MADAM,
Apropos the letter in The Beacon entitled Death comes to Monnow Valley from the pen of self styled ex-poacher RLClarke.
I won't waste time and space refuting all of the spurious claims in the letter individually, other than to say that any poaching activity, whether for fish, deer or game birds is a criminal act.
The romantic cosy notion of an impoverished cottager "bagging" a rabbit or bird for the table is no longer valid, if indeed it ever existed outside the realms of fiction. Poaching is usually carried out by gangs who operate without a shred of compassion for their quarry, often leaving wounded animals to die a lingering death.
Finally just in case anyone was actually taken in by the contents of the letter, perhaps they may like to consider the penultimate paragraph when we are informed that "when those lead pellets leave the gun they are red hot". Really? As lead becomes molten at about 700 degrees Fahrenheit, without a hint of redness, small shot would fuse into a solid mass before leaving the barrel, either resulting in damage to the gun and user, or causing a massive hole in whatever it hit.
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