This Saturday marks the beginning of the gun deer season in Wisconsin. Just as they do every year, thousands of hunters will put on their blaze orange and flood the state’s forests, marshes and other natural areas as a part of a tradition that spans centuries. At the same time, many people in Wisconsin and around the country will voice their disdain for the practice which they view as barbaric and backward in an era where most are not killing for sustenance. To be honest, I probably share many of the same political views held by those who protest hunting, and yet, every year on the Saturday before Thanksgiving, I am sitting in a box, in the middle of a field, wearing the aforementioned blaze orange, hunting. Can you say cognitive dissonance? So, I want to take this opportunity to explain why I go hunting, and why it means so much to me.
Before I get there, let me make one thing clear. There is a stereotype out there that all hunters are Second Amendment nuts who are stockpiling ammunition and crying out in fear that Obama is going to take their guns away. To be sure, that probably describes some hunters quite accurately. Actually, probably more than just some. However, those are not beliefs that all sportsmen subscribe to—certainly not this one. I don’t have any posters of guns in my bedroom, I oppose most actions taken by the NRA and I am a strong supporter of common sense gun control in this country. I believe that those working in our government have sat back and allowed firearm-related tragedies to happen time and time again, without taking the cue to pass legislation to address that problem. But that is a topic for a different article, and I suppose I should get back to the point of this piece.
To start, hunting is a practical necessity in this state, and I realize that. Over the course of the past few centuries, humans in this country have wiped out acres upon acres of habitat for the wildlife that called this home long before us. As a result, many animal populations would struggle to survive if herd management practices were not implemented. There are certainly more humane ways than hunting to accomplish this goal, but none of them are realistic. All of them are far too expensive for the legislature of this state, and states around the country, to even consider. Hunting actually makes the state money, so at this point it’s our best option. I love whitetail deer, and hunting is a useful tool to maintain their presence in Wisconsin. But the practical component is not the biggest reason I hunt.
Many hunters are criticized for getting a rush out of killing a living creature. I understand that sentiment, and that is something I’m sure would weigh on me if it was the reason I went out every year, but it’s not. I hunt for multiple reasons, and one of them is because of the moments I get to experience. There’s something special about being immersed in nature when the world wakes up—when, in an instant, an area consumed by a still and silent darkness explodes into light and sound. The turkeys come crashing down from roost, squirrels begin foraging for nuts in preparation for a winter that, this year, seems more and more imminent, and sandhill cranes beckon your eyes skyward with their boisterous call. But I could do this without hunting. The arboretum is only a short drive from where I live in Madison, and I could surely experience all of that there. So this still begs the question: Why hunt?
The answer to that is simple: family.
Every year when I make the cold trip to Wild Rose, Wisconsin, I am accompanied by my father, my brothers, my sister, my grandfather, my uncle and my cousins. The older I get, and the more I start to create my own life, the more I find myself becoming physically disconnected with these people. Modern technology helps to bridge that gap, but there is something about sitting in the woods together, in communion, that makes that annual November experience like nothing else. Family is important, tradition matters, that’s why I hunt.
Max is a junior majoring in Political Science. Do you agree or disagree with his view on hunting? Please send all feedback to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
