Is Hunting the Answer?

Activist? Hardly. Passionate? Maybe. Aware? True. Care? Most certainly. Willing to change if ever a solution? Yes. These are my feelings when it comes to my relationship with the environment and how our society affects it.

My love for earth’s environment began when I was very young. My family is made up of hunters and my grandmother on my father’s side of the family is part Cherokee. From this alone, I had but no chance to learn about the woods, the animals, and all that nature has to offer. And after learning about nature and being in her presence, I grew to respect her. I want her to be there for me to cherish, for my kids to cherish, and their kids to cherish.

Being a hunter, it is very hard to shed that “redneck hillbilly”, “want to kill anything that moves” stereotype. First of all, being in the woods, be it a tree stand, perhaps a turkey blind, or maybe just a walk, you have time to reflect and come to terms with the things in life your most appreciative for. For being such a young child at the time I learned to hunt and living in an area where the typical stereotype of a hunter might be true, I learned that I love just to be in the presence of nature. Some of the best times I have ever had in the woods are the times my field tags came back to the house without a single pen mark and my knives clean. I learned to love the simple blowing of the wind through the trees, the squirrels playfully chasing one another from tree to tree, the sounds of acorns falling to the forest floor in the fall, and the majestic bucks fighting and marking their territory for the rut to come.

With that being said, my passion for the wild turkey is the greatest. Over the years I have become a very good turkey hunter/caller which gives me a great advantage come every spring. Now, if you stop for a second, I believe that everybody at some point when they were younger wished they could have talked to animals. The thing with turkeys is that this wish is very possible. The only problem is that you have to speak their language instead of your own. Turkeys have one of the most extensive vocabularies of any animal in nature and with good practice and the aid of handmade calls, one can communicate with them to a high degree. For the reasons I have explained, I am a proud member of the National Wild Turkey Federation and support all the conservation efforts they put forth. I support avid sportsmen and in addition try to take the youth and less fortunate to the woods so that they too can share my passion for wildlife.

As one can tell, hunting is a sport I am very passionate about. I have learned through my own eyes and over the years that legal hunting is indeed one of the best conservation efforts. Hunting produces revenue which is then able to provide good habitat for wildlife and the law enforcement to stop poachers and the illegal killing of animals. This is most apparent in Africa where the elephant is very much endangered. Though the numbers of elephants have drastically fallen in the past decade, countries have started to put in place a hunting season. Their hope is to stop the illegal poaching of ivory tusks and additionally hope to raise money for wildlife parks that will keep the elephant safe for generations to come. These types of people, organizations, and countries I support very much and wish their efforts the best.

For the very short time I have been a part of this environmental English class, it has made me more aware of the world we live in. I guess in a way I am ashamed of humans and the destruction we have caused to earth. Over the past generations we have selfishly thought only of ourselves and have disregarded the effects it could have further down the road. We have dug our self so deep that creating a healthier world is now overwhelming to everyone. It is definitely past the part of one single person being able to save the world and it is now sadly past the point where groups of people can change the world; it is down to the different countries and what we as a collective group are willing to do. And for all the haters, doubters, and people who are inconsiderately satisfied, I know I’m being a hypocrite. I too drive to school every day burning fossil fuels, probably have bought products of companies that are major contributors to global warming, and on top of all that voted for George W. Bush. But if there is one thing I know…I know I care and respect the environment we live in and if everyone cared at least as much as I did, then we would be steps ahead of where we are right now and on a quicker path to saving our earth.