HUNTING -- I can't say for sure than a hunter cut the wire on the fence in the photo above.

But I'll guarantee that hunters get the blame.

Several calls have come into The Spokesman-Review's Outdoors Department this season to vent frustrations and make a common plea that goes something like this:

"Please tell hunters to respect private property."

If you're vandalizing private fences, littering, trespassing and driving on farmers' fields, you're messing up the land, breaking the law and doing and irreparable damage to hunter credibility.

If you're fouling public land, you're cheating honest taxpayers and damaging the image of sportsmen.

The problem with pointing out these obvious consequences is that words won't shame creeps into acting lawfully and ethically.

That takes peer pressure.

If you know a slob hunter, start working to set him straight.