Why Hunting Is Important

With September just a one more quick flip my on NEBRASKAland magazine calendar, it is time once again to reflect on the age old question of why hunting is so important.

Yeah, I know hunting is important. But, why do you think hunting is important?

Give it some more thought. Really think about the question: Why is hunting important? Why is hunting important to you, if you hunt?

Sure, hunting offers a multitude of benefits.

It is quiet dampness on a frosty morning. Hunting is the ease of camaraderie. Hunting is the familiarity of a good dog.

Hunting is the flash of iridescent reds, golds and bronzes, when a rooster pheasant is spotted in a wintry, snow-covered landscape in rural Nebraska.

But, the importance of hunting goes far beyond those scenarios.

Let’s dig deeper, much deeper.

Consider these statements.

Hunting, for those of us who choose to participate in this lifestyle, is deeply entrenched in our history. Hunting helps nature in different ways. Hunting offers an understanding and appreciation of wildlife and the ecosystems in which it lives like no other outdoor activity. Hunting affords the exploration of wild places. And, the hunting lifestyle provides delicious, nutritious protein for the dinner table in a time period where much of our food is processed or modified.

Hunting also boosts our economy. Hunting provides funding for conservation and wildlife management. Hunting promotes a healthier lifestyle. Hunting strengthens interpersonal relationships. Hunting makes for lasting memories.

Hunting has a charitable characteristic. Hunting bonds us with the land and water.

Hunting directly connects us to the cycle of  life and death on our planet.

Breaking it down even further, here are a dozen reasons why hunting is so important, especially here in the Cornhusker State!

