On September 5, 1975, CBS aired the documentary, The Guns of Autumn.

It was a controversial anti-hunting program. A few weeks later, CBS aired Echoes of the Guns of Autumn, a more even-handed follow-up to the subject.

As autumn approaches 44 years later, let’s revisit the subject.

Managing wildlife populations

Over the years, I have often written about using hunting to manage wildlife populations.

I remain convinced that hunting is a legitimate tool to solve wildlife problems, but its popularity is fading.

Today, society places the welfare of wildlife above its recreational value to man. That seems a reasonable position for the dominant species on the planet.

Given that premise, it’s difficult to make the case to hunt many common target species. Here in the east, white-tailed deer, black bears and Canada geese create problems that justify large scale hunts.

In some states, a…