Hunting and Fishing

I am NOT a hunter and I never went hunting. I am NOT a fisherman and never go fishing. Yet I do NOT agree with Vegans, who equate it with murder. I believe that for most of human history it was necessary to hunt or fish in order to survive. Also, Jesus Christ Himself had shown approval of killing animals for food. See the Gospel of John's chapter 21, verses 5-13. However, todays' hunting and fishing is often a far different matter. That is because modern grocery stores and food markets eliminate the need for hunting and fishing for the overwhelming majority of people. Perhaps many can eliminate meat eating altogether, due to the potential nutrition in such wide varieties of food available today, plus modern vitamin pills.

But instead, worse things. Namely, sport hunting and fishing: killing animals, putting them in distress, and giving them pain for no reason whatsoever. And the perverted pride of having conquered another living thing, which unlike combat sports between humans, never agreed to the contest. Especially when accompanied with taking selfies with the dead or impaled animal or involving taxidermy to mount their head or body on a wall or mantle. Though not as extreme as savages who prepared and displayed shrunken human heads, it is still less civilized than we should be. This complete degrading of your opponent is also unlike MMA fighters, who often hug or congratulate each other after fighting.  Also, it is unfair anyway, since only one side uses unnatural weapons. 

Hunters claim that hunting takes special skill. That is often true. But some remove the skill element by the following: maliciously having their shotgun barrel less than a foot away from wading ducklings or nesting geese and blasting them. Others cheat by using semiautomatic rifles that hold from 30-100 rounds, which can rapid-fire. Yet others shamefully use canned hunting: shooting animals confined to small pens instead of being pursued in their natural habitat.  Fishermen have maliciously sent powerful electric currents through the water to force fish to come up.  Regardless, all hunting and fishing would be far less skillful and manly than men who supposedly defeated bulls with no weapon, only karate. Whether or not that actually happened, it is what I would require to earn my respect. 

Then hunting's danger to other people: serious accidents and fatalities from falling from tree stands, accidental shootings, inclement weather, etc.  Some claim that hunting is safer than sports like bowling or volleyball, since hunting's injury rate is lower. But that's nonsense, since hunting mishaps are FAR more severe when they occur, while injuries from numerous other sports are minor despite higher frequency.  Some sports are far more dangerous than hunting, such as base jumping and racecar driving.  However, they generally only endanger those who choose to participate in them. But outdoor shooting sports can endanger any non-hunter within a mile radius, since bullets keep going until they hit a solid object. 

Is hunted meat safer than store-bought? NO. Store-bought is safer as it must legally pass meat inspection standards while hunted meat does not. And blasting game with birdshot or buckshot creates an additional hazard, as it is now contaminated with lead.  Cheaper than store-bought?  Only if you are an especially successful hunter, and your gear and travel costs are low.  Grocery meat is usually cheaper for casual or new hunters. Hunters claim that hunting can be important for the environment and be a compassionate act, such as euthanizing deer to contain and alleviate chronic wasting disease. Or killing common starlings, as they do massive crop damage. But these important acts should NOT be called hunting. They are rightfully called culling. Likewise fishing for the purpose of removing invasive species like common carp, that destroy habitats of native fish and amphibians. Call it culling.   

Hunters rightfully say that poaching is not hunting. But this does not make sport hunting okay any more than the distinction from grand theft makes petty theft okay. Some also say that hunters are the most outspoken critics of poaching. I'm sure they are. Not because they care about animals, but to divert attention away from themselves, to help prevent sport hunting from also being illegal. Those that help stop poaching the most are governments that establish anti-poaching laws, and anti-poaching rangers and soldiers. Hunters do nothing. 

And whether with a crossbow, handgun, harpoon, longbow, rifle, or shotgun, they all produce pain and terror for animals, who often die slow deaths from their wounds or bleeding out. Many animals run off permanently wounded and never recovered by the hunters. And many animals are left orphaned. This is unlike the quick and relatively painless deaths by decapitating chickens or using a captive bolt pistol on cattle. Hunters cry that their methods are less painful *overall* than animals being abused with inhumane farming methods such as battery cages and gestation crates. But this is just more deflection. Those who counteract animal cruelty include organizations like the Humane Farming Association and ASPCA, farmers who only use humane methods, independent folks who actively protest or avoid doing business with the worst offenders, and vegetarians, who eliminate such demand on a personal level. Hunters do nothing. 

Then the outlandish assertion that the greatest hunters are great conservationists, who hunt because they love animals. Yuck. Their profound connection to animals and the environment, etc. Ick. Loving the existence of animals and nature comes from hunters needing their existence in order to continue exploiting and feeling superior to animals and their environment. Any conservation efforts only come from wanting to preserve their dominant role. Besides, they have hunted numerous species to extinction, permanently wiping them off the earth, instead of sustainability. Examples include the Atlas bear, Falkland Islands wolf, great auk, passenger pigeon, quagga, sea mink, Steller's sea cow, Tasmanian tiger, and Zanzibar leopard. 

Some claim that hunters paying licensing fees contributes financially to wildlife and habitat conservation or which revenue helps communities. But this is the same attempt at justification that those who want to legalize deadly drugs, prostitution, or gambling casinos use. Even the Mafia supposedly helped communities. Let us do evil that good may come? To Hell with that! Eventually, evil spawns more evil, and starting with good eventually blossoms into more good. And hunting does NOT make for peace.  In summary, hunting and fishing should be illegal. The only exceptions should be doing so to avoid starving, selling the red meat or fish to food vendors, or donating such bounty to the poor. In the meantime, we others can choose to refrain from such activities, disassociate from those who participate, and speak out against it.