What has happened at the Explorer? It seems to have been taken over by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals or the Humane Society of the United States.
The bobcat is not endangered in New York. Its range is actually expanding. The recent issues have carried anti-trapping and anti-hunting untruths by an Explorer board member and the publisher. It went from opposing the extension of the season to now a radical call to stop all hunting and trapping of the bobcat [Editorial, July/August 2012].
The arguments by the Explorer have no logical or scientific basis. If we fall for these arguments, all hunting, fishing, and trapping would be banned eventually. Basing game management on whether we feel an animal is attractive or noble is foolish. People like Explorer Publisher Tom Woodman use issues like this as a first step because not many people hunt or trap bobcat. What is next? Save the rabbits or the deer?
If you care about the bobcat, work on saving its habitat.
Frank Homer, Albany
Frank Homer,an apparent proponent of hunting bobcats, writes that “The arguments by the Explorer have no logical or scientific basis.” (Nothing wrong with hunting bobcat, August 20, 2012)
We’ll Mr. Homer, aside from a perverted desire to kill small animals, what possible reason could you have for hunting bobcat?