[waldo]

I am not a member of SA and I don't necessarily agree with everything about Curt Wells, but this time HE NAILED IT.

Curt Wells is a free-lance outdoors writer from Wahpeton, N.D. In the following commentary, Wells addresses the issue of hunting access from the viewpoint of a future hunter, his 7-month-old grandson, Carson.

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FARGO - Hi! My name is Carson and I'm almost 7 months old. My grandpa is helping me write this letter because I'm too little.

I'd like to talk to North Dakota's farmers and ranchers first. It must be really cool to own land. I love my daddy and my grandpa, but they don't own any land.

That's why I'm depending on you. When I get big, I'm going to need a place to go hunting. I can't be a hunter without you and your land.

Please don't be mad at me because I live in Fargo with my daddy and mommy. I'm a good boy, even though I live in an eastern North Dakota city. I promise I will take good care of your land if you let me come to visit.

Some people are saying that city hunters think they should be able to hunt wherever they want, but I think they're just trying to start an argument. I can't talk yet, so I'm a good listener, and I've never heard any hunter say that.

I need to ask a favor. Could you please get together with other farmers and ranchers and talk about me? What would it take for us future hunters to be welcome on your land? We need some kind of a plan to work on and your ideas are important. I want you to be happy to see me.

Next I want to talk to Gov. Hoeven and all the senators and representatives. I need your help, too.

I heard my daddy and mommy talking. They could make lots more money if we moved away. Daddy says if it eventually gets too expensive to go hunting, and take me along, or there is no place to go, we might move away. I like North Dakota so that would make me cry. It would make my grandpa cry, too.

You people make the laws and I'm sure it's not easy. We all have to hurt a little bit before we can all feel better. My grandpa calls it compromise.

And don't be too hard on hunters who don't live in North Dakota. My uncle Jared is in college at UND and if he can't find a job here, he'll move away, and I still want to hunt with him when I get bigger.

I've heard hunting and fishing are really good right now. I'd like to say thanks to you people at the Game and Fish Department, for helping make that so. Maybe that will help make uncle Jared stay here. I sure hope you can make it last until I get bigger.

Last, I want to talk to all North Dakota hunters. I haven't hunted yet, but I know I will like it - if I ever get the chance. My grandpa says what you do in the next year will decide my future as a hunter. If you do nothing, I will be sad, because I want to see a rooster pheasant jump into the sun. I want to see something called a greenhead up close. And I want to see the smile on my grandpa's face when we walk up to my first deer.

It will be fun to go on fishing and hunting trips with Daddy and Grandpa. I want to play with the minnows we buy at Ed's Bait in Devils Lake. I want to stay overnight in the Mott Motel with my Daddy and my hunting dog. And I can't wait for my grandpa to take me mule deer hunting and buy me a big breakfast at the Trapper's Kettle in Belfield.

I'm asking you all to get involved and stand up for yourself - and for me, too, because I can't even stand by myself yet. Without your concern, I will never know the joys you've known.

I need the help of all of you - landowners, politicians, biologists, businessmen and hunters. Please don't be mad at each other. Even I know nothing good will come of it. When I get bigger, I want to be a North Dakota outdoorsboy, but I don't think it will happen without your help.

Can you help me? Please?

Carson Wells is the son of Jason and Vicky Wells, Fargo, and grandson of Curt and Patti Wells, Wahpeton, N.D.

 

[prairie hunter]

I agree with his comments and the situation occurring in ND, but Mr. Wells is somewhat of a hypocrite.

Mr. Wells is not and should not be the poster boy for this issue. Mr. Hustad or Fetch maybe, Mr. Wells no way.

Wells spends A LOT of time hunting out of state and writing a column for a Minnesota outdoor newspaper.

I know from his writing that he usually bow hunts each fall in Minnesota and South Dakota. In addition, he hunts often for big game across Canada and Alaska. Next fall he is going to Alaska to hunt Kodiak bear.

This guy spends a lot of time as a nonresident. Often hunting with guides and outfitters (although I admit this is mandatory for much of Canada and Alaska when pursuing big game).

He recently wrote about watching flocks of mallards fly undisturbed in a South Dakota wetland and then referenced the issues about NR waterfowl hunters in ND vs SD. Well Mr Wells :

Maybe (just maybe) a South Dakota resident would be bow hunting that area or duck hunting for that matter if it were not for that ND "pick-up" parked in the approach.

Maybe (just maybe) that young Minnesota boy would get to bow hunt that public or private MN woods for deer if someone else did not already occupy that spot.

Good article - author :???: