Managing Wildlife

Many years ago, I did not hunt. I didn’t oppose hunting, but didn’t want to kill and/or eat animals. A friend was a PhD in Wildlife Management and gave me a short lesson, which I will share here because it changed my views on hunting and I have repeated it often to hopefully change other minds:

“Three things reduce animal populations:

First and best for the animals - Predation. This includes hunters, and unless we want more natural predators around (wolves, big cats, etc), humans have to fill the role.

Second is Privation - not enough food and resources for the population. Most non-hunters think this is the better option, but if you have ten deer and only enough resources for five, five won’t die; seven or eight will die. The deer don’t hold a meeting and agree on rationing. They all take what they can until there is no more. If they are lucky, they can migrate and contribute to…

The third - the worst for prey and predator alike and the most likely to snowball and impact more species and larger populations - is Disease. Overpopulation (lack of predation) and privation-driven interactions between otherwise isolated populations spread diseases that can decimate large numbers of animals and lead to even less willingness among predators to check the population in a healthy way. You don’t want to harvest diseased animals and neither do natural predators.”

This short explanation turned a non-hunter into a hunter. I share because it is concise (no doubt over-simplified for laypeople), came from an authority in the field, and was effective.

It may not turn people into hunters, but it certainly puts hunting into its proper place as “responsible wildlife management “ and pro-wildlife instead of anti-wildlife. Some hunters are wasteful, bloodthirsty buffoons, but most of us (especially traditional hunters) love nature and recognize our role as stewards, of which responsible hunting is an important part. We just need simple and educational ways to show that to people who also love wildlife but are ignorant.

tomatobodhi said:

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It may not turn people into hunters, but it certainly puts hunting into its proper place as “responsible wildlife management “ and pro-wildlife instead of anti-wildlife. .....

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I don't hunt, but not because I'm anti-hunting, it's just an activity that doesn't interest me. I think you're spot on with all your analysis and commentary (not just the one quoted).

I liked it better when they're was no cell phones or gps. Different time. Had a little more danger.

Maps book... Driving.. scouting. Finding places to hunt from real work.

It was nice when they didn't tell anyone where they stocked fish and when.. you had to work.. drive from place to place checking places.

There's never been anything wrong with hunting anyway.

Sport. Trophy. Traditional.. Meat eating. Living. Etc....

Tomatobodhi, that is a great explanation. One thing that now greatly changes animal populations now and hunting opportunities is human changes to the landscape. I’ve seen this in the rural area where I grew up. Farming practices have changed dramatically with most pastures and wood rows being removed and irrigation and farming practices eliminating habitat. Where one could find numerous pheasant, quail, squirrels, rabbits etc now there is crop stubble devoid of decent numbers of wildlife. I’m not blaming farmers given the economics they deal with but it is just a fact.