Few indeed
seem fitted for archery or care for it. But that rare soul who finds in
its appeal something that satisfies his desire for fair play, historic
sentiment, and the call of the open world, will be happy.
People will scoff at him for his "medieval crotchet," will think of him
as the Don Quixote of Sherwood Forest, but in their hearts they will
have a wistful envy of him; for all men feel the nobility and honorable
past of our sport. It carries with it dim memory pictures of spring
days, the green woods and the joy of youth.
It is also futile to prophesy the future of the bow and arrow. As an
implement of the chase, to us it seems to hold a place unique for
fairness. And in the further development of the wild game problem,
where apparently large game preserves and refuges will be the order of
the day, the bow is a more fitting weapon with which to slay a beast
than a gun or any more powerful agent that may be invented.
Of course, there are those who say that all hunting should cease, and
that photography and nature study alone should be directed toward wild
life. That sweet day may come, but at least no man can consistently
decry hunting who eats meat, wears furs or leather, or uses any vestige
of animal tissue; for he is party to the crime of animal murder, and
murder more brutal and ignoble than that of the chase.
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