The Question: Should women hunt?
NANCY BUCKLEY, secretary
Tampa, Florida
"Why not? I'd like to try it. I'm not the sloppy, sentimental type that thinks it's terrible to shoot birds or animals. What else are they good for? Hunting must be a great sport. I couldn't bait a hook with a worm. That's slimy. But I'd love to shoot a lightning-fast deer."
MOHAMMED REZA PAHLEVI
Shah of Iran
"That's more difficult to answer than a political question. If hunting is a sport, why shouldn't women enjoy it? Her Royal Highness, the Queen, hunts with me. She shoots birds. But the first time she saw me shoot a wild sheep, she wept. She wouldn't shoot a deer, nor would I want her to."
HER EXCELLENCY CLARE BOOTHE LUCE
U.S. Ambassador to Italy
"Hunt what? Do you mean wild animals? Certainly, if they like the sport. Women hunters are as good shots as men. Some were famous. Don't you remember Annie Oakley? And Diana, Goddess of the Hunt? I've gone hunting with friends at various times. Frankly, I prefer bargain hunting."
L. C. HOWE, executive
Birmingham, Mich.
"Yes. They will understand the satisfaction men find in hunting. Women are great shots—the equals of men in marksmanship. Hunting offers good companionship and outdoor life at a time of year that is especially beautiful. It helps you appreciate nature. Why shouldn't women enjoy this experience?"
CONSTANCE BENNETT, movie star
Beverly Hills Calif.
"Why certainly they should. How frustrating it would be to negate their natural prerogative. Even in the Stone Age, when their husbands protected them, women went hunting things like apples, so their husbands could eat. Hunting? I think the sport can be best defined in one word, women."
HOWARD C. WILL Corp. president
Syracuse, N.Y.
"Yes, if they can keep quiet. While hunting with a group, I got a bead on the biggest buck I ever saw. For once, my girl kept her mouth shut. I nailed him. The girl felt sad about such a beautiful animal being killed. So I proposed marriage to cheer her up. That's how she nailed me."
MRS. ROBERTA WATSON, housewife
Narsarsuank, Greenland
"Certainly. Hunting is the most wonderful sport. My father used to take me pheasant hunting. But he never gave me a gun. He used me as a bird dog, to flush the birds out of the fields. When they flushed on my side, my father couldn't shoot, for fear of hitting me. How I wish I had a gun!"
MANLY MUMFORD, farmer
Genesee Depot, Wis.
"No. Women get in the way. You have to help them and cater to them. Sometimes you wait to shoot without making a sound. Then you get a bead on a quail and the woman squeals. It doesn't scare the quail, but it sure as hell throws me off my bead. I feel like choking her. Women hunt? Yes, men."
NORBERT L. HARMS, company vice-president
St. Louis, Mo.
"Yes. Hunting would give women a better balance and better understanding. It would also make them better sports. Basically, most women are poor sports. If a woman could learn to shoot a deer between the eyes, cut out the venison and dress it down, she'd be on her way to becoming a true sport."
GEN. JAMES A. VAN FLEET
U.S. Army, ret.
"Yes. Women are not the faint-hearted creatures so many of us think. Often they are more stout-hearted than men. I've seen it in Greece and Korea. I've actually heard them say to their men: 'You carry this rifle or I will.' As hunters, women would be good sports. They'd follow the rules."
STUART L. MOORE managing director
Sans Souci Hotel
Miami Beach
"Don't they always? Women are so intuitive they invariably corner their prey. And when they have made up their minds to do something they do it as well as men, if not better. I'm sure they'd be better hunters. Trouble is they'd soon kill off the few remaining animals."
ILLUSTRATION
ELEVEN PHOTOS
NEXT WEEK'S QUESTION:
There's been a lot of talk about anti-intellectualism. Are you anti-intellectual ?