I am tired of hearing people rant and rant about how hunting is bad for the environment and how hunting is just ethically wrong. This is what the uneducated people say about hunting. Everything they say is wrong because I know for a fact, as a hunter, that I am doing the environment a favor. Without hunting, the whole ecosystem would be overflowed with the same species of animal, especially deer. People always tell me "oh don't kill Bambi" fact is that killing a baby deer (with spots) would result in a huge fine, license suspension, the authorities can also take your truck and gun. I also don't understand why people think it is unethical. I shoot deer at 300 or more yards away and they drop like they got run over by a train.
The truth is that organizations like PETA don't understand what true conservation is. They believe that hunting is a way for people to unleash their rage on animals, but we really help thin out the population of animals. We hunters wan't to continue hunting, so we don't frivolously kill animals till our hearts content. We kill a certain amount, and none of it goes to waste. People need to learn that hunting is a way of life for a group of people. Hunting is a culture.
The truth is that organizations like PETA don't understand what true conservation is. They believe that hunting is a way for people to unleash their rage on animals, but we really help thin out the population of animals. We hunters wan't to continue hunting, so we don't frivolously kill animals till our hearts content. We kill a certain amount, and none of it goes to waste. People need to learn that hunting is a way of life for a group of people. Hunting is a culture.
Interesting post, Chetan. I was a deeply anti-hunting vegetarian at your age, but seeing the extreme deer overpopulation in my hometown in New Jersey and all the problems they caused (from eating everyone's plants to Lyme disease and fatal car accidents) made me reconsider. Now my husband hunts, and I think about it more from a food politics/health perspective--venison is lean, free range, grass-fed, antibiotic-free, etc. But just as hunting is a culture, a food culture also exists that really separates out animals that are raised for slaughter (which PETA doesn't do - they are opposed to all harm to animals in all contexts) from wild animals that we shouldn't interfere with.
ReplyDeleteIt seems like a lot of your posts take up this issue of moral absolutes vs. cultural relativism. That might be something you want to look into more.