"At that hearing, the USP would have come away with having delivered a knockout punch had BeenThere/BlueBird/Larry been on the hot seat instead of Slinsky, Levengood and Company. For the life of me, I can't remember who the third person was?"
I donno about "knock-out" punch. Would bt or someone else have made a better showing with appropriate answers... maybe. Couldnt do alot worse. But it wouldnt have mattered a bit. Mcilhinny (sp?), is not a very hunter friendly senator and clearly is doing alot of the enviromentalists and pgcs bidding these days. His mind wasnt about to be changed any more than the reps & senators on our side have been. If you send correspondence in the future to give opinions on the deer program and want changes etc. Id say save your extra few seconds of effort by not bothering to send a copy to Mcilhinny. Hes been on of the strong proponents of alternate funding etc. Also has a very good relationship with the "enviro-movement". His side is chosen and its not ours.