Hunting has been a part of my life since forever, growing up in a small Northern Ontario town... At the age of nine, I had a black bear cub as a pet, and kept him until I was 12... at 17, I kept a polar bear cub for some time while he was acclimatized for shipping to a zoo... Shot my first moose at 11, guided since the age of 12, and love the outdoors and hunting....

As hunters it is time to become so very honourable, and to approach hunting as a mystical ritual tied to a deep and meaningful heritage...

My belief is that hunting will only survive the anti hunter if it is couched in our personal culture and heritage...

Each of us must take on a very serious responsibility to portray hunting in nothing but positive behaviour, language, and thought...

Over the years I have probably hunted with some 1400-1500 different hunters, most are good men, with good intentions, and personally very honourable. But for many of these, there is still an awareness that must be taken on if we are to weather the storm of anti hunters... we must be able to articulate our position on hunting, and it must be rational.... we must seek to be almost flawless in how we approach both hunting and killing... We must be able to understand death, and our role in death, and still be able to argue that what we do in hunting is valid, valuable, and ultimately worthwhile...

As a fellow hunter, I urge you to pass this thinking on to all hunters...

Lark Ritchie