I see myself as a fairly educated 'ethical' person. At first glance I definitely don't look like the stereotypical outdoorsman/hunter. Pretty much everyone I meet that finds out I hunt goes into a mild shock like state. I'm definitely on the small thin side of the scale (all it takes is a good typhoon gust to send me on my way to China), and I definitely don't dress the part. Most people expect I would be on the other side of the spectrum, defending helpless animals from the big bad hunter.
I'm big on 'eco-friendly' stuff, want to build a house that is totally energy self sufficient, and grow my own food. I've loved animals since I can remember, and owned all sorts of pets and strays growing up. I'll probably post all my thoughts on the hunting debate at some point, but to be honest I don't always feel I've got it all figured out. I found a great post on Treehugger.com that encapsulates a lot of my opinions on the subject, so I'm posting a link to it here.
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/11/hunting-fishing-hypocrisy.php
One thing I can tell you is that all we are doing is cutting out the middle man and getting our meat directly from the source. Here in the U.S, funds front hunting and fishing is directly used in conservation.Ask a anti hunter or fisher when the last time they donated over 4 thousand dollars a year? I do with all the license and equipment I buy every year and so does all the other hunters and fishers.In the U.S. I pay a extra 11% tax on all fishing and hunting equipment which is used to fund habitat improvement and wild life conservation.The anti's will never understand and will refuse to understand because we harvest their precious animals.
ReplyDeleteI agree.
ReplyDeleteIt is sometimes very hard to debate about hunting.
There are plenty of things we have to know and think about.
I also don't have the answer to most of the things, but I still keep on learning through hunting.
By the way, I don't have an English Blog, but have Japanese one.
Thanks for the comments.
ReplyDeleteHere in Japan the money paid for hunting permits is also used for wildlife conservation.
YMBZ, I have a Japanese blog going as well http://ameblo.jp/bososhishi/ feel free to drop by, and send me a link to your blog :)
I also enjoyed your Japanese blog.
ReplyDeleteBut I would better not have a link nor make a comment on your Japanese blog.
Some of your friends won't be happy to see my name (LOL).
Nice article. I think it covers some of the important points, but missed a few others. For instance, the land only has a finite carrying capacity and with all of the urbanization and development our society has done, we have pushed populations of wild animals onto smaller and smaller plots of land. I think we have a responsibility to help control the populations of wild animals so they don't suffer from lack of resources on the increasingly smaller plots of land we have left for them. Whether or not you are a meat eater, I think this is a reason to support hunting.
ReplyDeleteAgree with Dave. Hunting is a tool, a tool for proper wildlife management. Its either the animals over populate and die of starvation or the animals are harvested by hunters to sustain a healthy herd/flock/group of animals.The arguement by anti hunters are shortfell when you get into how much funds and work goes into to conservation by hunters. I donate alot of my time for habitat work by building water guzzlers for wildlife in the deserts or planting cover producing plants and trees for deer and turkey.
ReplyDeletecheck this link tis will tell you why I hunt.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhcabnNjd1I