Wanted to share my thoughts

[Guest cfullerton]

Youth Hunting

When one says the word “hunting” many individuals instantly think negative thoughts about uneducated individuals running into the woods slaughtering innocent animals. Of course, that is a stereotype which is extremely ignorant. Stereotyping a group of individuals is a learned behavior that society teaches. What makes a child think that hunting is heartless and inhumane and not want to participate in the sport? Did the parent supply the child with enough knowledge to make an educated choice regarding the activity? The only way to ensure that children make sound choices in their lives is dependent on how their parents educate them. Have we as a parent supplied our own selves with the proper education or is the reason we shun certain things based on our own parents educational shortcomings? Our youth need to be educated about the sport of hunting so that fears regarding safety are erased, our wildlife population stays in control, our economic structure is not threatened and the opportunities to learn about human evolution and dietary necessity are available. Let’s face it, we all know that knowledge is power and the lack of it is just plain ignorance waiting to happen. It’s our duty to research and develop well educated children not based on one’s ideas but the accumulation of facts.

As of 2004, there were 20.6 million hunters in the United States. Hunters contribute $30 billion towards the U.S. economy and support more than 986,000 jobs nationwide. “Hunters not only purchase hunting gear, trucks and boats they also fill their gas tanks and food and beverage coolers. They stay at motels and resorts. They buy hunting apparel, etc. On average, each hunter spends $1,896 per year on hunting. Each day, sportsmen contribute more than $3 million to wildlife conservation efforts. This amounts to more than $1.5 billion per year (includes state hunting & fishing license sales, excise taxes and other income sources). Hunters spend over $2.7 billion on hunting equipment alone.” These numbers are vital to maintain and grow the economy. Look deeper into these numbers, how many families would suffer from the loss of the American hunter? Ask yourself, how would wildlife management change if the number of youth hunters ceased? Do the math. If we lost one percent annually over the next hundred years due to the loss of educating our youth about the importance of hunting and the role it plays towards preservation, we not only fail as parents but as human beings. The question is no longer whether hunting is right or wrong, but rather it is about upholding our present state of existence. It would be an astonishing financial loss. What - too farfetched you say? I never thought that a plane hitting a building would cause such an impact on a nation’s economy either, but I guess we like paying $3.50 for a gallon of gas! Preparation and education are the only way we can insure that our wildlife management concerns will be answered before its too late. Educating our youth about hunting and the role they will undergo as adults will give them a solid foundation to protect its existence. “Research shows that those who start hunting early in life are more likely to hunt as adults. We need those future hunters to shoulder the costs and responsibilities of conserving the country’s wildlife and wildlife habitat after we’re gone.” (NA, January 2005) There are so many things in this life that we don’t concern ourselves with because we are only worried about the present. We worry about it when the future comes and everything has changed. Society must realize there are things that need to be managed immediately in order to preserve tomorrow.

As important as hunting is to wildlife management and to the nation’s economy, it is also crucial to our nation’s palate. Obviously, steak does not originate at the butcher. Sushi doesn’t just arrive at the local hip venue in its tightly wrapped roll form. Someone had to kill these creatures in order to supply the markets and restaurants across the U.S. with these popular staples. The biggest metropolises in the United States are known for their diverse culinary selections and the diversity simply would not exist without the animals that are hunted. Not only are Americans accustomed to have literally all the choices of the world when it comes to their diets, but the meats that hunters bring to the table are also rich in protein and low in fat. These meats are the same items that ancestors hunted hundreds of years ago. They introduced a wide range of foods into the American diet and it was proven that these foods were “high in protein but very low in fat-only about 4%, compared with up to 36% in grain-fed supermarket beef (Lemonick, Bjerklie 2004).” Essentially, it can be said that those meats that hunters provide make for a leaner and more fit society. Over the past 20 years America has become fatter than we have ever been before. “The percentage of young people who are overweight has more than tripled since 1980. Among children and teens aged 6–19 years, 16 percent (over 9 million young people) are considered overweight (CDC, 2006).” This is a startling statistic and many have speculated that such statistics are a result of mass production of salty, sweet and fatty foods, not to mention all of the fast food option that are available. If children laid off the Big Macs and fries and started eating assorted wild game and fish, a healthier generation would be in the making. Many societies rely heavily on foods that Americans would never dream of eating. We are so accustomed to getting whatever we want at a fast food chain or at the grocery store, yet not everyone has that option. Many cultures can only depend on the foods that they can hunt locally and there are even places in the United States where this statement is true. Involving children in the process of hunting these animals for food would make them realize that harvesting an animal is essential to the continuation of society in more ways than one. If everyone in the world was a vegetarian, there would be noticeable changes in the structure of generations to come. An anthropologist from UC Berkeley stated that, “the incorporation of animal matter into the diet played an absolutely essential role in human evolution (Lemonick, 2004).” Once the child understands that this is part of the natural and very necessary process of life, he or she also understands the sometimes difficult concept of death. It becomes more obvious that it is part of the life cycle and it is not something to be terrified of or thought of in a negative light, but rather something that is essential to the growth of our culture.

