I am not really a hunter myself, but I don’t begrudge anyone else their hunting. Actually, one of these Falls I’d like to go on an upland gamebird hunt: walking across high fields with a friend or two, a gun and a dog, taking damn near impossible snap shots at flushing pheasant or quail — that looks to me like it could be fun.

So I am not sure why this so firmly rubs me the wrong way.

OAKLAND, Md. - An 8-year-old girl killed the first black bear of Maryland’s 2005 hunting season, downing the 211-pound adult male with two shots from a .243-caliber rifle about an hour after dawn Monday, the Department of Natural Resources said.

Might be the age of the shooter, or that she was using too small of a gun to ethically hunt bear, or that the whole thing just smells like a publicity stunt of some sort. I have a feeling that I wouldn’t like this girl’s parents. No evidence to back this up, just a feeling. A strong feeling.