Though some people hunt for food, hunting in the United States is primarily a recreational activity regulated by laws that govern which species can be hunted as well as when and how many of those animals can be taken. Hunting can also help balance ecosystems and mitigate imbalances in food supply and overpopulation, particularly in areas where the population of prey animals with few natural predators has grown beyond sustainable levels. However, opponents of hunting frequently argue that the practice is inhumane and can damage ecosystems by creating population imbalances between predator and prey animals. Some opponents also cite the significant risk of injury to hunters and nonhunters posed by weaponry misuse and other hunting-related accidents.
According to a national five-year survey conducted by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), in 2016 there were approximately 11.5 million recreational hunters in the United States. Approximately 9.2 million of those hunters engaged in big game hunting, or the hunting of large animals such as bears, bison, deer, elk, and moose. Other popular forms of hunting include the small game hunting of squirrels, rabbits, pheasants, quail, grouse, and similar animals (practiced by about 3.5 million hunters); migratory bird hunting (2.4 million); and hunting other animals, including groundhogs, foxes, raccoons, and coyotes (1.3 million). Please visit deerhuntingfield.com for more information
Some critics of hunting contend that the practice is dangerous not only for hunters but also for those who travel through or engage in other recreational activities in or near hunting grounds. While recreational hunting fatalities are rare, the National Safety Council (NSC) reported that more than 18,000 injuries resulting from recreational non-powder guns and approximately 120,000 preventable workplace injuries in the agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting sector occurred in 2017. Additionally, the agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting sector had the highest rate of workplace fatality among all sectors in 2017, with 22.6 deaths per 100,000 full-time workers. The second-highest rate was 14.1 deaths per 100,000 full-time workers in the transportation and warehousing sector, and the national average across all sectors was 3.1 deaths per 100,000 full-time workers. While it is difficult to determine the number of recreational hunting accidents on a national scale, available state-level data indicates that accidents, injuries, and fatalities remain relatively low. For example, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation reported thirteen hunting-related shooting incidents, three of which were fatal, and five tree-stand-related incidents, none of which were fatal, in 2018.
HUNTING LAW AND FAIR CHASE
While most hunting regulations are passed and enforced at the state level, federal statutes such as the Endangered Species Act (ESA), the Multinational Species Conservation Acts, and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act impose restrictions on which animal and bird species may be hunted legally and regulate the use and conservation of natural resources. However, because animal populations and the prevalence of certain species vary from region to region, states are better able to maintain primary authority over hunting activities within their boundaries.
Even when a specific practice is legal, many hunters may view it as unethical or inconsistent with the idea of fair chase. Fair chase, a term first used in the 1880s by the Boone and Crockett Club, describes the ethically guided, legal pursuit of free-range wild animals native to North America "in a manner that does not give the hunter an improper advantage." As technology advanced and new hunting methods were developed, some hunting practices became regulated through legislation intended to ensure fair chase. For example, beginning in the 1960s, hunters in some parts of the United States adopted techniques like shooting animals from airplanes or using aircraft to disturb herds and guide them toward waiting gunmen on the ground. Opponents of this practice, including a significant number of hunters, found it unsportsmanlike and a violation of the fair chase ethic. In 1972, Congress responded to the controversy by passing the Federal Airborne Hunting Act, which made it illegal to shoot animals from an airplane or a helicopter.
Though some states only require hunting education for younger children or for those hunting with firearms, all states have some form of mandatory hunting education requirement. Grants for these educational programs are provided to the states through the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act of 1937, also known as the Pittman-Robertson Act, which introduced an excise tax on sporting arms and ammunition that funds state-level habitat and ecosystem preservation efforts. Most states require hunters to present education certificates to purchase hunting licenses. For example, in Kentucky, recreational hunters born after January 1, 1975, must carry proof of completion of an up-to-date and officially recognized hunter education course while hunting. Similarly, Colorado requires all recreational hunters born after January 1, 1949, to have state-approved hunting education to obtain any type of hunting or trapping license. According to the USFWS, over 37 million hunting licenses, tags, permits, and stamps were granted in the United States in 2018.
