COLUMN: Hunting is more than just a sport to kill animals
In the sports world there are some sports that end up at the bottom of the favorites pile.
Take curling for example.
How many people know what curling is or how to play it? Can anybody at this school name a curling superstar?
I don’t think many people even consider curling a sport.
Hunting is very much like curling in those aspects.
Many people just don’t like hunting because it involves killing other living things. If looked at closely, though, I believe many people will change their opinion.
Hunting is definitely a sport. Hunting takes work and time to improve at. It is something that you must learn and practice for many years. It requires some physical ability.
But it is a very unique sport. It has a long heritage dating to the beginning of man.
People do not hunt for the workout or the thrill of competition like in common popular sports. Most hunt because of their love for the outdoors.
Despite popular belief, those who hunt are actually helping to preserve the wilderness. A portion of the cost for a license is set aside for the preservation of public land.
The regulation of this sport is stout. To hunt anything, a permit must be bought and carried along when hunting. The rules and regulations of each season are published in a proclamation.
To purchase a permit, the hunter must have attended a hunting education class. Many things are addressed in the curriculum of this class including safe hunting, poaching and land conservation.
Most hunters are responsible and care about and respect the land and the animals.
But there are always exceptions. There are some who hunt for the wrong reasons and behave in ways that give hunters a bad name.
Some are rowdy and irresponsible. Worse, some are poachers. This is very unfortunate.
But responsible hunters are fighting back against those who have given them a bad name and ruined the integrity if their sport. A poaching hotline has been set up to help combat the problem. Hunters realize that if poaching continues, there will be nothing left for future generations to hunt.
In fact, hunting is essential to the survival of the game that are hunted. Urban sprawl has created less habitat for the animals. Due to the decrease in habitat, there is a greater risk for overpopulation. Overpopulation of a habitat can lead to the extinction of the species in that habitat.
To illustrate the point, consider that there is a limited amount of vegetation that a species can consume. As the species thrives and multiplies their resource of food depletes. Before long, the resource of food is completely diminished and the animals have nothing to eat. Therefore, they die of starvation.
This is not a theoretical situation that I am making up. It has been recorded and studied multiple times. In fact, it is a subject covered in hunters education classes.
The Division of Wildlife Resources, which regulates harvesting of game, determines the amount of animals that need to be harvested to maintain a healthy population.
Only enough permits are sold to meet this population quota.
When looking at this issue and considering the ethics of killing an animal, one must ask themselves if it is better to kill one animal, or to let dozens, possibly hundreds die of starvation.
The point I would like to emphasize most in my argument is the nature of hunters.
They are not cold-blooded redneck killers. Hunters are grandfathers, grandmothers, fathers, mothers, sons and daughters who go outdoors together to enjoy themselves and hopefully harvest an animal.
Hunters show great respect for the animals. They attempt to harvest them in the most humane way possible. If a respectable hunter injures an animal without killing it he feels guilty. Not because he didn’t get to harvest it, but because he knows the animal is in prolonged pain.
Hunting is about more than the thrill of the chase. It’s about building family bonds and friendships. It’s about continuing family tradition. And it is about caring for and spending time in the great outdoors.
Chris Barney is a sophomore majoring in psychology. He can be reached at chrisbarn@cc.usu.edu.