by Chris Hrenko, Hamilton
I would like to offer a different point of view to John Dowd’s October 18, 2023 column, “One Rifle to Rule Them All.” While I applaud how Mr. Dowd brought the article back down to reality in the final paragraphs, it was a painful journey to get there. I consider myself a hunter, sportsman, and conservationist that loves shooting sports in all forms. While I am unapologetic in the pursuit of these passions, I still choose my words carefully and think all my peers—men and women—should do the same. This is not to appease or be politically correct as I am, in fact, not worried about these notions in the least. Rather, I subscribe to treating all people with the love and truth of God. However, I felt that others might take issue with some of Mr. Dowd’s choice of words and analogies like I did.
It should be a pet peeve of us all when there is license taken with regards to truth and accuracy. We, as hunters, should hold our ranks accountable to the traditions and purity of the sport. We are walking through God’s majestic creation in the pursuit of game that serves as food and there should be no mistake in the reality that success means the taking of a life. We should honor that. When we succumb to mainstream’s inaccurate depiction of that endeavor, we lose sight of why we set out. Yes, we each may out there with some other goals such as trophies for the wall, bragging rights, or just to get away from the hustle and bustle, but we all need to remember that we represent a community of hunters and that we all should have pillars of ethical decisions, accurate aim, and responsibility to the spirit of conservationism as our foundation. When I start hearing phases like those that Mr. Dowd chose, I feel as though we are giving “big and deadly ammunition” to the anti-gun and anti-hunting community. These statements are, at least for me, fallacies because they undermine the reality of the responsibilities that come with owning a firearm.
· Every bullet “drops like a rock” outside of its effective range and, short of a trained sharpshooter, that range is well outside of most hunter’s capacity to take a responsible, ethical, and accurate shot. Should we be peddling these notions?
· “Big and deadly ammunition”? Why not just add terms like “30-round clip” and “assault rifle” to create a trifecta for the anti-gunners out there?
· There are no cartridges or bullets that can “juke the wind” or can flatly be stated to have “enough power.” Statements like these perpetuate the lie that the equipment—bullets, cartridges, scopes, or rifles—can do it all. Every person behind the trigger has the responsibility to know how to shoot well in all circumstances and to know the limit of their capability to do so. This comes with practice, repetition, practice, and more practice.
I would like to submit that the dream or journey that we all, as hunters, are on to find the one, best rifle is possible. The best firearm is the one that you can shoot accurately and with full confidence behind every press of the trigger while knowing that the bullet is capable of doing its job of ethically putting meat on the table.