Support of urban bowhunting

I am a conservationist, and I have been following the planned urban hunt that was proposed for Cape Girardeau. I think the city council had really taken the most cost-effective and safest plan to help with reducing the growing population of deer within the city limits.

I have attended meetings at the local, state and national levels where urban deer populations have been the topic of discussion and effective ways to help control the growing numbers. Archery is one of the more cost-effective and safer ways to do this. The council had done a lot of research and had a good plan proposed that would have had little to no cost to taxpayers.

I do not live in the city and probably would not have a place to hunt there, but I am a volunteer hunter education instructor and would be involved in the training. The idea that there would be hunters lurking and shooting arrows all over the city is ridiculous. Archery has a better safety record than any of the sports now being played within the city parks and the Safety Council has numbers to prove this.

Emotions run high on this topic, but the citizens deserve to hear the truth and facts. I hope the voting citizens can see that those wanting to help with this growing problem are providing you a service that is safe and cost-effective and has a record to prove it.

TOM DICKERSON, Jackson