"Now and then we hear the wilder voices of the wilderness …” - Teddy Roosevelt
For many it seems counterintuitive that hunters love animals, wildlife and wild spaces. Maybe this misconception comes from growing up with Teddy Bears, Bambi, and Elmer Fudd. The anthropomorphization of bears as gentle and deer as orphans combined with the depiction of hunters as soulless buffoons gets embedded in our psyche as children and I truly believe this plays a bigger role than we are willing to admit in our adult lives. I get a sense that people think I'm lying when I say I truly love animals. I’ll admit adding nuance to any point of view tends to ruin the fun but one of my goals with this blog is to increase understanding. Now more than ever it is important for us to acknowledge that nuance exists.
Not sure if I got this from Steven Rinella (or if he got it from someone else) but one astute way of framing this concept is that animal rights activists or anti-hunters or vegans tend to love the individual animal they are looking at, whereas hunters, wildlife biologist and people in the conservation world tend to love the species as a whole.
There are many avenues to cover in the subject so I'll try to touch on a couple of them here.
1. The North American Model of Wildlife Conservation
Many around the world consider the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation the premier methodology of preservation on the planet. Shane Mahoney has written a book detailing the history of this incredible approach.
There are 7 tenets to the NA Model of Wildlife Conservation. They are:
Wildlife is a public resource.
Markets for game are eliminated
Allocation of wildlife by law.
Wildlife can only be killed for a legitimate purpose.
Wildlife species are considered an international resource.
Science is the proper tool for discharge of wildlife policy.
The democracy of hunting.
3. How we differ from our European roots
In England all of the wildlife belongs to the queen or private land owners depending on the property, whereas in the United States all of the animals belonging to the people and are managed by federal government similar to a lot of our public land they're owned by us and managed by a public trust
A Bull Elk with his herd in Evergreen CO
From 1900 to 1935 the estimated population of waterfowl in the United States decreased from 150 Million birds down to around 30 Million. A decrease of 80%!
At the time of European Contact the estimated Elk Population of North America was over 10 MILLION animals, around 1900 that number decreased to nearly 41,000, a loss of 99.59% of the herd. Now due in large part to hunters, hunting and conservation groups like the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation the population of Elk in North America is estimated to be around 1 Million animals. An increase of 95.9% (from 41,000)
3. A connection with our planet through our symbiotic relationship with wildlife.
A Mule Deer Doe in Jefferson CO
The factory farming system we have created and so heavily reliant today is far from natural. Although humans have been domesticating animals for thousands of years our ancestors did not do this by the billions.
It is not lost on me that taking an animal's life, especially a large mammal seems cruel and barbaric however consider this:
Each year in the United States there are 9,000,000,000 yes BILLION animals slaughtered for consumption each year.
On average Americans eat between 1-2 lbs of meat per day. This means a family of 4 could survive off of 2-5 hunted animals per year but our factory farming system kills about 25 per person each year.
Allowing someone else to do our dirty work results in 5-10X the amount of death then is necessary*
*I do acknowledge that it is not possible for 350M+ Americans to live off of hunting but that is a post for another time.
4. Where does funding for our wild spaces and animals come from?
A Pronghorn Antelope in Meeker CO
Pittman-robertson dingell-johnson licenses tags fees wildlife organizations and foundations (BHA, RMEF, Ducks Unlimited ….)
1937 The Pittman-Robertson Act brings in on average nearly $250 Million per year
This is an excise tax on guns, ammunition, bows and arrows that plays a large role in conservation funding
1950 Dingell-Johnson Act also known as the Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration Act brings in on average nearly $130 Million per year
This is an excise tax on Fishing tackle and equipment that is earmarked specifically for fish restoration and management programs
Hunting and Fishing Tags and Licenses
Hunters generate nearly $2 BILLION dollars annual which helps fund each state’s wildlife departments
It needs to be understood that hunters are more than HAPPY to pay these fees and taxes as it protects and provides the animals and recreational services we all care about so deeply. It's odd to think that these animals having a value is what keeps them alive but if we were solely relying on birdwatchers and mountain bike riders we would be looking at a significantly smaller pot of money to fund our conservation efforts.
This is also why hunters paying tens of thousands of dollars to hunt wild game in Africa is not such a black and white issue, but again that is a topic for another post.
5. And lastly for now is nature.
Humans tend to have a recency bias and because we and our parents and maybe our grandparents have been living a certain way for the past Century has morphed our minds into thinking that the way we lived for the hundred thousand years prior to the 20th century is no longer relevant.
How can someone claim to love the things they are hoping to kill? It is not because we (hunters) enjoy killing, it is actually the most difficult part of the process to deal with. Hunting gives us purpose, it is a way for us to provide for ourselves and our family, it is a way for us to deepen our connection with nature and to understand its patterns. It is a way for us to hone an ancient skill and pass it on to the next generation. We must remember that less than 4% of the American population is solely vegetarian. And that is a very recent luxury that we have been able to enjoy. So next time you come across a hunter or a fisherman maybe you can meet them with a smile and a thank you for they play a large role in the reason we all get to enjoy our wild spaces and animals.
Sunset along the White River CO
Love yourself, Love your neighbor - JK