Pro Hunting Ethics and Justification

Regarding ethics, hunter's often feel the need to defend themselves and justify their actions. They truly believe that hunting is ethical when done right. According to Orion the Hunter's Institute, aside from hunter's safety and the issue of killing animals cleanly, quickly, and humanely, there are very few ethical issues involved in how the practice of hunting is conducted. 

What hunter's generally think of as the "ethics of hunting" refers to the specific rules that that govern a particular form of hunting or different style of hunting. Each genre of hunting has a loyal following and an internally consistent set of rules and ethical standards. But most agree on the same general ethical standards regarding the well-being of the animals and their environment. 

Hunter's argue that being shot and killed quickly and painlessly is a better way to go than most animals do. There is usually a specific time of year, a season, when you can hunt particular animals. Often this season comes just before the winter. Many individual wild animals do not survive the winter due to lack of food which leads to starvation, or disease. This especially pertains to overpopulated species that reproduce beyond the environment's carrying capacity.

Hunter's argue that nothing could be more natural than hunting, and just about every animals species, including humans, have been either predator or prey at some point in its evolution. They believe that as long as the animals are killed quickly, cleanly, and humaely, there is no ethical issue regarding the sport of hunting. 

"To educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society" Theodore Roosevelt

This goes hand in hand with hunter education. Said another way, "to educate a hunter in safety and skills and not in ethics is to educate a menace to our conservation legacy." (Orion the Hunter's Institute)

Preview above

click here to watch the 60 Minutes special on the subject

Sources:

CBS, 60 Minutes:

http://www.cbs.com/shows/60_minutes/video/2191286383/pro-hunting-it-s-ethical-when-done-right

Orion the Hunter's Institute

http://www.huntright.org/where-we-stand/ethics-vs-preferences

Anti Hunting Ethics

The reason why many people are against hunting is because they believe it is unethical and immoral to stalk and kill an innocent animal. Environmental and animal advocates believe it to be barbaric, demeaning, and cruel to put animals through the terror and pain of being hunted. 

The killing of wild animals used to be a necessary act by humans to provide food. It was a way of survival. However, humans continue to hunt, but now for sport. Anti-hunting advocates believe that hunting is unnecessary, not at all practical and causes immense suffering to individual wild animals. You see, hunting opponents find hunting unethical on a number of grounds. From a pure animal rights standpoint, killing any animal for food is morally objectionable, whether referring to deer, cow, or chicken. Many find hunting to be unethical because the killing is recreational. 

It is also argued that modern day hunting equipment and technology makes it nearly impossible to make the hunt fair. Animals don't stand a chance. A hunter can easily shoot and kill a deer from 400 feet away, but if a deer detected a natural predator, like a wolf, at the distance, the deer wouldn't even think of fleeing. Modern technology has erased any chance of fairness in hunting.

Recreational hunting also include "trophy hunting". Hunters target specific animals of specific sex, size and heads to show off as a trophy kill. They then have these kills either stuffed or dismembered to have mounted on a wall or put on display which many hunting opponents find completely degrading. 

Another ethical issue that concerns anti-hunting advocates, is the fact that many animals who happen to survive a hunt are left terrified or injured and sometimes left to die slowly and in pain. Less than 7% of Americans are active hunters and many are amateurs. Hunting opponents fear for animals that are wounded but not immediately killed. This leaves them without a chance against any other predator or disease if they even survive long enough to face such circumstances. 

Animal advocates feel strongly about their ethical values on the subject of hunting. They believe that animals do not deserve to be stalk and killed for sport or left terrified or injured. Animals are living things and deserve to be treated better and with respect. 

Preview above

click here to watch the video from 60 Minutes on the subject


Sources:

CBS & 60 Minutes
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7396838n

(IDA) In Defense of Animals
http://www.idausa.org/facts/hunting.html

The Perspective of a Big Game Hunter, Steven Chancellor

I touched a bit on how big game hunting can be compared to poaching or that it is possibly driving certain species towards endangerment or extinction, but i have been able to talk to a source that is highly educated on this subject and involved with it as well. 

First of all, poaching is the illegal taking of wild animals. Big game hunters must acquire specific licensees and pay fees to hunt certain animals in certain areas. Steven Chancellor spoke with me about his collection and provided me with his point of view on hunting these animals and how it can be justified. 

