Does Hunting Help or Hurt the Environment
Those who oppose hunting as it stands today, please step forward. The question whether if hunting is helping or hurting our environment has been an ongoing yet debatable issue for a little while now. A variety of arguments have been made about this issue. It is definitely a big issue because it concerns the well-being of many different people nationwide. Mainly it raises attention to the moral and economic questions, as well as the pros and cons, dealing with the way we utilize our native wildlife.
Humans have been hunting practically since the beginning of time. Take a moment to look back at our country’s founding fathers and Native Americans. People in that era hunted as a means of survival. We all possess the skills of stalking prey. It’s in our blood. Hunting is automatically instilled in us being at the top of the food chain. Although looking back into history, one can also find that some hunting has diminished animal populations practically to the verge of extinction. However these facts have not gone unnoticed. If hunting is well regulated, whether it be for sport or recreational involvement, and there are no major affects to the species, if anything it may help bring back species from the edge of extinction. “Several wildlife managers view recreational hunting as the principal basis for protection of wildlife.”(Lebel)
Thousands of years ago, hunting may have been the cause of the extinction of the North American large land mammals. “Moving up into the 1940’s and 50’s some of today’s most prominent game animals were almost non-existent.”(Kerry G) Over-hunting will directly cause the decline in the particular animal’s species. This will effect everything around it, for example ...
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...unting Hurt or Help the Environment? Scientific American. EarthTalk, New York. Print November 10, 2009
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Lebel, François, et al. "Influence Of Habitat Features And Hunter Behavior On White-Tailed Deer Harvest." Journal Of Wildlife Management 76.7 (2012): 1431-1440. Environment Complete. Web. 22 Apr. 2014.
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A point has to be made about hunting and outdoor life in Illinois, which is a common interest throughout Illinois. Though it may not interest everyone, the livelihood and a portion of income is g...
Nicholas Kristof’s article “For Environmental Balance, Pick up a Rifle,” which appeared in The New York Times, attempts to convince the American people that deer pose a danger to humans by taking more lives each year than any other American mammal. He states that deer populations, unchecked by predators, are increasing in a way that is unnatural and are destroying the ecosystem in many parts of the country. The suggestion he makes to his readers is that we must kill deer to bring the population down in order to prevent so many human deaths. Kristof appears to advocate hunting without much concern for other alternatives. While he does include statistical data to strengthen his point, other types of support he provides could be considered irrelevant or biased.
Hunting is a very expensive sport to get into. From guns, to tree stands, to even hunting clothes, hunting can be costly. On average, hunters spend $1896.00 per year on hunting (LaBarbera 1). Equipment and expenditures alone in 2001 grossed $24,708,970,000 (for all types of hunting) and $10,673,990,535 of that was of deer hunting (LaBarbera 2). These expenditures then “ripple” through the economy generating three times more impact for the U.S. economy. For many communities, hunting dollars keep them afloat. This money made can also be pumped back into funding wildlife and conservation foundations. In good times and bad, hunters set their sights on spending more time in the fields and forests. Even when economic recession and uncertainty over homeland security have the nation and the economy recoiling, hunters continue to aim their leisure time and money toward shooting sports activities. For example, since 1991, when the nation was mired in a similar recession and war, retail sales have grown nearly 17% (adjusted for inflation). Many just do not realize the positive impacts generated by hunters. A recent report released by the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation highlights that Americans spend more on hunting equipment and dogs than they do for ski equipment. If that’s not enough, the $2.4 billion in federal income tax revenue generated by hunters
Thesis: The population of white-tail deer in Alabama has drastically increased over the past century causing significant damage to property and homeowners, caused by hunters being less active.
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When a Minnesota dentist killed a prized African lion named "Cecil" he received an onslaught of criticism and reignited the debate concerning big game hunting. Is big game hunting wrong? Should big game hunting continue? Big game hunting has been a very controversial topic for some time and these types of questions are being asked daily. There are a lot of people for it and a lot of people against it. This issue causes a lot of extreme behaviors and ideas by both sides. Those who oppose it believe it to be morally wrong, unfair to the animals and damaging to the environment. Those individuals for it believe that it is the citizens' rights and a way to be involved in the environment. Hunting is the law and shall not be infringed upon. In defense of the hunters' I believe that there are five main issues of concern.
