Only Hunters Can Save Hunting

Most of the material which follows originally appeared as one of the Sunday columns I write each week for two daily newspapers here in South Carolina (in Rock Hill and Spartanburg). It has engendered far more positive comment than my average piece does, including a pair of requests to include it on major Web sites and an interview session on NRA Radio. That’s encouraging, because I firmly believe that the message is one each and every one of us who hunts (and for that matter, fishes, traps, or otherwise enjoys the outdoors in a fashion that utilizes the good earth’s bounty for sport or sustenance) needs to take to heart. If we count on non-consumptive “greens” to protect and perpetuate our sporting legacy, I fear we are going to find ourselves whistling in the wind.

All of this started, appropriately, given the fact that it is election season, a few weeks back when I was privileged to hear South Carolina Representative Mike Pitts, who has been recognized by the National Rifle Association as the Palmetto State’s “Legislator of the Year.” He gave an address at the annual meeting of the South Carolina Outdoor Press Association that started my mental wheels to rolling, and since I’ve strayed into the minefield of politics, let me state unequivocally that I think it is incumbent on all of us to vote our sport.

Mike Pitts is the genuine article, a man who loves hunting and has a passion for seeing this precious legacy passed on to future generations. We need more individuals of his ilk representing us on the local, state, and national level. No matter where you live, I’ll bet you that the percentage of hunt and fishing license holders in your population is higher than the percentage of lawmakers who hunt and fish. That is not a good thing, because it’s pretty darn hard to talk the talk if you haven’t walked the walk. An urban lawyer who doesn’t know a muzzleloader from a pump or a pheasant from a partridge simply can’t make very good decisions when it comes to wildlife management, “connectedness” to the land, and similar matters.

Inadequate lawmaking representation is a problem, but it by no means stands alone. Simply put, hunters face huge problems. Mushrooming human populations, dwindling public hunting lands, increasing urbanization, a loss of love of the land and connection to it, and rapidly rising nonresident license fees are among a myriad of factors making life increasingly difficult for the sportsman. Yet significant as they undoubtedly are, these issues pale by comparison with the concerted efforts of those generally described as “animal activists.” Well financed, the beneficiaries of plenty of free legal assistance, and masters of emotional rhetoric, groups such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) are attacking the institution of hunting on multiple fronts. Even more alarming is the fact that the two groups recently joined forces.

For the most part the hunting community has been reactive, as opposed to proactive, in dealing with PETA, HSUS, and their various imitators. Fortunately, some of their excesses, such as attacks on research labs using animals, an incident where scores of the animals they swear to protect were put to death, misguided “jail breaks” freeing minks, and wantonly illegal interference with hunters, have brought just enough negative publicity to offset their too frequent successes. Yet the activists plow heedlessly ahead and will continue to do so. Given this situation, it behooves sportsmen to recognize the need to address anti-hunting sentiments in a meaningful fashion.

That involves convincing the vast majority of Americans who neither hunt nor support animal activists that hunting has meaningful merits. One of the best ways to accomplish this is to quit worrying about being “bad guys” while consistently performing deeds associated with “good guys.” In other words, giant strides toward saving hunting can be made through good deeds. What follows are several suggestions of how the committed, ethical sportsman can do his part in that regard.

• Strive to have a good image. Too often the image of hunters which springs to the non-hunter’s mind is one of a slovenly poacher who trespasses with abandon, ignores game laws, dumps deer offal along roadways, and generally behaves in an unacceptable fashion. This can be countered through respect for property and game and accomplished in countless small actions, from always leaving a clean campsite and asking permission to hunt to full utilization of one’s kill or sharing meat with the needy. All such actions collectively project a positive image.

• Join conservation groups. There are dozens of wildlife conservation groups, from one-species organizations such as the National Wild Turkey Federation and Ducks Unlimited to general groups such as the Izaak Walton League, which function as focal points for activism. Increasingly, these organizations recognize the truth of the old adage about there being safety in numbers, and along with safety comes strength. This is an area where sportsmen have often fallen short, tending to bicker among themselves rather than presenting a united front. To offer but one example, you have a minor “war” in the muzzleloading community at present between die-hard traditionalists and those who want to use in-line systems, scopes, and the like. Division is a sure step toward being conquered.

• Be active in the local community. There are literally scores of ways, from adopting a section of highway to keep clean to organizing a “Hunters for the Hungry” project or a soup kitchen, in which hunters can make positive contributions to the well-being of the area where they live. Along with being helpful to society, such endeavors frequently bring positive press attention.

• Promote pro-hunting views and keep abreast of anti-hunting activities. The caring hunter should be aware of insidious and often secretive efforts to insert anti-hunting ideology into public school curricula. Awareness is knowledge in such situations, but better still, check with your state wildlife department regarding educational programs. They may well have offerings suitable for local schools, special seminars for teachers, educational summer camps for youngsters, and the like. If you are a parent or grandparent, be willing, even eager, to do a “show and tell” involving some aspect of hunting. It might be a discussion linking America’s big-game bird, the wild turkey, to Thanksgiving, or you might talk about how hunters have played such vital roles in American military history (squirrel hunters turning the tide at Kings Mountain and Cowpens in the American Revolution or the heroic feats of Sgt. Alvin York, a simple hunting son of the Tennessee soil, in Word War I). Incidentally, you can rest assured that animal activists have been very involved on the educational front. 
  
  Mention of youth and education brings to the forefront a key aspect of promoting hunting. Today’s children are tomorrow’s hunters, and to say the least, the rising average age of hunters is a disturbing trend. Every parent, grandparent, neighbor or friend can perform the ultimate service for the perpetuation of hunting’s precious heritage through fostering and forming the development of youth. On a personal level, I have a five-year-old granddaughter. Her first birthday present from “PaPooh” (it’s amazing how tolerant one can be of such nicknames if they come from the right source) was a lifetime combination hunting and fishing license, and fishing equipment and related items have followed. In time there will be camping trips to supplement the fishing outings we’ve already enjoyed, and a bit further down the road, an introduction to hunting.
  
  One of the South’s great writers, Archibald Rutledge, put it well when he wrote these words: “I have found that hunting inculcates patience, demands discipline and iron nerve, and develops a serenity of spirit that makes for long life and long love of life.” They come from an essay, “Why I Taught My Boys to Be Hunters,” and he makes a compelling case for shaping and molding sportsmen. One could scarcely provide a more gracious gift or a finer legacy, and it is one that will endure a lifetime.

• Support women hunters. The much-heralded Becoming an Outdoorswoman program, the National Wild Turkey Federation’s Women in the Outdoors initiative, and the National Rifle Association’s “Women’s Outlook” magazine have all made significant strides in introducing females to hunting. Even the most crusty, hidebound male traditionalist should applaud this development, for women add to the total number of hunters and they can be of inestimable value in bringing more children to the sport.

• Do your part to safeguard hunting. This can be achieved through full respect for the game, including utilization of one’s kill for food; through fostering a positive image by supporting wildlife law enforcement officers and exhibiting zero tolerance for poachers; and by clinging steadfastly to the finest of hunting ethics.