Q&A: Hunters & Killing

The past week has been a busy one for me. I've spent considerable time answering Email prompted by a recent feature of mine, entitled "Why do Hunters Kill?" My readers certainly have a lot of varying opinions on the harvest of animals, and I thought it would be interesting to share some of this correspondence with you here. I'm only revealing the first names of those who submitted comments. All responses are my own.

From Dennis:
"I believe your comments would be justified IF the threat to the hunter was just as great as it is to the hunted. Have someone drop you off in the forest with say a pocket knife, and go hunting."

My response:
Are the threats to a mountain lion (panther) as great as the threat to a deer? What about the threat balance between a hawk and a field mouse? Are these scenarios, which are played out countless times each day, more acceptable than my going hunting?

Author's note: Hunters account for only a small fraction of deer deaths in the USA.

From Darlene:
"You seem to have justified everything about it. Except one thing. You said the 'deer had a chance.' That would be true if you were hunting with a club or even a bow and arrow."

My response:
Regardless of the tool used, a hunter must defeat a deer's excellent natural defenses, most notably his sense of smell and very skittish nature. I hunt with bow & arrow as well as with a rifle, and I can tell you that many deer have escaped me while I was hunting with that rifle! The perception of a hunter strolling into the woods and blasting a placid, tame deer is incorrect. All free-ranging, wild deer have many chances to escape us, and most of them do so each year!

From Darlene:
"If I were out in the wilderness and starving, I would kill an animal for my survival, just they way they would kill me for their survival."

My response:
I'm glad that you realize and ackowledge this. Many folks don't.

From Darlene:
"I don't eat meat, as long as I have other food choices in this world. I also don't wear animal fur."

My response:
I respect your decision to do so, and you won't find me (or most other hunters for that matter) trying to talk you out of it.

From Patrick:
Thank you for such a heart felt and well worded article. I've been wanting to say what you have written for a while now, and now you have provided the power of words to describe my feelings.

I especially agree with the respect for the wild animal that is had, the excitement of having him/her close to me, beating it at its own game...

We should always know how to hunt, and always know and maintain a relationship to the wild, and the animals that live near us.

I also thank hunting for one other thing:  It provided me the best times and memories I have with my grandfather and father. They taught me to be a man, and I thank them for that, rip grandad. The strain todays society places on the father/son relationship is somehow balanced out or made natural through hunting.

My response:
Thank YOU for a wonderful message! In regards to the relationship with your father & grandfather; both my grandfathers were gone by the time I was old enough to hunt, but my father and I are incredibly close as a result of our hunting together. I like how you put it: "...the father/son relationship is somehow balanced out or made natural through hunting."

Very good choice of words! I couldn't have said it better myself.

Author's note: Humans are predators! We share many traits with wild predators.

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