“The decrease in numbers and even the disappearance of many large predators due to habit loss and inbreeding has made hunting a necessity for controlling the population size of certain prolific species, such as deer and geese” (Source 2). The number of species generally deemed as prey has skyrocketed with the disappearance of many large predators. Hunting is now considered a necessity only for these specific species that are over populating an area. Without the removal of these plenteous species, inbreeding and mutations will occur creating problems with the species in the future. “An abiding theme in hunting literature is the healing, calming, insight-generating effects of hunter sojourns in natural settings. The hunter ideal is not violent abandon but calm reflection of the holistic circumstances of the irreversible decision to harvest the life of a game animal” (Source 3). Hunters argue that hunting is not solely murdering with no remorse; it is a pensive act. The hunting literature explains that hunters feel contrition from making a kill and claiming the life of an animal contradicting the stereotypical opinion that every hunter is a stone cold killer. Average hunters who hunt for deer and geese for example only help in maintaining overpopulated species in certain areas. Even though maintaining
When many people think of hunting they think of cruel, evil people senselessly killing innocent animals. What they don’t realize is that hunting is a passed down tradition and a way for people to bond with others who share a love for the sport. There are two main types of hunting: bowhunting and hunting with a rifle. There are strict rules and regulations that apply to hunting, so someone can’t just go out and start shooting up all the animals. Before anyone can hunt, they have to pass a class and a field test in order to get their license. Without a license, you can’t buy tags. A tag is a paper that you buy in order to be able to kill an animal. You can hunt many different types of animals from birds to bears, but in this essay I will be talking specifically about big game. Big game is referred to as deer, elk, bear, and cougar. Although many people believe that big game hunting should be banned in the United States, they overlook the fact that hunting does more good than harm.
The deer population has seen a dramatic increase since the late 1800s. Before that time, the deer census had been threatened. In the 1900s the deer population rebounded from about 20,000 to more than 1 million. This drastic increase can be attributed to changes in habitat, including reverting abandoned farm fields to forests, and migrations in human population to rural and suburban areas. Both of these progressions created open and forested habitats preferred by deer. In addition, landowners have excluded hunters out of many areas, subsequently, deer populations have increased. “Although the recovery of deer populations from only about 500,000 nationwide in the early 1900s to more than 15 million today is considered a wildlife management
It is early in the morning; the majestic Elk bugles in the distance. The sun is kissing the tops of the peaks with the most beautiful gold, and painting the clouds rose red. The men and women who enjoy the outdoors whether it is hunting or just hiking help make these types of moments possible. Hunting and the ecosystem is tied closely to conservation of land and animals. The articles of “Hunting and the ecosystem” written by the South Dakota Game Fish and Parks Department (SDGFP), and “Facts and statistics on wildlife conservation” written by Roger Holmes, director of the Fish and Wildlife, touch on how hunting is important in the environment to keep a good balance in the ecosystem. They also point out how hunters do more than any other organization for wildlife and environment. Our country was created by outdoors men who hunted and they passed their knowledge of the outdoors to their kids. Hunting has worked its way down from the generation and we should learn to “pass it on” Hunting is great for the environment and wildlife and should be preserved for the ages to come.
Since the beginning of time man has been hunting animals for food. Even before fire, man needed to hunt, because hunting was the only way to eat. At first man used things such as spears and rocks to kill its prey. As man evolved, they started using bows and arrows. Next came an early model of what we use today, the firearm. It is powerful yet easy to carry around. It puts the animal through less suffering and is a lot more efficient than previous techniques. Hunting was once a necessity, but now it is a tradition, passed on from father to son as a way to spend time together, enjoy the outdoors, and experience what our ancestors went through in hunting their dinner. Since it is considered a sport some think we are killing off the deer population, when in actuality, “While most other big-game species have declined with the spread of urbanization, the whitetail has been able to adapt to its ever-changing environment. Through the efforts of state agencies and conservation groups like Whitetails Unlimited, wildlife officials estimate today’s whitetail population to exceed 30 million” (www.whitetailsunlimited.org).
Bass, Rick. “Why I Hunt.” The McGraw-Hill Reader Issues across the Disciplines. 11th Edition. Gilbert Muller. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2011. Print.
I started my research by looking for information that would inform me about the post effect of hunting and the people who hunt. Many people who hunt
From the perspective of economy, ecology, and environmental conservation, hunting is very important. Hunting is necessary to protect agriculture and the environment from animal pest or overpopulation. For example, wild boars tear up many farmers land causing many problems as well with the deer population growing eating away farmer’s resources. Also with the growth of white tail deer are damaging every landscape east of the Mississippi river. Unfortunately, the harm is very overlooked, and accepted as somehow “natural”. Over the last 30 years higher dear populations have made a more negative impact due to climate change. (“Is Hunting a Good Thing?”) Hunting was legalized in 1993 to help bring overabundant wild animal populations down. The legalization