EVEN in our office there was some negative reaction to the photo of the dead deer on the front page.
But this is what the hunting festival will be all about.
Some are naturally squeamish about the shooting of animals and hunters are no doubt used to dealing with this attitude and have to realise this reaction exists out there.
The elimination of feral animals, whether by trained professionals working for government agencies or licenced recreational hunters, is not pretty and often controversial.
Just look at the issue of culling camels in the outback using shooters in helicopters. There is a huge outcry from animal rights groups.
But the camels are causing problems, are not native and need to be culled.
Whether licenced recreational hunters can be effective in controlling feral animals remains to be seen and one would think there would need to be a concerted effort using more comprehensive techniques.
It was surprising to me that there is a government agency lobbying for hunting, but then I guess the Fisheries department also does its fair share of lobbying for fishing rights.