Tis the Season

I thought I should explain myself. Why I use the phrase “recreational killing”, instead of “hunting”  and my view on “hunting”.

Note: I am not against “hunting” in principle, (what I call recreational killing). I am not against what I do call hunting, at all.

In early adolescence I worked a summer in a slaughter house, and also worked as an assistant to a large animal veterinarian for another summer, I probably know in more detail than the reader, where my animal protein actually comes from. I am myself, on omnivorous scavenger.  I frequent restaurants, grocery stores, etc. (Scavenging is both a carnivorous and a herbivorous feeding behavior in which the scavenger feeds on dead animal and plant material present in its habitat.)

Therefore, i do not hunt, nor do i take part in recreational killing. My personal choice on this is based on two reasons:

First, I already, just by living as part of a large, technologically advanced society place a lot of pressure on wildlife via our land use practices that i as a member benefit from. I feel better not adding to it.

The second reason is simply an aesthetic one. I find wild life to be more interesting when they are alive. So i prefer to observe them.

I do have quarrel with the allowed technology of recreational killing, and this is also addressed below. But I do not act on that quarrel, as if for some bizarre reason I got my way, it would reduce tourism and other revenues, which are important in my area and that for my conspecifics, would outweigh other matters.

A disambiguation of hunting terms

Terms for “hunting”

 In the spirit of George Orwell’s essay, Politics and the English Language, I am proposing the following disambiguation of “hunting/hunter” when describing a human behavior set, for the 21^st century.

Hunt:
Pursuing any non-domesticated living organism with the intention of killing it for eating, necessitated by poverty. (Hunter: one who hunts)

Recreational Killing:

Pursuing any non-domesticated living organism, other than another human, with the intention of killing it for any reason other than eating it, necessitated by poverty. (Recreational killer: one who recreationally kills).

The use of the “sport/sportsman” words re these behaviors.

Using these terms in re hunting or recreational killing behaviors does not make any sense. “Sport” is a physical activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively. This makes sport a subset of the class “game”. In a game, all sides know it is a game. Prey does not know it is a game, and for prey, it is definitely not a game.

Efficiency, Predation, and Recreational Killing:

A reflection on the technology generally allowed for recreational killing, and the annual harvest of the White Tail Deer in Wisconsin

Human's are the main predator of the White Tail, but their method is biologically inefficient. What i mean by efficient in this context is “hunting” that selects for the injured, sick, old, slow, the very young  etc. Efficient “hunting” makes for healthier, fitter prey.
Certainly on our ancestral landscape we were efficient hunters during a lot of our history, and the Kalahari Bushmen still do it the old fashioned way (Google around on Kalahari Bushmen “persistence hunting” Here is a neat video of the technique).

The traditional top predator of the White Tail Deer was of course, the Wolf. Wolf and their prey co-evolved. Wolves can read by scent and sight the slightest signs of which deer in a group has an injury or sickness, or is an infant, therefore, is easier to take down. In a sense they are the ultimate meat inspector for deer. The predator prey relationship is all about biological energetics. The wolf is an obligate hunter. From a wolf's instinctual "point of view", what food can i get with the least expenditure of energy and least chance of damage to myself?

Despite not being obligate hunters, we have centered our technique of hunting and recreational killing on the same measure as the wolf; kill with the least expenditure of energy and least chance of damage to myself. Therefore we use projectile weapons of various types. This, and all the bait piles, cameras etc. creates a "hunt" wherein being able to pick out the biologically "easy" deer irrelevant. From the deer’s perspective; it by recreational behavior, hunting behavior or vehicular collisions, we are their main predator now. But we are grossly inefficient, biologically speaking. Our land use behavior that results in a predominance of meadow/field woodlot edge areas, favors the deer presence also.

So, why should we be surprised, or concerned about the rise of CWD? We have created a White Tail population which is the perfect home for disease growth. There are lots of them, mostly not as "fit" as their ancestors, and they tend to clump together more during rest periods due to our control of the landscape. CWD is probably just the first problem we have noticed.

So what can we do? Probably nothing.

First, the “hunt” is a part of the tourism economy. If the participants were limited to say, the tools of the Bushman, there would probably be fewer participants, and therefore less  revenue flow from the participants.

Obviously the easy, direct way is to make sure there are a lot more wolves. Unpaid meat inspectors that do not need labs to spot and take out the sick. But our archaic instinct based antipathy towards non-human top predators make that unlikely.

 

 

Modern persistent "hunters" chasing an antelope

A proposal long term solution, and generally, a biologically useful approach to recreational killing (it would take a long time to get to efficiency)

So if we wanna be the top predator, we have to change, if we want to be efficient. No seasons, no bag limits, no age or gender restrictions. Year around recreational killing.  No traps, bait piles, cameras etc. And most importantly, no projectile weapons. Handheld weapons only. Knives, clubs, spears etc. Run them down. Fitter deer, fitter killers.
After many, many years, perhaps we would regain the sight hunting skills of our ancestors, or at least that of the Kalahari Bushmen?