Dear editor,

On January 2 the Journal carried an article on the growing practice of shooting deer in enclosed hunting preserves. The article declared -- with no detectable irony -- that "[Alabama] State Game and Fish officials say they are bothered by a growing trend towards hunting practices that don't give animals a fair chance."

Tim Cosby, chief of Alabama's Game and Fish Enforcement Section, is quoted as saying: "...this practice does away with the concept of fair chase, which is vital to ethical hunting."

"Fair chance... fair chase." Let's see: a hunter, armed only with a high-powered rifle and telescopic lens, taking on that most fearsome of beasts, the bloodthirsty, terrifying... deer.

There are a lot of words I can think of to describe such a battle, whether in enclosed hunting areas or wilderness. "Fair" is definitely not one of them.

-- James W. Harris

(unpublished letter sent to the Atlanta Journal)