I was at the Hamburg meeting and Jim Snider did a great job presenting data as he usually does. I left after the break because I had no interest in participating in the free for all. When ham & turkey raffles have an impact on natural resource management, then we have truly entered a neanderthal age. Is this thinking really any better than the local deer lady? I hunt all over NYS and throughout the Northeast and mid-Atlantic. NY has outstanding hunting opportunities in terms of long seasons, access to public land and tags issued. Why have we created this adversarily atmosphere between hunters and the DEC? The conspiracy theories are reminescent of the X-files. I feel the DEC has done a great job and will continue to work in the best interest of resource conservation. The purpose of taking proposed changes to the public is to determine which changes should be accepted and which should be abandoned. If they only proposed changes that would get easy public support, then real adaptation would never occur and our hunting rights would eventually erode. Good thing DEC policy is based on the thinking of our experienced wildlife biologists and not the guy in charge of the ham raffle at the firehall.