charles-smythe
Porn Star
finally a common sense look at hunting:...
...
I am an Environmentalist, and I Hunt: Why?
I have actively volunteered and supported efforts to help restore wolves in the West; protect our remaining roadless lands on National Forests; ensure our designated wilderness areas are being managed as they should; to have more lands designated as wilderness, and to restore grizzlies to the Selway Bitterroot Wilderness. I am a former employee of the U.S. Forest Service, have worked for several nonprofit wildlife conservation organizations, and recently worked on Global Warming issues for the National Wildlife Federation. I am also a member of Wilderness Watch, the Wilderness Society, Audubon, The Nature Conservancy and other such groups.
And I hunt. I kill and eat wild elk and wild deer.
Does this seem contradictory? It's not if you consider our Nation's environmental heritage, and see that most of our environmental heroes---including Theodore Roosevelt (who created the national forests and wildlife refuges), Aldo Leopold (author of the environmental classic, "A Sand County Almanac) and Olaus J. Murie (founder of The Wilderness Society)---were all hunters.
I can understand people's disdain for hunting. As Edward Abbey (himself a hunter) once wrote, "Hunting is one of the hardest things even to think about. Such a storm of conflicting emotion!" I can't speak for all hunters, but will try and explain why I choose to hunt.
I love elk and deer. They are a magnificent, mysterious and powerful animals. I spend all the time I can in elk and deer country, year-round, hiking, backpacking, backcountry skiing and snowshoeing, observing and admiring elk and deer. And yet, each year during bowseason I head into elk and deer country with the intent to kill one. Why? Partly because I can think of no more ecologically-sound way to live. I cherish wild elk and deer meat; it's healthy, and it's derived from healthy, native grasses and forbs in the wilds.
I hunt to experience and celebrate a fundamental connection with nature, because we must all kill to eat, and eating elk and deer nourished on native grasses and forbs has as low an impact on the environment as any of the alternatives. Even eating soybeans and soy-based products supports an agricultural industry that displaces and destroys wildlife habitat to grow a non-native plant, requiring irrigation, pesticides, herbicides, fossil fuels, trucks, roads and industry to be shipped around the country. Not to mention the thousands of deer and other wildlife killed to protect valuable agricultural crops. Most people are not aware of the impacts of their lifestyles and actions, or they choose to live in denial. The fact is, we all have impacts on the environment and wildlife. We all contribute to the killing of wildlife and animals to live.
Everything we do has consequences. Whether we choose to eat vegetables or meat, store-bought food or homegrown, cattle or venison, we all contribute to the death of animals so we can eat. I choose to eat the wild meat of elk, mule deer and antelope. And the money I spend in pursuit of these wild animals, through license fees and excise taxes on hunting equipment, helps protect the wild places that sustain them and sustain me. It's the most efficient, environmentally sound and sustainable way I know to live. And the countless days and hours I spend pursuing elk and deer through the rugged mountains in the wilderness areas where I hunt have provided me with a keen understanding and awareness of these incredible animals and their habitat, which has fueled a passion for the protection of wild elk, deer and other wildlife, and the wild places they roam.
North America's system of wildlife management, of which regulated hunting is an integral part, is a tremendous achievement. The value of wild elk and deer to hunters supports the protection and enhancement of wildlife habitat for an array and abundance of wildlife, including large predators and threatened and endangered species, and supports ecologically-based research and management. It's a sustainable system that gives many hunters a stake in wildlife, and fuels public understanding and concern for conservation.
I am growing increasingly upset over the ongoing loss of crucial wildlife habitat from human subdivision and development. Throughout the West, homes are rapidly replacing critical elk and deer winter range, calving and fawning habitat and migratory corridors. Not only elk and deer suffer, but all wildlife that depend on that habitat, including everything from ducks and trout to grizzlies and pine martens. My love for wild elk and deer provokes a strong desire to protect their habitat; That desire is fueled, in part, by my passion for hunting and the meat that sustains me.
