The Hunt Unfolds

A LEGACY OF CONSERVATION

Hunters, farmers, blacksmiths, textile makers, bakers, doctors… all of these and more have traditionally been seen as valuable occupations in society - until recently that is. More and more it seems that hunters are coming under attack and continue to be seen in a negative light. The Cecil the lion story probably comes to mind immediately. There are many other instances of hunters coming under attack, though. Society doesn’t see hunting as a good like it used to. This is largely thanks to a few bad apples and a united front from the “antis”.

But it pains me to say that the antis are not the only ones hurting our beloved heritage. I can’t begin to recall all the times I have seen one hunter tearing down another hunter because “that deer is too young” or “dog hunters are a bane on hunting” or “if you bait you’re not a hunter” or (fill in the blank). How can we expect to preserve hunting and the lands on which we do that if we can’t even maintain a united front amongst ourselves? The strategy of many successful military leaders has often been to divide and conquer. The antis don’t even have to divide because we are doing that to ourselves. Now all they have to do is conquer.

According to the US Fish and Wildlife Services’ survey conducted in 2011 there were 13.7 million hunters in the US that year (6% of the Nations’ population). History has given us countless examples of a small group of people having a tremendous impact. By merely looking at the foundation of our country and the events that took place we have numerous examples. Hunters are another example of a small group having a tremendous impact. The population numbers of many game species were dangerously low at one point or another. Conservation efforts funded by hunters helped to bring numbers back up to huntable populations. According to The National Shooting Sports Foundation hunters annually contribute $371 million to conservation through a self-imposed excise tax on guns and ammunition. Additionally another $796 million are spent on licenses and permits, and $440 million are donated to conservations groups bringing the annual, grand total of conservation funding from hunting to $1.6 billion.

Many hunters have joined ranks with conservations organizations pertaining to their query of choice but Whitetail hunters seem to be slacking off in this area. According to a survey conducted by the Quality Deer Management Association less than 1% of whitetail hunters are members of any such organization. This is particularly bad due to the fact that whitetail hunters make up a majority of the hunting population. I would encourage all hunters to consider joining and donating to a whitetail conservation organization. It’s great to donate to The National Wild Turkey Federation but the work they do primarily benefits turkeys. Habitat improvements designed for improving areas for deer tend to have a much more widespread benefit encompassing multiple species aside from just deer. That’s not to say I’m not advocating for you to donate to the NWTF or any other organization but rather do so in addition to donating to a whitetail group.

Hunters are primary stake holders in nature and wildlife so it should come as no surprise that we spend so much money to conserve what we love. However, I think we can do much better. I have recently taken it upon myself to join some of the main conservation groups associated with hunting and would encourage everyone to do the same. I would also greatly encourage everyone to join a relatively young organization called the National Deer Alliance. It is free to join and you actually get to participate as opposed to reading a publication they put out – that’s not to say they don’t put out publications, though – without any input. Every week the NDA send out a quick survey that takes anywhere from ten seconds to a minute to complete. The cool thing about the NDA is that they are trying to unite hunters across the continent and not just within a state or region. By doing so, their goal is to present a united front for deer hunters everywhere and to advocate on their behalf based on the input they get through the weekly survey.

As hunters, it is time for us to stand up and emulate the goal set forth by the NDA but not limited to a species. We need to present a unified front to the general public and demonstrate our value. According to the study by the US Fish and Wildlife Services mentioned above, more than 90 million people participated in some form of outdoor recreation involving nature and wildlife that year, whether it was hiking, bird watching, fishing, etc… The entire nation benefits from the efforts of hunters but they lose sight of that when we can’t stand together as a whole and defend ourselves because we are too busy bickering amongst ourselves. We all participate in a heritage that is deeper than any other but if we aren’t careful we will lose it. By coming together we can present society with the facts and show the good we provide. If we participate personally or financially we can further increase that beneficial impact and maybe this era of hunter criticism will end.

I have taken the liberty of attaching links to some of the great hunter advocacy and conservation groups below and strongly encourage everyone to check them out and all the others and consider donating and getting involved. You may think your contributions are merely a drop in the bucket and so it’s not worth it but if everyone had that view then where would we be?

Quality Deer Management Association - https://www.qdma.com/