To the editor:
I read about the muskie fishing in the paper last week. I haven’t gone fishing since I was a kid, and it sounded like fun. I have been looking for an excuse to visit northern Indiana for years.
My first concern when looking for a fishing spot is finding waters that haven’t been overfished and abused. With a biologist on staff at these lakes, I figured it would be OK.
With a few quick internet searches, I found out some things. Nobody keeps their fish at these lakes, not even the bass. People catch thousands of muskies only because they are large and dangerous-looking. I enjoy my time in the outdoors, but I’m not going to travel around the state terrorizing animals for fun.
The biologists who study these animals are worse than the sportsmen. They electrocute and trap all the fish in these lakes so they can count them. What’s the point when almost nobody keeps them? It’s a big money-making business, that’s why. People like Brandon Butler promote this place all over the country. If this is what passes for outdoor recreation these days, count me out.
What sort of state-supported animal cruelty adventure can we expect next week from Mr. Butler and his organization of ruthless sportsmen? Perhaps he can promote the unnecessary use of laboratory animals or the wonders of intensive industrial animal production. Perhaps he can bring the glory days of hunting back to Indiana. What fun!
Like Michael Che from “Saturday Night Live”‘s weekend update recently said, “We can stop pretending that hunting is a sport … killing animals for fun is just wrong. There are other ways to make your heart race and feel strong.”
Let’s be honest, half of all hunting activities within the state are unnecessary, and the revenue is primarily used to fund more sport hunting.
I think I’ll find a quiet place to do a little fishing and try not to catch too many. Or maybe I’ll take a stroll through the park or read a book or find something else where I don’t have to question the moral implications of my actions. Maybe I’ll visit my mother.
Colby Cochran
Greenfield
