Words mean things. Writers, who have pride in their work, strive to find the right word, a word that fits the occasion and the context, a word that neither understates nor overstates.

Take, for example, the word mendacity. This is a powerful word that I have no recollection of ever using in my years of outdoor writing. It is being used here because there seems to be no other word to describe what seems to be going on with respect to the ill-fated, 10-year struggle to permit a limited bow hunt for deer on 2,000 acres of Marsh Island, which comprises the towns of Old Town, Orono, and the University of Maine.

A ray of hope appeared last year when the Orono and Old Town city councils voted to support a limited archery hunt in their respective towns. With this political momentum, Fish and Wildlife Commissioner Dan Martin met with the University of Maine. University officials had been stonewalling the issue for years, passing it along to various study groups in hopes that the issue would simply die on the vine.

Just as Commissioner Martin was about to promulgate a rule to allow the hunt, Maine President Robert Kennedy wrote a letter strongly opposing a hunt of any kind on University property. In Kennedy’s words, “In the absence of compelling evidence that harvesting Marsh Island deer will make these communities better places to live in tangible ways, we are left with a plan that simply creates new recreational opportunities for hunters and threatens the safety of students and others in the University of Maine community.”

My attempts to reach the leader of my alma mater were blocked by a protective secretary and a public relations spokesman, who shunted me off to a public safety officer. I had only one question for President Kennedy: “How in the world do bow hunters ‘threaten the safety of students and others in the University of Maine community'”?

Dig deep in Maine hunting safety records, and you will be hard-pressed to find one instance of a nonhunter being injured by a bow hunter.

What was disappointing was that Commissioner Martin elected not to approve a Marsh Island hunt anyway, with or without the university. Although Maine owns the biggest parcel of Marsh Island woodlands, there are other areas with high deer densities that could be hunted.

I said as much to Martin, and he said that “Both Orono and Old Town indicated that, in the face of the university’s concerns and opposition to deer hunting on its lands, they would not press their case for expanded archery deer hunting and would acquiesce to the university’s position. Given the university’s opposition and the eroded support … by both Orono and Old Town, I decided not to implement an expanded archery hunt on the island at this time.”

Guess what? Spokesmen for Orono and Old Town say that they, in fact, did not back down from their original vote to support a limited bow hunt in their municipalities. In fact, it was news to them that the commissioner had decided to withdraw his proposal.

Jeff Gordon, who is chairman of the Orono council, said, “As far as I know, our town has not voted to withdraw its support, nor has there been discussion to do so. As chairman of the council, I remain supportive (of the original vote).”

So where is the truth? As with so many other public issues that involve decisions made by politicians, both elected and appointed, truth is often as slippery as a smelt and as elusive as a deer in November. Draw your own conclusions, but however you flesh this thing out, there is mendacity afoot. And once again, the hunter loses.

V. Paul Reynolds is editor of the Northwoods Sporting Journal. He is also a Maine Guide, co-host of a weekly radio program “Maine Outdoors” heard Sundays at 7 p.m. on The Voice of Maine News-Talk Network (WVOM-FM 103.9, WCME-FM 96.7) and former information officer for the Maine Dept. of Fish and Wildlife. His e-mail address is [email protected].