So, in a nutshell, this is how and why I can cherish wildlife and hunting. I can think of no better lifestyle than roaming wildlands as a participant of nature, taking responsibility for the deaths I cause, and securing my own sustenance. In his essay, "A Hunter's Heart," Colorado naturalist and writer David Petersen summarizes it nicely:
"Why do I hunt? It's a lot to think about, and I think about it a lot. I hunt to acknowledge my evolutionary roots, millennia deep, as a predatory omnivore. To participate actively in the bedrock workings of nature. For the atavistic challenge of doing it well with an absolute minimum of technological assistance. To learn the lessons, about nature and myself, that only hunting can teach. To accept personal responsibilities for at least some of the deaths that nourish my life. For the glimpse it offers into a wildness we can hardly imagine. Because it provides the closet thing I've known to a spiritual experience. I hunt because it enriches my life and because I can't help myself . . . because I was born with a hunter's heart."
Some people suggest instead of a gun (or, in my case, a bow), that we hunters "shoot" elk and deer with a camera. I have taken, and occasionally still take, photographs of elk. But it is not the same as hunting. And it is certainly not a "natural" or "sustainable" relationship with animals. Photos do not provide me with winter food for my freezer.
This is not to say that hunting and hunters are not without flaw. Certainly, there are a lot (and far too many) unethical hunters pursuing animals, who care little about the wildlife and good wildlife stewardship. Hunters need to do a better job at fostering a better sense of stewardship, responsibility and ethics among hunters; encouraging the highest standards of ethical conduct among all who hunt, and foster a deeper respect for the land and the wildlife it supports. In some ways, I often feel like an anti-hunter who hunts, disgusted and appalled at the behavior and attitudes of most hunters.
Edward Abbey is right on: It is a lot to think about, a storm of conflicting emotions indeed, but perhaps every body, particularly anti-hunters, should think a bit more deeply about where their food comes from, and what the consequences are.
We all kill to eat.
...I am an Environmentalist, and I Hunt: Why?
I have actively volunteered and supported efforts to help restore wolves in the West; protect our remaining roadless lands on National Forests; ensure our designated wilderness areas are being managed as they should; to have more lands designated as wilderness, and to restore grizzlies to the Selway Bitterroot Wilderness. I am a former employee of the U.S. Forest Service, have worked for several nonprofit wildlife conservation organizations, and recently worked on Global Warming issues for the National Wildlife Federation. I am also a member of Wilderness Watch, the Wilderness Society, Audubon, The Nature Conservancy and other such groups.
And I hunt. I kill and eat wild elk and wild deer.
Does this seem contradictory? It's not if you consider our Nation's environmental heritage, and see that most of our environmental heroes---including Theodore Roosevelt (who created the national forests and wildlife refuges), Aldo Leopold (author of the environmental classic, "A Sand County Almanac) and Olaus J. Murie (founder of The Wilderness Society)---were all hunters.
I can understand people's disdain for hunting. As Edward Abbey (himself a hunter) once wrote, "Hunting is one of the hardest things even to think about. Such a storm of conflicting emotion!" I can't speak for all hunters, but will try and explain why I choose to hunt.
I love elk and deer. They are a magnificent, mysterious and powerful animals. I spend all the time I can in elk and deer country, year-round, hiking, backpacking, backcountry skiing and snowshoeing, observing and admiring elk and deer. And yet, each year during bowseason I head into elk and deer country with the intent to kill one. Why? Partly because I can think of no more ecologically-sound way to live. I cherish wild elk and deer meat; it's healthy, and it's derived from healthy, native grasses and forbs in the wilds.
