Letters to the Editor 09/11/2013

To the Editor,

I thought it was illegal to hunt on private property. I thought it was illegal to shoot deer from the road into private property. I didn't want to believe that hunters would shoot and wound a deer and leave him to die.

Now these things have happened.

On opening morning of archery season, two individuals with bows were walking down a private road surrounded by private property. We advised them there was no hunting here. We thought they left. But later found that they were staying or visiting at a neighbor's property.

What kind of hunter enjoys killing deer in their backyard? That's what the BLM and National Forest lands are for. Is it just being lazy or just wanting to shoot something?

What kind of hunter shoots a tame yearling buck and never tries to find the animal he shot? And why a youngster - he surely wouldn't be a trophy buck, unless he lived and been allowed to grow up. What kind of hunter doesn't care that the little buck died a miserable death over a period of several days?

I don't want to give hunters a bad name. I respect "honorable" hunters. An honorable hunter respects the animal he hunts and works at it in a fair playing field in the wild, not in a neighborhood less than a mile from town. I worry about our welfare and the safety of our children and livestock if this careless and reckless behavior continues.

Anyone who was part of this despicable incident should be ashamed.

Jo Thompson

s s s

To the Editor:

The City of Sisters may have made peace with Hardtails, but the community hasn't.

As a 14-year resident of Sisters I want to offer another perspective; of a neighboring business operating a block away from the Hardtails bar.

It's not the bikers who make trouble. It's the local drunks.

Coming from Sisters, and surrounding towns, they are a huge problem.

I have made two to five phone calls per month to the sheriff every summer since Hardtails moved in. I report drunks trespassing and causing problems on or around our property. They hide in the brush under my windows. They sit on our retaining wall putting their cigarettes out in the bark dust. I clean up discarded clothing, cell phones, vomit, trash and other unsanitary items weekly.

I am not alone. Many neighbors deal with the same messes, calling the cops about drunks passed out in the grass, at neighboring buildings, and sometimes crawling down the streets to hide in yards and bushes. They pound on doors asking to use a phone, they confront neighbors and it's scary.

Hardtails gets around the music curfew often using the following tactics: Someone in the community calls the sheriff regarding music after 10 p.m. The cop shows up. Music stops, for 15-20 minutes. Cop goes away. Music starts back up just as loud as before, (I am 1,000-2,000 feet away in the next block and sometimes my windows rattle). Again, I or someone else from the community calls the cops. Cop shows up. Music stops, for 15-20 minutes. Cop goes away. Music starts again. On one particular night this scenario went on for three hours, over and over again.

Hardtails needs to be held accountable.

Michelle Ehr