Hunting and the Anti's

An article by Russell Hillis

Coronation, Alberta

November 1996

One of the most common reasons for hunting is full filling a need for independence. The person that does not rely on the grocery store to provide their food supply feels a sense of accomplishment. The less that a person relies on the rest of society to provide for their daily needs, the more secure the person feels. People will often hunt to further reinforce that sense of independence. Many, will process their own meat for storage for themselves and others to increase their sense of well being. The feeling of satisfaction that one obtains from this lifestyle is immense.

All too often non-hunters equate hunting with killing. This reason alone makes it difficult to justify hunting. Many believe to be a successful hunter that you must kill. Unfortunately, they do not realize that hunting is not about killing. What confuses the issue is the fact that nearly all successful hunters spend 99% of their time afield admiring wildlife and the outdoors in general. The hunter then makes the mistake of glorifying the smallest part of the hunt, the kill. The anti's then use the glorification of killing by many to erode the good that can done. Hunters must learn to show everybody that we have more respect for nature than any other group of people, period. We can do this by supporting our natural heritage through groups such as the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Ducks Unlimited etc. Support of all hunters is the key to the survival of hunting. Hunting has had a more positive impact on wildlife than a negative, especially in the last 50 years. Any time an animal becomes threatened, it's hunters and true outdoorsmen who react FIRST.

The Anti's Tactics

What the anti-hunting faction does not tell you and does not want you to know is where most of our current knowledge comes from. The hunter's observation of wildlife activity in the field. Another fact the anti-hunting faction keep try to keep silent is the success of some campaigns through disinformation. They continually make statements such as "these poor animals are endangered and may go extinct" even though populations are in fact very healthy. Another favorite trick of anti-hunting factions is the use of disturbing, misleading and graphic videos of criminals at work. The group will then pass these acts off as hunters doing the normal thing. The reality is hunting has had a more positive impact on wildlife than a negative, any time an animal becomes threatened, it's hunters and true outdoorsmen who react FIRST.

Recently, a post in the recreational sport.archery newsgroup detailed a letter in which the Citizens Against Cruelty to Animals of the Wild described their plans. The first target would be bear baiting, after that success, the use of dogs for bear and cougar hunting, then bow hunting etc.. Each time the group intends to attack only a small portion of the hunting community at a time. Starting with the most divisive and lowest participation forms of hunting first. The reasoning behind the method was that hunters as single and cohesive group would be impossible to defeat. What they intend to do, is erode our strength as a group by singling out each faction of hunting.

Our Strategy

It's hard for hunters to understand what makes an anti-hunter what he/she is. Better explained, why do they think the way they do? Often, they justify their stance by saying things like "it's cruel to kill animals" or "killing isn't a sport". Knowing that most North Americans are not vegetarians, really helps in the first statement. With that statement, the person who says it clearly does not realize that going to the local grocery and buying a couple steak is contributing to the death of that animal. When they go to the shoe store and buy leather shoes, again the same result. On the second argument, they are absolutely correct! Killing is not a sport, never has been a sport and never will be a sport. Hunting is the sport that we participate in and killing is the smallest component by far. Virtually all of the hunters time is spent observing their quarry's habits, movements and learning about the animals environment. In other words a nature walk with a goal. Understanding why we hunt is probably the most important part of any argument. When we don't give a good reason to hunt, we lose all credibility. Maintaining the ecological balance ensuring that particular types of game populations don't get too large is a good reason for hunting. It doesn't justify hunting on the emotional level, however. Unfortunately anti-hunters base their opposition and attacks right there, this is the hunter's Achilles heal.

The anti-hunter's Achilles heal is also an easy target to exploit. They in general do not understand what effect their actions have on nature. Some, are careful not to eat meat, not buy leather products, use hygienic products that are not animal tested and so on. Their actions still cause suffering of animals, how? Most of the products they use to replace leather, wood, beauty care and so on are petroleum based. One must wonder what these people think that the oil in an oil spill was going to be used for? Too many people believe that crude oil is used solely for the production of fuels and lubricants. Petroleum is used every where in every shape and form that you can bring to mind. Take a look at your computer to start with, nearly every part of it involved the use of petroleum. The case, the key board, the monitor, the mouse, everything has been touched by the petroleum industry. The effect on wildlife? Oil spills, acid rain, increased flouro-carbons, and the list goes on and on. The biggest problem the anti-hunting faction has? It has no idea what effect they have on the enviroment through their own actions. Most, in fact believe that the human race is NOT part of nature, and we are some how above it.

The anti-hunting faction has little care for the human cost of their campaign. This can be seen in the Arctic and Newfoundland, where the Inuit and the sealers way of life collapsed after the destruction of the seal hunt. The anti-hunting faction's success can be characterized by dishonesty, (Greenpeace said the seals were endangered, when the opposite was true), disgraceful conduct (graphic photography), and out right disrespect for the north's culture and it's people. The stated goal of the anti-hunting faction, to produce a more "civilized" society. Looking to the Arctic and Newfoundland, it becomes obvious that in the anti-hunter's view the end justifies the means.

Conclusion

Considering the type of attacks the anti-hunting faction are intending to use, we as hunters should support every pro hunting initiative we can. This will mean that each and every one of us must support types of legal hunting that we do not find to our liking. Whether we are facing a ban on baiting, the legalization of hounds for hunting, the use of cross bows etc.. Our ultimate goal should be to protect everyone's right to hunt. This means we simply have to respect the views and rights of all our fellow hunters.