Most people simply prefer not to think about real "Nature" and it's harsh realities. Here is an article that I wrote, printed as a "guest" columnist for the Orange County Register.
Hunting is a Tool for Wildlife Management
In watching many of the programs on the Discovery Channel, Animal Planet and other nature shows, I have noticed a tendency to malign hunting. This is disturbing, since it is hunters who fund most of the conservation programs through excise taxes on equipment and through the fees they pay for licenses, as well as through various groups such as the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, National Wild Turkey Federation, Ducks Unlimited and other such groups of hunters and sportsmen. Some of these groups actually purchase land that is set aside for the various species of wildlife. This benefits all species in the area, not just game animals. Teddy Roosevelt, an avid hunter, established the National Park system.
Hunting has, for decades, been a tool of wildlife management in this country. With the elimination of large numbers of predators, hunting has been the major factor in population control, preventing overpopulation of game animals. It is an unfortunate fact of life that it is very rare for an animal to die of old age in the wild. Animals die of disease, hunger or are killed by a predator. When the population of deer, for example, exceeds the capacity of the land to support that population, the animals are left to die of starvation or disease caused by weakened resistance due to malnutrition. If you have ever seen an animal starving to death, it is a heartrending sight.
All creatures ultimately die. That is a fact of life. Do not, though, confuse the life of your pet with the life of an animal in the wild. There is no comparison. There are no veterinarians in the wild, putting animals gently to sleep. In my opinion, the comparatively rapid death of an animal from a hunter is preferable to that of a slow death by starvation or the terror and pain of being torn apart by a pack of coyotes.
Those who think hunting is the easy killing of defenseless animals do not understand hunting. They do not get up before dawn in the cold darkness to climb a couple of thousand feet or walk miles over rough country in hopes of even seeing a game animal. They do not understand the concept of testing yourself and limiting your equipment in order to keep it “fair chase.” They do not understand that the animal has the advantages of knowing its territory; of far better sense of smell, vision and hearing; and of far better physical abilities. There are perhaps a million deer hunters in California. Only a few thousand get a deer every year. It must not be as easy as you may think.
Finally, it is the height of hypocrisy to characterize hunters as cruel buffoons who kill animals “for no reason” while you sit in front of the television eating a ham sandwich. Responsible hunters usually eat what they hunt. When they eat meat, they know and accept that it came from an animal. They take responsibility for the death of something else so that they may live. They do everything possible to ensure a quick, humane death and agonize when they fail to do so. Even if you are a vegetarian, something must die so that you can eat. That, too, is part of life. Hunters do not fool themselves into thinking that the meat which comes on a Styrofoam tray and wrapped in plastic did not come from an animal. They do not think that the hamburger they order from a fast food restaurant is some kind of synthetic substance.
It is your choice to hunt or not, of course. All I ask is that you not fool yourself about your own diet or the “kindness” of your own choices.