I hunt to experience and celebrate a fundamental connection with nature, because we must all kill to eat, and eating elk and deer nourished on native grasses and forbs has as low an impact on the environment as any of the alternatives. Even eating soybeans and soy-based products supports an agricultural industry that displaces and destroys wildlife habitat to grow a non-native plant, requiring irrigation, pesticides, herbicides, fossil fuels, trucks, roads and industry to be shipped around the country. Not to mention the thousands of deer and other wildlife killed to protect valuable agricultural crops. Most people are not aware of the impacts of their lifestyles and actions, or they choose to live in denial. The fact is, we all have impacts on the environment and wildlife. We all contribute to the killing of wildlife and animals to live.
Everything we do has consequences. Whether we choose to eat vegetables or meat, store-bought food or homegrown, cattle or venison, we all contribute to the death of animals so we can eat. I choose to eat the wild meat of elk, mule deer and antelope. And the money I spend in pursuit of these wild animals, through license fees and excise taxes on hunting equipment, helps protect the wild places that sustain them and sustain me. It's the most efficient, environmentally sound and sustainable way I know to live. And the countless days and hours I spend pursuing elk and deer through the rugged mountains in the wilderness areas where I hunt have provided me with a keen understanding and awareness of these incredible animals and their habitat, which has fueled a passion for the protection of wild elk, deer and other wildlife, and the wild places they roam.
North America's system of wildlife management, of which regulated hunting is an integral part, is a tremendous achievement. The value of wild elk and deer to hunters supports the protection and enhancement of wildlife habitat for an array and abundance of wildlife, including large predators and threatened and endangered species, and supports ecologically-based research and management. It's a sustainable system that gives many hunters a stake in wildlife, and fuels public understanding and concern for conservation.
I am growing increasingly upset over the ongoing loss of crucial wildlife habitat from human subdivision and development. Throughout the West, homes are rapidly replacing critical elk and deer winter range, calving and fawning habitat and migratory corridors. Not only elk and deer suffer, but all wildlife that depend on that habitat, including everything from ducks and trout to grizzlies and pine martens. My love for wild elk and deer provokes a strong desire to protect their habitat; That desire is fueled, in part, by my passion for hunting and the meat that sustains me.
So, in a nutshell, this is how and why I can cherish wildlife and hunting. I can think of no better lifestyle than roaming wildlands as a participant of nature, taking responsibility for the deaths I cause, and securing my own sustenance. In his essay, "A Hunter's Heart," Colorado naturalist and writer David Petersen summarizes it nicely:
"Why do I hunt? It's a lot to think about, and I think about it a lot. I hunt to acknowledge my evolutionary roots, millennia deep, as a predatory omnivore. To participate actively in the bedrock workings of nature. For the atavistic challenge of doing it well with an absolute minimum of technological assistance. To learn the lessons, about nature and myself, that only hunting can teach. To accept personal responsibilities for at least some of the deaths that nourish my life. For the glimpse it offers into a wildness we can hardly imagine. Because it provides the closet thing I've known to a spiritual experience. I hunt because it enriches my life and because I can't help myself . . . because I was born with a hunter's heart."
Some people suggest instead of a gun (or, in my case, a bow), that we hunters "shoot" elk and deer with a camera. I have taken, and occasionally still take, photographs of elk. But it is not the same as hunting. And it is certainly not a "natural" or "sustainable" relationship with animals. Photos do not provide me with winter food for my freezer.
This is not to say that hunting and hunters are not without flaw. Certainly, there are a lot (and far too many) unethical hunters pursuing animals, who care little about the wildlife and good wildlife stewardship. Hunters need to do a better job at fostering a better sense of stewardship, responsibility and ethics among hunters; encouraging the highest standards of ethical conduct among all who hunt, and foster a deeper respect for the land and the wildlife it supports. In some ways, I often feel like an anti-hunter who hunts, disgusted and appalled at the behavior and attitudes of most hunters.
Edward Abbey is right on: It is a lot to think about, a storm of conflicting emotions indeed, but perhaps every body, particularly anti-hunters, should think a bit more deeply about where their food comes from, and what the consequences are.
We all kill to eat.
