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                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, January 12, 1992                   TAG: 9201130239
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: B-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

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SPORTSMEN TAKE BLAME FOR FOOLS

UNFORTUNATELY, a minute number of us sportsmen trash the forest and maim the animals they hunt. These people are not sportsmen; they are trigger-happy fools, and yet we the true sportsmen who hunt for sport, food, and to experience nature take the blame for these few.

Hunting is a loved tradition, not only in Virginia but all over this great nation. Where do you think these gentle, graceful creatures came from? Not very long ago, the deer population in Virginia was nearly extinct. If it wasn't for the sportsmen buying their licenses, there would be no deer for anyone to enjoy.

Sportsmen helped pay for the deer to be stocked. Today Virginia has one of the best game-management programs in the nation. There are more than 800,000 deer in the state, thanks to the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries that the sportsmen pay for. DANIEL WRIGHT ROCKY MOUNT

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