♾ Infinite Gumption ♾ Amy Infinity ♾

Hunting Isn’t All Bad (Really!); Depends on the Kind of Hunting.

I used to be a hunter. I was the son my dad never had, a tomboy in both clothing and action. Now, it is ever more common to see daughters hunting in the woods with their fathers and mothers. But it used to be a guys game. And I was a young girl in it. I loved it. I was proud to be a hopeful beacon, opening the doors to both male minds and other girls. Yet something changed. I changed. And the world changed around me, causing me, like many, to question traditional practices like hunting. 

I am not a vegetarian, a vegan, or the like. But now I find myself trying to live a more organic and ethical lifestyle. As such, you might assume I am now opposed to hunting. I am not. Or let me correct, I am not entirely. I am against hunting for the wrong reasons. And to me, the wrong reasons include killing entirely for sport. Don’t get me wrong, I am not about to go out and start picketing hunters or fishermen and -women. There is fun to be had in the sport of it all, to be sure. But it is the mental attitude, the numbness in the face of death, that I take issue with. 

Humans have hunted for subsistence for thousands of years. Yet the evolution of hunting for sport occurred as a result of boredom, testosterone, and excess. Perfect example: fox hunts. What purpose did this serve? As an historian by education, I am actually not basing this assertion on documented history as a good girl should. Just look at the sports themselves. Kill the biggest trophy elk and you get your picture in a magazine. Kill an enormous predator, say a lion, and you get your picture spread around the world. You get with it a large helping of backlash, to be sure. But will that stop other sport and trophy hunters? Probably not. It’s the thrill of the kill. The dominant feeling of “I conquered that,” now let me show it off. 

My dad and I hunted for a very different reason. Conservation. And meat. The overall legacy and experience. The bond, both between us and to the world around us. Let me explain. My dad brought me up with a very respectful attitude toward nature. When he brought me into the hunting fold, he explained that it did not matter if we went home empty handed. When this happened, we were disappointed to be sure. But what I took from these excursions was so much more. I learned to listen to the forest, with all senses acutely aware. I heard elk bugling at dawn and dusk, saw the forest awaken and go to sleep. I spent hours trying to warm my toes, but in doing so, learned my own resiliency. I learned how to be quiet, to move slowly, to take it all in. I learned that killing mattered much less than respecting. 

When I first witnessed my dad kill a deer, he let me take my time to approach it. I sat at a distance and cried at first. But eventually, curiosity and courage got the better of me and I went over to investigate. He had me hold the chest cavity open as he gutted the amazing creature, ignoring my embarrassing tears and all the while explaining the anatomy of the deer.

When I shot my first deer, it was a doe we had special tags for. We did not need a trophy. We were not there for that. I gutted it and skinned it with my dad’s assistance (but only when asked), allowing me the chance to learn and respect what I had done and who I had killed. I said a silent prayer of thanks and felt gratitude for both the life that was given and for the experience.

My dad taught me that hunting was a privilege; it was also a necessity of a different sort, now that predators were over hunted and nearly eradicated in many areas. Monies from the purchase of hunting licenses and tags went back to the conservation of the very creatures we were hunting. So, in essence, most “good” hunters were also conservationists. We saw firsthand the gut-wrenching consequence of areas that were under hunted; one harsh winter, one of our usual spots had a near-complete die out. Too many deer, not enough predators, and too little food was a recipe for starvation. Thus, as a byproduct of past human action, loss of habitat, and the growth of infrastructure, hunting has become a necessity in many areas around the United States. 

So, as I have said, I am an advocate for hunting to some degree. But where I draw the line is regarding the attitude in which it is done. While still young, I had the misfortune of encountering my share of the “bad” kind of hunting. One year, we ended up congregating in Eastern Washington with some of my dad’s hunting buddies. A friend of a friend joined along. But he was no friend. He was the kind of jerk who drank too much then ended up peeing on the floor in one of the trailers. Real winner. My dad called him out one day for leaning his loaded rifle against his truck, picking up the guy’s weapon and unloading it for him. After the trip, we heard how much of a winner this guy really was - on his way home, he stopped to shoot a deer from the road and actually shot through a doe to get a buck. THAT is the worst kind of hunter. 

Another example: the two guys who tried to block the road on our way back to our hunt camp on a different trip. We pulled over to see what was wrong, chatted briefly, but found nothing was amiss...at least not yet. My dad’s hand subtlely moved to the gun under his thigh as he watched the men watch me (remember how rare a girl used to be). Then, he abruptly told the men to get out of the way, offroaded around them, and sped us back to camp. To my shock, I could see, behind us, the guys jumping into their rig to come after us. Thankfully, they missed our camp as I hid in our trailer and my dad and our two hunting buddies waited, guns at the ready, around our campfire. Our camp was tucked far into the trees so the guys, probably drunk, sped right by. 

Just as bad, in my opinion, is the conquerist attitude many sport hunters have. The bigger the victim, the better. Oh, trophy hunters. The more challenging the quarry, the funner the hunt. To many of them, predators are even more glorious than prey species. The problem I have with this is multitiered. Not only does the conquerist attitude regarding anything living or otherwise disgust me; it does not bode well for our planet. Fear, pride, and ego are what got us into this mess of needing hunting to regulate populations in the first place. Take, take, take, as if it is all ours for the taking. Morally, ethically, and even scientifically, this is trouble at all angles.   

So am I an anti-hunter? Definitely not. I am an advocate for subsistence hunting, particularly involving indigenous peoples or traditions that have been forcibly eradicated as a part of historic “civilizing.” I am also an advocate of responsible, ethical, and scientifically necessary hunting. We need it now for population control, in some cases more than ever. If conducted in the right vein, it can also serve as an important tool for learning, about connection, about nature, and even about ourselves.

And it makes the drive-thru burger much more than just a burger. You actually have to get your hands bloody. You look the animal in the eye, both before death and after. And your quarry has a chance to get away (for those who argue against high-powered rifles, they may seem to give an unfair advantage, but they are also the quickest and most humane way to go).

Everyone has a right to their own opinion. And I understand the arguments, especially by those who are vegetarian and vegan. But an argument by another meat-eater…this, I do not understand. Yes, deer are cute. But so are baby cows. And hunters are doing their own dirty work. So I consider that more respectable than allowing someone else to do it for you. 

However, killing predators makes no sense. This I cannot agree with unless it is for protection from an imminent attack or population control. And by population control, I do not mean to protect human interests such as cattle farming or the building up of infrastructure. We are in their territory, on their land. We have taken over and killed them off in many cases. If they rebound, it is only right to give them back their turn unless it will adversely affect the ecosystem.

If we have learned nothing else from our recent discoveries of climate change and environmental impact, hopefully we can acknowledge our direct effect on planetary health including the well-being and longevity of the creatures we live alongside. Through hunting in the right mindset, we may help to regain this balance, both in our environment and within ourselves.

But the bigger question here is one of self-examination and discovery. Why are we doing the things that we are doing? In all facets of life, this should be the resounding question that may help us solve any problems we may face. So, is the hunting the problem? No. Motivation and intent are the ill powers at work. Used in a negative way - to conquer, to kill, to blow up the ego-balloon - I cannot see the light in it. But on the flip side - hunting as regulation, conservation, connection, and education - there's the light and the dark, an example of the balance that our world so desperately needs.