The Value of Hunting

We have all heard the phrase “ Time spent hunting or/fishing cannot be deducted from a man’s life”. So surely time spent outdoors, hunting, hiking, and fishing must have value, right? President Theodore Roosevelt was once quoted as saying “In a civilized and cultivated country wild animals only continue to exist at all when preserved by sportsmen. The excellent people that protest against all hunting, and consider sportsmen as enemies of wildlife, are ignorant of the fact that in reality the genuine sportsmen is by all odds the most important factor in keeping the larger and more valuable wild creatures from total extermination”.
In a day when much of our society questions the need for guns and hunting in general it is this authors opinion that hunting provides some of the greatest and most beneficial values provided to individuals, families, and society as a whole. Does using a gun or as a sportsmen, using the time in ones life to pursue and hunt game make an individual less valuable or somehow evil? No. Hunting provides opportunities to evaluate values that lead to being a more responsible, caring, and mindful of others. Hunting creates an appreciation for the outdoors, for animals and humans, and an intense desire to be responsible for family and person.
Although there are always exceptions, hunters in general spend a large amount of time outdoors. Who can deny the great spiritual benefits of spending even a little bit of time outdoors? This value cannot be quantified or measured. Hunters easily recognize this great value and understand that without responsible management of these great resources they will not be here for future generations, not to mention our selves.
Because of this, you don’t have to look far to read or hear about individuals, groups, clubs, or organizations to organize and offer service to ensure the great outdoors will be kept in a state to benefit all, whether they hunt or not. I have yet to find a trail or mountain with a sign that states, “This land is cared for by hunters and therefore is intended only for use of hunters.” Almost daily I receive an email or tweet from a hunting body inviting and encouraging me to join in a service project or give to a project intended to do something good for the outdoors.
I had a manager a year or so ago that I had a conversation with about hunting. She questioned, in a non-defensive way, how I could fathom going and killing a helpless animal to eat it. I asked her how she could justify going to the store and buying meat from an animal someone else killed and eating it. She stated, “I don’t like to think about it. If it’s not homogenized, pasteurized, and bleached I don’t want it.” She was a wonderful women and I had a lot of fun talking to her. But she brought up a point that I think is common, why do we wish to ignore where our food comes from? Does ignoring that an animal died to give us this meat ease our conscious? Do we truly understand what animals are here for and the value they have?
Animals have great values in so many ways. I love my dog and the relationship I have with him. I grew up with horses, cows, chickens, pigs, pigeons, cats and many other animals. All of them had great value. Some of them emotionally, and some as nutrition. Does the animal with a more nutritional value have any less value then the one offering companionship? I believe as we understand the value that animals offer we better understand the value in others and ourselves as human beings. Hunting is simply another way to help wild animals control population, disease and increases our understanding of their value. As hunters, we physically watch the entire process of an animal dying and see the positive results of responsible hunting. It is by doing this we gain compassion for the animals and others.
Hunting provides a way for families friends and others to enjoy time together and share a common interest. Some of my fondest memories are with my family on a early morning waiting for the dog to point. This value cannot be underestimated. It is difficult for many families to find a common interest and even less common for families to find a common interest that everyone can participate in at the same time.
These are some simple ideas that very superficially cover some of the reasons that hunting has such value in our world. Closing our eyes and saying “ I don’t want to think about it” does very little to increase our understanding of the world around us. It is my hope that the thought of hunting as a value might be increased and that more individuals might remember why hunters and hunting are valuable.

About the author

Skyler Andersen is the Marketing Director for huntingblindsunlimited.com. He loves to spend time with his family, is an avid upland game hunter and loves to spend time with his dog Gus, loves to camp, fish, and just be in the outdoors.

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