study their reasoning for starting a Sandhill Crane hunting season. Comments re article 42682: Believe it or not Kentucky is considering Sandhill Crane hunt Commentary by Chris Bennett Well, I am 35 years old and I have lived in Adair County Kentucky for all of my life. I have traveled to about 24 different states (some by boat), mainly for educational purposes (History & Research), or to hunt and fish. I hope to travel to all 50 states in my lifetime. I have also fished in the waters of Canada. I think that we are very blessed to live where we do, but if a financial opportunity presented itself I would move to another part of Kentucky, or most of the states to our south without reservation. My family moved here from Maryland in the late 1700s and settled in the land we now call Fairplay. That is where I grew up. I am sure that when William Bennett, my GGGGG Grandfather got a piece of free land here in what is now Adair County for fighting in the Revolutionary war, there was plenty of Game. I would imagine that even when his son John Bennett joined the militia to participate in the war of 1812, there were still some Deer, Turkey, and Elk here in Adair County. At some point that changed. Loss of habitat, over hunting, and disease probably did it. I am writing in today to tell a story about a school bus ride I took when I was pretty young. I was probably in the second or third grade; our bus driver was Pres Mitchum, and the bus number was 54. I attended Col William Casey, and we rode the school bus about an hour in the mornings, and an hour in the evenings each day. One morning we were on our way to school. Mr Mitchum never got in much of a hurry, so we were probably traveling down the road at about 35 miles per hour. All of the sudden this kid hollered out "Look there is a deer in that field". The bus driver stopped the bus right in the middle of the road, and about every kid stood up and looked out the window. This probably seems crazy to most of you, what is the big deal? "its just a deer". What made it a big deal was the fact that it was the first deer we had ever seen in Fairplay. I am not stretching the truth at all; when I was a small boy there were very few deer in Adair County. I would even speculate that at one time not too long ago, there were no deer left in Adair County. My Grandfather was an avid hunter; trapper and ginseng digger, he told me that he was an "old man" before he ever spooked a deer in the wild. I was basically grown before I ever saw a wild turkey, and I was grown when I saw my first Bald Eagle in our area. It is easy for Younger people to take the plentiful game we have now in our area for granted, or if you have moved here from another part of the country you might think it has always been here. However this is not the case. The bulk of wildlife restoration has all happened in my lifetime, and it is all to the credit of the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife. I love being able to drive around in the morning or evening and see Deer, and Turkey. I have also made trips to Eastern Kentucky to see Elk in the wild. I think this is a good thing, a "blessing". I also like to go fishing in one of our local rivers and lakes, we have pretty good fishing around here; this is all because of the Department of Fish and Wildlife. They receive money from the sale of license and they reinvest that money into restoring wildlife, fish and fowl. When I was a young man you NEVER saw Geese flying over, or Sand Hill Cranes. When we first started seeing Cranes fly over, most people mistakenly thought that they were Geese, because they were flying in a V formation. Now it is really common to see Cranes, and I am seeing more and more Geese. I am glad to see that both species seem to be thriving, and I am Grateful to the KDFW, and organizations like them in other states because I know they created this. Now it seems that the numbers of Sand Hill Cranes have grown to the point that the KDFW feel that a hunting season will be needed to protect the species, and help continue their recovery from near extinction. This is a good thing. It will help future generations be able to watch them fly over, and listen to their shrill calls from high in the sky. Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife is a great organization. They have worked hard to restore wildlife here in Kentucky, and we should feel grateful to them, for their efforts. It is one of the few organizations in our Government that works! I can understand that some people consider hunting cruel, but the truth is, regulated hunting is the best thing that ever happened to wildlife. I want to stress that there was no wildlife left here in Kentucky, until sportsmen and KDFW stepped in and saved them from extinction. I think that everyone concerned with this matter, should use the KDFW website, and Kentucky Afield on PBS to educate themselves of the subject. "To penetrate and dissipate these clouds of darkness, the general mind must be strengthened by education." Thomas Jefferson ...Thank you for your time.-Chris Bennett This story was posted on 2011-02-26 17:16:30
Printable: this page is now automatically formatted for printing.
Have comments or corrections for this story? Use our contact form and let us know. More articles from topic Commentary:
Community should concurrently restore courthouse, theater Respect for the living and the dead Rev. Joey N. Welsh: On the Poetry of Emily Dickinson Guest Commentary: Westlake Regional Hospital Rev. Joey N. Welsh: Black History Month, some sports history Nicknamery rampant in Russell, Fudgey, The Aider Co. Boy, says The Gift of Life: Decision of son let two people see Rev. Joey N. Welsh: LAINNETNEC YAW-GNORW Jim gives tip on checking out charities COF comments on Farmall Grader, Knifley undercount View even more articles in topic Commentary |
 
115 Jamestown St. Columbia, KY. 270-384-2496 
  
   
 Provided by the Adair Co Fiscal Court and the Adair Co. Emergency Mgt. Agency 
|
||||||||
|
| ||||||||||
|
Quick Links to Popular Features
Looking for a story or picture? Try our Photo Archive or our Stories Archive for all the information that's appeared on ColumbiaMagazine.com. | ||||||||||
|
Contact us: Columbia Magazine and columbiamagazine.com are published by Linda Waggener and Pen Waggener, PO Box 906, Columbia, KY 42728. Please use our contact page, or send questions about technical issues with this site to webmaster@columbiamagazine.com. All logos and trademarks used on this site are property of their respective owners. All comments remain the property and responsibility of their posters, all articles and photos remain the property of their creators, and all the rest is copyright 1995-Present by Columbia Magazine. Privacy policy: use of this site requires no sharing of information. Voluntarily shared information may be published and made available to the public on this site and/or stored electronically. Anonymous submissions will be subject to additional verification. Cookies are not required to use our site. However, if you have cookies enabled in your web browser, some of our advertisers may use cookies for interest-based advertising across multiple domains. For more information about third-party advertising, visit the NAI web privacy site.
| ||||||||||