First I would like to provide you with some background information. I know Mr. Chancellor from the horse industry, as we have both been involved in it for a long time and his daughter and I have been competitors, and more recently, teammates on the US World Cup Team. I knew that Mr. Chancellor and his wife, Terri, and daughter, Hunter, had a strong interest and involvement in hunting, but i never truly knew to what extent until I was invited to their home in Evansville, Indiana this summer. In their large beautiful home, there is a private museum which is, on rare occasion, toured by schools or wildlife conservationists. Mr. Chancellor took Team USA on the tour himself and there were many mixed emotions amongst the group. However, with Mr. Chancellor's explanation, I began to understand his perspective. His personal collection is the largest collection of animals in the world, bigger than any collection at any public museum and with more species, all hunted by Mr. Chancellor, himself, or his wife, Terri, or daughter, Hunter. It was all very strange and impressive, however, I was intrigued by  the way they hunt these animals and determine which can be targeted.

Mr. Chancellor addressed questions during the tour and one individual asked how it is possible to kill certain rare species. He explained that besides needed a specific license and only certain areas allow you to hunt certain animals, there is a way that hunters determine which individual animal they choose to track and kill. When hunting exotic animals, like a lion for example, hunters target old males. They do this because male lions contribute to their ecosystem at a younger age. They reproduce and protect until they are too old to do so. As lions get older, there are younger males that become stronger and take over the pride, at this time, an old male lion will leave the pride and live the rest of his life alone. These lions are no longer contributing to their ecosystem and that is why it is the older male lions that are targeted by hunters. 

Hunters are also expert trackers. They are able to determine the size, age, and sex of a lion by its paw print. I remember specifically, him saying that you can tell if the paw print belongs to an older male by the size and how fuzzy the print is due to long fur. Once the hunter has found a print of an older male of a large size, they track that individual lion for weeks until they are able to make a clean shot for the kill. Mr. Chancellor also explained to us about the ethics behind killing these majestic creatures. He explained that old male lions alone in the wild had no easy way to die. Being hunted would be the easiest way for the lion to go, it would be dead before even hearing the gunshot. However, if not hunted, these older male lions would either die slowly from disease, starve if physically unable to hunt it's own food, if injured, male lions risk being eaten alive by a pack of hyenas. This testimonial allowed me understand this particular perspective. 

Steven Chancellor and his family have a love for hunting, but they also have a passion for animals. Mr. Chancellor hosts benefits every year for wildlife conservation and speaks at all sorts of events supporting the protection of wildlife. It's another perspective to explore and think about when trying to figure out where it is you stand on the subject. 

Steven Chancellor

Population Control: Anti Hunting

In response to hunters' argument saying that hunting helps regulate wildlife population control, environmental and animal advocates believe otherwise. Those against hunting introduce the argument that many animals being hunted aren't at risk of being overpopulated. They also bring up the fact that there are rare and exotic animals that are being hunted, so the idea of using hunting as a way to balance population isn't enough of a valid reason to stalk and kill animals. 

There are many more species than just overpopulated deer that are being hunted, many for no ethical reason at all. Environmental and animal advocates argue that the overpopulation of deer and other species is due to poor land management and that  these agencies serve only to provide a population large enough to suit sport hunters. These anti-hunting advocates support the idea that the overpopulation of deer stems not only from the specific mismanagement of deer populations, but from the mismanagement of our forestlands and natural areas. 

According to the Humane Society of the United States, the vast majority of hunted species- such as most birds, squirrels, and raccoons- "provide minimal sustenance and do not require population control." According to The Fund for Animals with data from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and state wildlife agencies, 200 million animals are killed by hunters each year. The annual death toll in the U.S. includes 42 million mourning doves, 30 million squirrels, 28 million quail, 25 million rabbits, 20 million pheasants, 14 million ducks, 6 million deer, and thousands of geese, bears, moose, elk, antelope, swans, cougars, turkeys, wolves, foxes, coyotes, bobcats, boars, and other woodland creatures. 

These statistics show that millions of species, not just deer, are being hunted regularly and not for the sake of population control. Also, these are just the typical targeted animals in the United states. There are also more rare and exotic animals being targeted in foreign countries and anti-hunting advocates fear for the endangerment or even extinction of such animals. 

