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Editorial: Jim Unmacht  11-7-02

The Arizona Republic: Anti-Hunting

 The Arizona Republic's anti-hunting underbelly has finally been exposed! There have been some obvious "left" turns over the last several years, and the transition has been in our face daily with the cartoonist, but some balance had remained, notably with a First Class Outdoor section...that is until now. The changes made in the last few weeks are not only disappointing, but actually disgusting when you think in broader terms.  

The AZ Outdoors section had been a premier feature to the paper each week, with thousands of outdoor enthusiasts reading and enjoying some positive and enlightening news about our great state's wildlife, conservation, hunting and fishing opportunities. For years, award winning outdoor writers from Ben Avery to Dale Hajek, have kept sportsmen and sportswomen abreast of good news, stories, and up to date information, in a position that not many forums offered. Now, the left leaning, anti-hunting editors and owners have not so subtly dropped hunting, and made the section into a one article "fishing" page. More ink in the last couple weeks has gone into house cat and pet care articles than has been given our Hunting Heritage in the heart of the season.  

No longer does the Republic want to talk about the countless volunteer hours spent on conservation efforts, world renowned big game hunting opportunities, the Adopt-a-Ranch program, local organizations helping all our state's wildlife, (game and non-game alike), our premier Game and Fish Department, the Hunter Education programs, junior hunting programs, gun safety, nationally recognized Ben Avery Shooting Facility, the Pittman-Robertson Act (providing millions of tax dollars for wildlife state wide from hunting and fishing related purchases), or the Heritage Fund benefits, to name a few. Yes...we can still read about crime, murder, rape, the sniper, war, illegal aliens and pet care, rest assured of that, but don't look for any positive or good news on anything hunting related.  

But there's still time to reconsider and right the wrong. In the meantime, maybe sportsmen and sportswomen ought to "do the math"! Lets see, 111, 087 hunting licenses were sold in 2002. Conservatively speaking, if 50% of those hunters subscribe to the Republic and canceled their $188 annual subscription, the cost to Gannett would be a mere $10,442,272.00. Maybe too, some of the pro-hunting advertisers ought to reconsider the money they're paying Gannett every day. That might get someone's attention.  

Jim Unmacht

Sportsman, Hunter, Conservationist

Phoenix, AZ