Hampden deserves better coverage

Evidently to the Bangor Daily News, the Hampden Academy boys soccer team’s upset over the Bangor Rams is only deserving of a small article in the newspaper (BDN, Oct. 20). Had the score been reversed, the entire sports page would have been filled with photos and bold headlines.

I am a resident of Hampden, but do not have a son on the soccer team. I am merely an observer. It will never change. The BDN is, has been and always will be very biased when it comes to the Bangor Rams. No matter what the sport, the truth, is if you want to be recognized as a sports team, you will have to move to Bangor.

No thanks!

Linda Brown

Hampden

Lessons lacking for hunter safety, courtesy

I’m afraid I can’t paint the rosy picture John Holyoke did of Youth Day (BDN, Oct. 23). I live in a little settlement, five homes in a half-mile, on a side road in a small town. A doe with two lambs and a lone doe have stayed close by all summer. Last Saturday the parade started at first light; about six vehicles driving back and forth most of the morning looking for these half-tame deer.

A man and a youngster walked up a neighbor’s long driveway and shot a doe. Although they were over a hundred yards from the house, the deer was between them and the house. The deer dropped 130 yards from the building, and they were preparing to clean it when my neighbor got there and stopped them. They then dragged it to the road and gutted it there, leaving the paunch on the side of the road.

Another vehicle soon stopped and a youngster fired out the window at a lamb deer. Either the woman who was driving saw my neighbor or the deer ran and they thought he missed, so she drove off. That right there was one lone lamb in the orchard, leading me to believe the other was dead or wounded.

What sterling lessons in hunter safety, sportsmanship and common courtesy. Before dark, 100 acres were posted. These people are not anti-hunting. They are avid sports people and belong to several organizations that promote hunting and game habitat. Four more lots have been posted since and another soon will be. My lawn is not big enough to legally shoot a deer on, but vehicles were slowing to a crawl to peak in, so I posted mine.

Another point is that the deer population is way down in this area. It came back a little in the last few years because of mild winters, so the state lets them shoot off the breeding stock. A lot of us don’t think shooting does is right if the deer population won’t support it. Especially if mommy or daddy say “Come on, son, I’ll show you how to get one anyway you can.”

Randall J. Ripley

Waite

Note to readers: The BDN reserves the right to edit submissions for libel, taste, clarity, and to fit available space. Letters should include a signature, full name, address, and daytime phone number. Letters may be mailed to: P.O. Box 1329, Bangor, ME 04402, or e-mailed: bdnsports@bangordailynews.net