Shediac — After a heated Facebook debate on a CTV article about Moncton’s Cabela’s closing, a Shediac-area hunter is hanging up the rifles he’s been using to sustain himself in order to patronize a supermarket.
Randy Bernard, 67, was convinced by a Facebook user by the name of “Red” whose comments of “Why hunt when you can go to a supermarket?” and “Who would buy a gun anyway?” struck a chord with him.
We spoke with Bernard in his small wood-stove-heated cabin. “When Red said there were supermarkets where I could buy meat, I knew I had to stop hunting — I couldn’t believe I’d wasted my precious time shooting deer and wild meat for 30 cents a shot rather than pay $12 for 2 pounds of hamburger.”
The nearest supermarket to Bernard’s home requires a half-kilometre drive to a rural road and then a 45-minute drive along back roads and highways to Shediac. “I barely have internet, and my pension is so low that I’ve basically lived off-grid since the Gulf War,” continued Bernard, “but it just makes sense to drive to the store twice a week. I mean, rather than use my trusty .303 to fill the freezer.”
The Manatee took the liberty of searching for the Facebook comments on the story, but couldn’t find “Red’s” wise words that had changed Bernard’s entire way of life. After some cursory research we found that “Red” was a fake account that had been set up to stir dissent and controversy on local news stories. “His” comments have since been deleted.
Bernard wanted to express his gratitude all the same for the life-changing conversation he had online.
“Not only am I bringing home meat that I have no idea the origin of,” he beamed, “with the Air Miles I’m getting I’m only 20 years from flying to Fredericton…from Moncton.”