Big game hunting is related to more exotic animals like lions, zebra, elephants and other species. These large and more rare animals are definitely not at risk for becoming overpopulated, so animal advocates don't see that there is any way to justify killing such majestic creatures. Hunting these kind of animals is often compared to poaching, however, as long as the hunter has a specific license to hunt that specific animal in a specific area, it is legal. It is the government permitting the hunt of these animals and those against hunting see it as wrong and fear that we are driving these animals toward endangerment. 

Even though there are species, like deer, that happen to be overpopulated, there are plenty of species that are not and are still targeted by hunters. Groups and individuals against hunting fear that hunting such animals and threatening their way of life is also threatening their ecosystems, their species, and even their existence. 

Sources:

(IDA) In Defense of Animals
http://www.idausa.org/facts/hunting.html
http://www.idausa.org/facts/deercontrol.html

(PETA) People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
http://www.peta.org/about/faq/Without-hunting-deer-and-other-animals-would-overpopulate-and-die-of-starvation.aspx

Population Control: Pro Hunting

Hunters and hunting organizations promote the idea that the environment benefits from the act of hunting because it keeps wildlife populations in balance. Overpopulation of a species can lead to serious problems and hunting has always been a way to regulate that. Deer is one of the most common species hunted in the United States. This species is also commonly overpopulated. Hunters defend themselves by stating that it is necessary to hunt this species to protect them and spare these animals and others, a slow and painful death.

There was a time when deer were once a big food source for humans, however, life has changed and hunting these animals for survival is not necessary anymore. Suburban living has pushed the deer out of their habitat and the wooded areas they once populated have become scarcer. This has also led to a decrease in living areas sustainable for deer predators, such as wolves, which are therefore no longer preying on deer as they used to. The deer population is increasing. It is becoming so large that woods, yards, agriculture and even humans are all being effected.

Deer are moving into areas inhabited by humans to find food. Often deer eat vegetables and harm gardens, farmland and landscaping while feeding. This means there is less food to be produced and less on our tables. Still there is not enough food to sustain the growing deer population, which causes starvation. Starving deer are more susceptible to diseases, such as tapeworm and roundworm as well as lyme disease. When deer become diseased the illness can move quickly throughout the population.

Deer moving into populated areas leads to other issues. Hungry deer search high and low for food. This leads them to areas that are dangerous to the general public. Deer related accidents often occur, usually ending in the deer's death. While a damaged vehicle means costs for the motorist, roads and rails might get damaged during an accident as well. This leads to a cost to the general public. Money is not the main issue though. Injury to motorists, passengers and others are potential hazards that cause concern.

Keeping the deer population under control is a reasonable solution. Hunting to keep deer from overpopulating helps both deer and humans. Hunting season is a time for licensed hunters to go after deer. There are certain months they kill deer with some restrictions, such as using only a rifle or only bow and arrow. Another option found at various times during the year are controlled deer hunts. These hunts are often scheduled at particular locations, such as at national and state parks. Hunters and marksmen register to participate in these events focusing on controlling deer overpopulation.

Deer hunting is a benefit when it comes to controlling deer overpopulation. Hunters consider their efforts a more humane way for the deer to die. Dying of starvation can be a miserable experience that leads to long suffering for the animal. Hunters are also protecting vegetation which allows more productive crops to be found in stores. This helps store owners and farmers with their livelihood. Another major benefit is helping save lives when it comes to deer related vehicle accidents.

This is one example of how hunters contribute to population control. Any species at risk of becoming overpopulated could be facing serious struggles. Although many people don't like the idea of shooting and killing an animal, the thought of an animal starving to death or dying a slow a painful death by disease is a sad thought as well. Hunter's do believe that the environment and these species that are susceptible to becoming over populated truly benefit from the sport as the check that keeps wildlife populations in balance. 

Sources:

Maryland Department of Natural Resources
http://dnr.maryland.gov/wildlife/Hunt_Trap/deer/deer_management/deerhuntastool.asp 

University of Illinois
http://web.extension.illinois.edu/deer/strategy.cfm?SubCat=9099
http://web.extension.illinois.edu/deer/damage.cfm?SubCat=8890

http://wolvesonceroamed.com/tag/deer-management-program/

Hunting, a Controversial Topic

There are many active groups and individuals that feel strongly about their stance on the subject of hunting. Hunters and others that support the sport argue that hunting isn't hurting the environment, but helping it, while environmental and animal advocates who are against it, say that the environment does not benefit from hunting. Lets explore the topics of debate and both sides of the argument before passing judgement. 

VS

Explore. Educate. Decide.