I hope you have had a safe and rewarding harvest and the weather worked in your favor. As of this writing, we have had rain 11 of 22 days in August; not what you would call ideal harvest conditions.

In a few weeks, we will see the opening of the waterfowl hunting season. I don't know how hunting season affects each of you, but I have a distaste for that time of year.

I am not opposed to hunting. I am a former hunter and allow friends and relatives to hunt on my land, which has some of the best duck and goose hunting in the area.

I do go into hunting season with a chip on my shoulder, however. I resent having to take time to post my property. I also dislike having to act as " tour guide" to the out of the area hunters who come on the invitation of the local Chamber of Commerce or the North Dakota Game and Fish Department. I feel these organizations should consult landowners for direction and advice before they offer open ended invitations.

I am also concerned about public safety during hunting season. Most hunters don't understand parking courtesy in rural areas. Also, it is not uncommon on cool, still mornings for the windows in our house to rattle when hunters shoot towards our buildings.

Many hunters have a skewed view of farm policy and feel landowners have a civic duty to allow hunters on their property.

Some in LAND have proposed that landowners be allowed to sell hunting licenses. We are the ones who provide the habitat and feed for the wildlife and who deal with the hunters. This could go a long way to solving wetland issues and healing farmer/hunter relations.