1. Hunting manages wildlife populations. Hunting is a vital wildlife management tool. It keeps nature at a healthy balance of which the available habitat can support (carrying capacity). For many wildlife species, hunting also helps to maintain populations at levels compatible with human activity and land use. Wildlife is a renewable natural resource with a surplus and hunters harvest that surplus! This harvestable surplus is never exhausted. Hunting serves as an integral part of preserving native biodiversity.
2. Hunting is natural and humane. Nothing could be more natural than hunting, and indeed just about every animal species—including humans—has been either predator or prey at some point in its evolution. Hunting is a ritual that lets a person participate in the life and death cycles on which all natural systems depend. And, with regard to Mother Nature, she can be extremely cruel if the truth is known! Free ranging wildlife species potentially face horrible scenarios that can lead to death or severe disability such as overcrowding, starvation, disease, extreme weather episodes, violent territorial battles and vicious attacks by predators. A hunter’s well-placed shot with a legal weapon ensures a much quicker means to an end than what Mother Nature has in store!
3. Hunting benefits all wildlife. Scientifically-based and regulated hunting has never led to threatened or endangered wildlife populations, ever! In fact, hunting funds, in particular dollars generated from application fees/hunting permit/stamp sales, have helped many game and non-game species recover from dwindling numbers through public lands acquisition, habitat improvement and maintenance, research, public information/education, and wildlife law enforcement work. As an example, in 1907, only 41,000 elk remained in North America. Thanks to the money and hard work invested by hunters to restore and conserve habitat, currently there are more than 1 million elk! Herds of elk once common across all of Nebraska became extinct by 1900. In the 1960s a few elk came to Nebraska, and in 1986 the state had its first modern elk hunting season. Since then, elk and have expanded into hills and rivers of western Nebraska, and the annual passage of young bulls through eastern Nebraska is a common occurrence. Well over 1,600 elk have been harvested since the first season in 1986. The return of elk to Nebraska is due to the tolerance of landowners and the work of biologists (subsidized by hunters), but also to the endeavors of hunters themselves and hunting organizations such as the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.
4. Hunting is part of our rich heritage. We are all descendants of hunters. The rich and varied hunting heritage of Nebraska dates back to the old stories and diaries of grandfathers, settlers, frontiersmen, mountain men, and early explorers. It goes further back to the Native American tribes – the Omaha, Lakota, and Pawnee — who followed the bison as the seasons turned. It goes even further back to prehistoric people who, according to archaeological  evidence, were the first hunters in Nebraska who killed big game animals for food well over 10,000 years ago.
5. Hunting controls conflicts between humans and wildlife. Whether it’s a farmer who is experiencing crop damage done by white-tailed deer or an area of large rural acreage dwellers undergoing problems associated with wild turkeys, hunting serves to control game populations within landowner/homeowner tolerance levels. Animals can become habituated to humans, resulting in an increase in property damage and sometimes harmful encounters. For instance, hunting does limit deer browse in agricultural areas, but helps to curb deer-motor vehicle collisions as well. Hunting may assist your vegetable or flower garden from getting entirely eaten by deer, too.
6. Hunting has dedicated participants. Hunters play a critical role by providing key survey information from the field that wildlife managers and biologists need to determine the health of ecosystems. Hunters count wildlife, fill out questionnaires, stop at big game check stations and provide biological samples from harvested game animals.
7. Hunting helps feed the hungry, homeless and others. In the past five years in Nebraska, deer hunters have voluntarily donated tens of thousands of pounds of lean,  tasty venison to help feed those in need through the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission’s Hunters Helping the Hungry program. Laws are in place for an individual hunter to donate his or her legally taken game to another person with proper documentation.
8. Hunting provides a unique opportunity to harvest and consume locally grown, free-ranging meat. Hunting teaches resourcefulness and how to be more self-sufficient in today’s society. Hunting fits directly into the locavore food movement affording an alternative that lets people have local, free-range, wholesome meat for their families. Wild game meat is really as pure as it gets: no growth stimulants (hormones), no feed additives, no fences, no dyes, and no Styrofoam and cellophane under the fluorescent lights of the supermarket.
9. Hunting combats the nature deficit disorder and is good for overall wellness. Hunting offers fitness and fresh air for the body and mind. Hunting isn’t solely about killing an animal. In fact, studies show that safe hunting under the guidance and training of mentors actually produces a holistic experience that creates less violence in young people. Hunting allows us humans to go afield to get re-acquainted with the sights and sounds of nature and get off the grid to escape technology as well as the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Survey after survey shows that the top reason hunters hunt is to get outdoors and connect with nature. As affirmed by Randall Eaton in Why We Hunt, “Hunting is how we fall in love with nature. The basic instinct links up with the spiritual, and the result is that we become married to nature.” This marriage remains the bedrock of the conservation ethic and it drives a connection with nature which simply cannot be replaced. In today’s world where parents and children are often going in two different directions and have little time together, hunting is also something that can be done in a one-to-one, uninterrupted, beautiful environment making for wonderful conversations. Additionally, hunting is also about creating indelible images. Base camp, early fall mornings, the smell of decaying leaves, sunrise on the duck marsh, sunset in the deer woods, trekking through freshly fallen snow, and those three prairie grouse you missed, HA!— all comprise the roots of a hunt to never be forgotten.
10. Hunting contributes greatly to the economy.  Hunting is good for the economy! Hunters not only purchase hunting gear, trucks and boats; they also fill their gas tanks and coolers. They stay at motels and resorts. They eat at cafes and restaurants. They buy hunting clothes and fun souvenirs. They financially bolster communities, large and small. Hunting-related activities provide many jobs, support a number of businesses, and mean much to local economies and the state’s economy. In Nebraska, hunting has an $848 million dollar impact. It generates $562 million dollars in retail sales and supports some 8,856 jobs.
11. Hunting is safer than  other sports. Statistically, hunting is one of the safer forms of recreation. According to data collected by the National Shooting Sports Foundation, hunting with a gun is the third-safest sport when compared to 28 other popular sports, and has a lower injury rate than golf, volleyball and tackle football. This, most likely, is due in large part to the requirements for successful completion of certified firearm and bowhunter education courses by younger hunters. These courses are funded entirely by hunters through a Federal excise tax on firearms, ammunition and archery equipment.
12. Hunting is not wild, uncontrolled savagery. Historically, hunters have formulated their own limits. The North American Wildlife Conservation Model is the only one of its kind in the world and was developed by hunters and anglers in the mid 1800’s. These hunters realized that limits needed to be set in order to protect rapidly disappearing wildlife, and assume responsibility for managing wild habitats. Hunters are governed by specific laws and regulations today in their respective pursuits of game animals and birds.

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