One of the biggest complaints about the Silver Lake Wildlife Management Area is the abuse of the property.

There are the usual, general complaints of selfish abuses such as leaving trash, hunting from vehicles and riding ATVs on closed roads.

But there also the abuses where there shouldn’t be any excuses—not reporting harvesting of game and not following the set seasons or limits.

Some say the government’s management of Silver Lake is nowhere near the quality and attention to detail International Paper gave to it. This may perhaps be true, but as an ethical hunter and fisherman, accurately reporting your harvest would help the state better manage Silver Lake. How do you expect the state to properly manage the 9,200-acre WMA if the numbers are inaccurate?

Inaccurately reporting your harvest should be as taboo as hunting at night with a spotlight or killing game from a vehicle.

Now that Decatur County has this crown jewel—Silver Lake—it is the responsibility and ethical duty of hunters and fishermen to accurately report your harvest.

How else can it be improved upon if the numbers don’t jibe.