|
Tom Beck began hunting forty years ago, shooting squirrels outside his
tiny hometown of High Springs, in north Florida, when he was six years old.
As he grew, so did his enthusiasm for hunting. This year he bought five
separate bow-hunting licenses in three states, and last month he killed his
first moose with an arrow, which will put him well on his way toward his
annual goal of stashing 250 pounds of game meat
|
in his freezer before the Colorado winter sets in for good.
Bruce Gill, Beck's boss at the Colorado Division of Wildlife (DOW), is
impressed. "This is the most prolific and accomplished hunter in the state
of Colorado," he says. Adds David Petersen, a wildlife writer who lives in
Durango, "Tom hunts more than anyone I know who doesn't get paid for it."
|
Illustration by Melinda Beck
Despite such testimonials, Don Clower, president of Idaho's Sportsmen's
Heritage Defense Fund, remains unconvinced of Beck's allegiances. "Oh, Tom
Beck is definitely anti-hunter," he says. "He just spews animal-rights
rhetoric." And a month ago Bob Radocy, president of the Colorado Bowhunters
Association, added his voice.
|