In addition to how important hunting is to our present day society, it is also important to reflect on the origins of hunting. Hunting dates back to the first human life on this planet, therefore hunting with children is also somewhat of a history lesson. Hunters and gatherers defined survival thousands of years ago and those who were the smartest about locating and collecting their food were healthier and obviously better fed than those who didn’t use tactics and organization in their hunting. In turn, these intelligent individuals were more evolved and passed these skilled genes on to future generations. Because the first humans relied so heavily on meat, their diets were rich in protein and nutrients, making them lean and strong. “Whoever that first individual hominid that taught his fellows to eat meat was, she/he certainly altered the course of history. Without that behavioral innovation, however repulsive it may have seemed to those ancient vegetarians, and without its cultural transmission, the species Homo sapiens may never have come into existence. We have to thank that ancient ancestor for our very existence, for the emergence of our genus. At the same time we should reflect on the number of species that may have fallen into extinction due to our omnivorous appetites and species success (Jacobs 2000).” One could definitely say that the discovery of hunting truly altered the course of history. Now that I have outlined all of the benefits hunting brings to society, the negative issues must be addressed as well. Whenever the subject of hunting is brought up immediately most individuals’ thoughts go to the hot button issues which frequently cloud the sport. Of course, I am referring to the dangers that are involved. Guns, bows, arrows, etc. are weapons and weapons are dangerous. Truly though, weapons are only dangerous if handled by an uneducated and uninformed individual. By putting a weapon in a child’s hand and understanding what that weapon is capable of doing forces that child to respect the weapon and life itself. Our society is plagued by violence and so many homes have guns. A child who grows up hunting understands how to handle a gun and the seriousness and importance of gun safety because it is mandated by many states that the child pass a hunter’s safety course. One must pass before they are allowed to hunt. There is no child in America who is required to pass such a course if his or her parents have a gun in the home. Living in a big city, one constantly reads in the papers and sees on the evening news stories of young children playing with a gun owned by their parents and it accidentally going off. As a product of a hunting household, I grew up respecting weapons and fully understood that they were not something to show off to a friend or to fool around with, but rather an item which served an important purpose and should only be used in that capacity. It seems obvious that it is better to grow up hunting and having to take a course on weapon safety than to be an uninformed child in a home with a weapon who simply thinks it is “cool.” That is where the true danger lies.

As the son of a hunter, a hunter myself and the father of a 6 year old son, I understand and value the true importance of a hunting relationship. My relationship with my father would not be what it is without this sport and as my son gets older I hope that I can share the same experiences with him. For all those who oppose children and hunting, they should educate themselves and consider the points I have made. Hunting provides food to many people in remote areas, it fills the markets and restaurants across the U.S., it helps to maintain the economic structure of many areas, it controls the population of many overpopulated animals, it provides healthier alternatives to an obese society, the meats generated from hunting have made man what we he is today both physically and mentally and lastly it is a sport which creates life lasting bonds between a parent and a child. “We will raise a generation and inactive children who will have no knowledge and appreciation of the wonders of nature and wildlife. These children will also be devoid of all the skills that hunting teaches patience, self reliance, persistence, testing your physical and mental limits and the ability to survive in the great outdoors (Sawchuk, Russell 2004).” Hunting is the original pastime. It defines the heartland of America. The youth of today are far too consumed with the newest Xbox game, My Space and the newest TV show. The concept of going outside to play is becoming a bit of a dinosaur and it needs to be rescued before it is too late. Our children are addicted to technology, but so much can also be learned from the great outdoors and it is our responsibility as the older generation to instill the important of nature in our children. A society without hunting could be devastating to our economy in a hundred ways. If we don’t want that to be our future, we need to develop and nurture the desire in our children to carry on this great American tradition.

REFERENCES

Jacobs, James Q. ( July 4,2000) “Reflections on the Origins of Scavenging&Hunting in EarlyHominids.”Retrieved9/10/06.http://www.jqjacobs.net/anthro/paleo/scavenging.html

Lemonick, Michael D., Bjerklie, David. (June 28, 2004). “How We Grew So Big.” Canada, Vol 163, Issue 26 p44-48. Retrieved 8/9/06. http://www,ebscohost.com

N.A.(2004). Research Homepage. Retrieved September 28, 2006.

http://www.nssf.org/IndustryResearch/FAQ-ans.cfm?Qno=25&AoI=generic

N.A.(September 14,2006) Overweight and Obesity homepage. Retrieved 9/14/06. http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/obesity/

Sawchuk, Russell. (September 4, 2004). “The Decline in Hunting.” Deerfarmer.com. Retrieved September 24, 2006. http://www.deer-library.com/artman/publish/article_145.shtml

[Equalizer]

Re: Wanted to share my thoughts

I agree with you fully. i hope other people do to.