I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase, “Haters gonna hate.”
And it’s true.
And pretty much any sportsman or woman who’s been hunting or trapping long enough has encountered it.
For the most part, we just have to let it go like water off a duck’s back. In some cases, though, we might have an opportunity to influence the thinking of a “hater” and turn them into at least someone who respectfully disagrees if not an ally.
How do we do that?
By taking every opportunity to educate our opponents about why you hunt. Most of them have no understanding at all about what we do and why we do it. The scary part is how fast hunting is disappearing from our culture!
The Biggest Misunderstanding is the “Why.”
A true understanding of why we do what we do, why you hunt, is what’s going to change the hearts of those who don’t see the way we do.
The other day while I was checking our Instagram, I noticed a comment an anti-hunter left asking if we really got enough meat out of the deer in the picture to justify “taking its life.”
This is a fair question, and I was glad it wasn’t a rash outburst about how the child in the picture deserved to die. I was also glad she wrote it as a question because questions beg answers.
The simple fact of the matter is, no amount of meat would have met this lady’s standard for justification, so I didn’t spend any time harping on it.
I gave her a rough estimate of the amount of meat and explained that the bones can be used for broth and the hide donated to a non-profit. I assured her that nothing went to waste and the animal was respected.
Then I went after the heart of the matter.
Focus on the Heart of Why You Hunt
I pointed out the fact that no one faults a pack of wolves or a mountain lion for killing a deer, even a fawn, which is what they typically target.
All she had to do is turn on the Discovery channel to watch a lion pride take out a baby water buffalo or wildebeest. No one faults them because they’re simply participating in the world they live in, they’re playing their part.
Then I explained to her how that’s how we’re raising our kids. We live off the animals we harvest, we respect them, we spend countless hours in their world.
We rehabilitate habitat, provide food, reduce predators, all because we depend on one another: the deer on us and us on the deer.
I shared with her the power of taking my kids into the woods well before daylight. The sacred magic of twilight we get to experience as the whole world waits on the edge of its seat waiting for the first rays of light to bring the world to life.
My kids are more in tune with the heartbeat of the planet because they know its pulse. They understand the struggle of predator and prey, they live the struggle, and they respect the struggle.
It’s a connection that you can’t make through a screen or from the sidelines. It’s a richness and depth of life you can only possess if you live it.
It’s a deep and ancient understanding of how the world really works outside of the chaos and rat race created by greed. It’s pure and organic, it’s real.
By the time we harvest a deer, or anything else, it’s sacred. Our kids understand where it came from, how it lived, the hardships it had to overcome. They understand the weight that comes from taking its life.
It’s a healthy understanding, far better than the ignorance and disconnect that comes from ordering a burger at the McDonalds’ drive-through.
Life is precious and nowhere is this better understood than in the process of hunting. I feel this is especially true when it comes to archery hunting.
Understand Your Own “Why”
Know your “why.” Think long, hard, and deep about it. The battle is won or lost at the core, the heart.
Don’t let ignorant questions or statements distract you, they’re only a fruit of the deeper core misunderstanding.
Be ready to share why you hunt when the opportunity arises and do it respectfully. They don’t need to agree with you at that moment, but they’ll have something to think about later. That’s the first step.
Take the time to educate yourself on the positive impact that hunters have had on conservation. We make a big difference!
Be ready for opposition because it will come, but if you’re ready, it can be a positive experience.
As hard as it is, have some pity for the ignorance and be the bigger person. You don’t need them to agree with you or approve if you understand your own “why”.
That confidence puts them on the defensive, not you. It causes them to question their point of view as much as they do yours.
At the end of the day, take pride in what you do, be ethical, and pass it on. Know why you hunt and don’t be ashamed of it.
Share your “why” whenever the opportunity arises.
Hunting is awesome, it’s more than a hobby, it’s a perspective, a deep understanding, a way of life. This is who we are. Do they have anything that compares?
~ Joel
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You may also be interested in reading Could Rabbit Trapping Save the Future of Hunting? and Is Trapping Cruel and Unethical?
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