As hunters, we are used to attacks on our lifestyle from the animal-rights-vegetarian-vegan coalition.  But an article in the Lowell Sun on July 19 stating that hunting is worse than dogfighting was so mindboggling and utterly fraught with fallacies that we had to set the record straight.

A few excerpts from the story are sure to get your blood boiling:

“What does your pristine ‘sport’ have to do with the outlawed mayhem of ultimate doggie brawls?  Well, you don’t have to go hunting for the answer.  I'll fire back the reality.

“There is a difference.  Hunting is worse.  Hunting is deadly certain.  At least when White Fang is brawling, he has a fighting chance.  In hunting, the bullet and arrow offer no TKOs.

“You hunters don’t give a flying duck about protecting the wildlife.  And I don't give a flying duck about your rights as hunters.  You are not outdoorsmen, or sportsmen.  To claim that you are conservationists would be like saying ExxonMobil is peddling the idea of getting more cyclists on the roads.

“It astounds me that Michael Vick is jailed as a war criminal, deemed worthy of a Nuremberg tribunal, yet armed citizens are licensed by our states to get their jollies blowing Bambi, Bullwinkle, Braer rabbit and even Yogi Bear to smithereens.

“As someone who has never executed a fellow mammal, I am even more astounded by the fact that states encourage children to join in on the kill shots.  In the Bay State, I was shocked to learn that a child at the tender age of 15 can get a hunting license.”

For the record, that emotional rant was brought to you by Matt Spencer, who can be reached at mspencer@lowellsun.com.

I would like to counter Mr. Spencer’s anti-hunting diatribe with just a few facts, since he chose not to do so.
 
First of all, his claim that hunting is worse than dogfighting is absurd to anyone who has actually hunted a day in his or her life.  The ranks of hunters are filled with decent, hard-working, family-oriented people that make up the very fabric of this country.  Those who engage in dogfighting are criminals, pure and simple.  Hunters are not.   

With that said, I particularly take offense to Mr. Spencer’s statement that hunters are not conservationists.  In fact, hunters are the ultimate stewards of our wildlife and land resources.  The taxes and license fees paid by hunters have generated funds to purchase millions of acres of public land and improve wildlife habitat.  Since 1937, hunters have contributed more than $4 BILLION through the Pittman-Robertson Act for the benefit of all wildlife species.  In 2007 alone, hunters and shooters contributed $233 million in Pittman-Robertson funds. 

Virtually all outdoor enthusiasts benefit from the excise tax dollars hunters pay on guns, ammunition and related equipment.  The bird watchers, hikers and bikers don’t need to pay a cent to fund the outdoor pursuits they enjoy.  Why should they open their wallets when hunters foot the bill for them?

In addition, hunters DO care about protecting wildlife.  Hunting keeps game populations in balance with their habitat.  When a population exceeds the habitat’s carrying capacity, sickness and die-off are the result.  Hunting keeps overall game populations healthy and sustainable.  For example, in 1900, whitetail deer populations in this country totaled 300,000.  With the help of regulated hunting, wildlife management paid for by hunters, and an influx of Pittman-Robertson dollars, whitetail populations today number more than 20 million.

There are other facts I could provide in support of hunting—it prevents deer-auto collisions and keeps our insurance rates from skyrocketing; it provides nearly 600,000 Americans with work; it strengthens family bonds with time spent together outdoors; and it feeds our country, not just with the meat itself, but also because of the crop damage and livestock predation it prevents. 

But perhaps the number one fact that Mr. Spencer apparently missed is this: 73 percent of Americans approve of legal hunting, according to the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation.  Only 10 percent believe hunting should be illegal.  I would venture to guess that dogfighting would receive a much less favorable public reception.  Just ask Michael Vick.

We’ve reported before on animal rights’ groups that try to push their “educational materials” into our school systems.

Regrettably, we’ve just been made aware of another one. But on the bright side, this material is so ridiculous that professional educators may actually laugh it off.

“The Zargon Connection” is part of a free “Humane and Responsible Teachers” curriculum designed for grades pre-K- 9. Created by the New Jersey Animal Rights Alliance (NJARA), the package includes a variety of classroom exercises, activities and lesson plans. These documents include NJARA advice like discouraging field trips to zoos and aquariums because they “perpetuate the belief that it’s acceptable to imprison animals.”

One of NJARA’s issues, of course, is “the killing of wildlife for management or sport,” and “The Zargon Connection” is the educational tool they want teachers to use--on sixth-graders. It is a science fiction story in which Earth is invaded by Zargonians—aliens that hunt and eat human beings for sport.

A few excerpts:

Parts of Earth have been “designated as human management areas where they hunt us for pleasure and for our meat, which is considered a delicacy by Zargonian gourmets.”

“Zargonians use a variety of hunting techniques. They frighten us and then shoot us in the back as we run for our lives. Or they unleash vicious Zargonian hounds who chase us to exhaustion and desperation, sometimes tearing us apart with their teeth when they catch us.”

“Occasionally, in a technique known as baiting, Zargonians will set up a fast food restaurant or pizza parlor and burst in on us while we eat, with their street sweepers blazing.”

“Often, their weapons leave us alive, but dreadfully wounded, and we die slowly and painfully from blood loss, infection or starvation. Some of us are children, left to starve alone and afraid when they kill our parents.”

There is plenty more, but you get the idea.

I don’t want to believe that any elementary school teacher is foolish enough to use such demented material in a classroom. The idea that you can educate sixth-graders by giving them nightmares can’t really be acceptable in our schools, can it?

I hope not. But if you live in New Jersey, I suggest you inquire if anything from NJARA is being used in your child’s school.

Note: Soon our blog section will have a “Post a Comment” thread for your feedback. Until then, feel free to express your opinions to us at huntersrights@nrahq.org.