The Importance of Hunting

Though hunters are sometimes misunderstood, they are among the leading conservationists and advocates for wildlife. Since the beginning of time, hunting has always been a part of human life. Our ancestors depended on hunting for survival. Today, hunters contribute more than anyone else toward funds for conservation. Without their support, there would be no funding for land conservation and wildlife wellbeing.
In order for conservation efforts to be successful, they need proper funds to do so. In fact. half of the Department of Fish and Wildlife is funded by just hunters alone.

The Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act (or the Pittman Robertson Act) was passed by congress in 1937 and established a way to gain funds for wildlife conservation by placing a tax on sporting arms, ammunition, archery equipment, and handguns.

Hunter’s education, game tags, and hunting permits also support the cause. These taxes are collected by the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service via the Wildlife Restoration Program and go towards multiple different conservation projects.

The tax generates $371 million a year for conservation, restoration, and management of wildlife in the United States. All of the collected money helps to conserve habitat and balance prey (deer, elk, and bison) and predator populations. Thanks to protected land purchased by hunters, deer, turkey and many other nongame species have made amazing recoveries in their numbers.

Biologists, wardens, education experts, and other professionals who are in charge of state fish and wildlife agencies and nongovernment organizations have the most important job when it comes to conservation.

They are the ones in charge of monitoring the health and habitat of our nation’s animals.

In order to be able to calculate the numbers and statistics of animal populations, animals must be harvested by hunters. A large number of people claim that killing an animal is pointless and cruel, but the reality is that it only helps the animal populations in a positive way.

(Disease) After harvest, the animals can be tested for diseases so scientists can learn whereabouts the disease originated and how to get rid of it. Hunters contribute greatly to disease control, without them, there would be no way for us to track/kill the spread of disease. Because of hunting, we have a better handle on wildlife populations, understanding the movement of animals and where diseases have broken out.

Following rules and regulations properly is vital to conservation efforts. After one hunting season researchers are able to calculate how many were taken and how many there are left. After this number is found then the proper number of tags will be given out the next season. This number is very carefully calculated to ensure animals are not overhunted, but also not overpopulated. (Restoration) For example, as a result of overhunting and loss of habitat, wild turkeys disappeared from many states. By the 1930s there were less than 30,000 left in the wild in America. Today, there are over 6 million roaming nearly every state. Efforts from hunters were the reason for their comeback. Set bag limits and funding for land brought them back from extinction. On the other hand, if we didn’t hunt deer it would cause a significant negative impact on humans. There would be increased deer/car collisions, more disease spreading, and overgrazing. If the deer population continued to grow too large, they would eat all the grazing land and fight over farms, causing damage to crops and forests. Closely following will be starvation as there will be no food left.

Wildlife cannot thrive without land. Hunters play a major role in, not only the harvesting of animals but also the growth of the populations. Hunters provide (through funding) protected land for animals to live. A common misconception is that hunters do not care about the wellbeing of animals. For example, Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge in Virginia spans more than 14,000 acres and is home to hundreds of different species including 300 species of birds alone. This refuge was purchased entirely by outdoorsmen through the sale of the Federal Duck Stamp, a stamp that 98% of the cost goes towards conservation. Each year, thousands of acres of habitat are put aside by local hunting clubs and national conservation organizations in order to preserve the future of wildlife. These clubs are the first ones to stand and speak up for conservation in our national and state capitals.

Hunters are extremely important to conservation in the United States. Without them, there would be no funding for wildlife and land preservation, species recovery, and education programs. They keep wildlife populations healthy and give them a place to live. Though hunters get a bad reputation for killing animals, they do more for wildlife than anyone else.