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HUNTING AS CONSERVATION
Proponents of hunting contend that hunters contribute to conservation efforts in the United States. The USFWS acknowledges the longstanding tradition of hunting and maintains a permissive stance on the issue within federal boundaries, provided that hunters practice the sport in a manner that does not threaten the safety or viability of wildlife populations. Ducks Unlimited (DU), a nonprofit devoted to wetlands and waterfowl conservation, states on its website that it "strongly supports hunting" and notes that hunters make major financial contributions to conservation efforts through hunting license purchases and excise taxes. Similarly, the National Rifle Association (NRA) points out that "hunters and other gun owners are among the foremost supporters of sound wildlife management and conservation practices in the United States," adding that, since the passage of the Pittman-Robertson Act, hunters have supplied more than $7.2 billion toward wildlife and habitat conservation efforts.
However, many other groups, including In Defense of Animals (IDA), vehemently disagree with the characterization of hunters as conservationists. IDA contests this belief in a statement on its website, which asserts that "hunters want us to believe that killing animals equals population control equals conservation, when in fact hunting causes overpopulation of deer, the hunters' preferred victim species, destroys animal families, and leads to ecological disruption as well as skewed population dynamics." The IDA notes that the hunting of predator animals, such as wolves and mountain lions, leads to unchecked populations of prey animals, like deer.
CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS
● Do you think that recreational hunting helps the conservation of ecosystems and animal species more than it harms them? Why or why not?
● In your opinion, should trophy hunting be legal in the United States?
● Should the US federal government enact laws specific to the hunting of species that have recently been delisted from the USFWS endangered species list? Explain your answer.
POACHING, SPORT, AND TROPHY HUNTING
Poaching, which is defined as the illegal capture or killing of animals, is one of the biggest concerns regarding hunting, both within and outside of North America. According to the North American Wildlife Enforcement Officers Association (NAWEOA), animals are rarely poached for food. Instead, poachers sell them as pets or harvest their skins or other body parts to use as clothing, jewelry, or trophies. Poaching can also be extremely profitable. For example, the NAWEOA states that the gall bladder of one bear carries a value of up to $18,000 in parts of Asia. Globally, other commonly poached animals include elephants, rhinoceroses, and pangolins.
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF), an international organization that works to fight poaching, estimates that about twenty thousand elephants and one thousand rhinoceroses are poached each year, with thriving markets for poached animal products existing in China, Thailand, and Vietnam, among other countries. The black-market trade of illicitly obtained animals and animal products is a global problem that lawmakers have been working to address. The annual London Conference on Illegal Wildlife Trade brings nations together to advance the development of internationally binding legislation to tackle the issue. According to the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators, as of January 2019 eight US states had enacted bans on the sale of ivory and rhino horn products, and twelve states had wildlife-trafficking bills under consideration.
Sport hunting typically refers to hunting animals with the objective of keeping part of the animal's body as a trophy. For this reason, it is sometimes referred to as trophy hunting and is a controversial form of hunting practiced domestically and by American hunters in other countries. USFWS protections prohibit American sport hunters from bringing trophies of animals that appear on the USFWS endangered species list into the country. In response to public outcry in 2015 after American dentist Walter Palmer killed a lion named Cecil during a guided hunt near Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe, the USFWS added lions from southern and eastern Africa to the list.
Proponents of sport hunting claim that, when properly managed, it helps fund conservation efforts through the revenue generated by licensing fees while supporting employment and economic growth, particularly in developing countries. Supporters claim that this makes trophy hunting an effective alternative to poaching given that many poachers engage in the practice out of economic necessity. Some sport hunters also claim that the practice can be humane when performed ethically and in accordance with local law, pointing out that many sport hunters only target mature animals entering the final stage of their lives. Left in the wild, they argue, these older animals are likely to experience a prolonged period of pain and suffering before their deaths, which a quick death at the hands of a hunter can alleviate.
Opponents of sport hunting argue that it is a needlessly cruel and inhumane practice. They point to practices such as canned or captive hunting, in which an animal is hunted for sport within the borders of an enclosed area, as cruel and in violation of the fair chase principle. Animal rights organizations also hold that native carnivores must be preserved due to their inherent value as parts of natural ecosystems, as individuals, and, in some cases, as members of a familial structure. Beyond this, the Humane Society of the United States cites mounting scientific evidence that sport hunting adversely affects the safety of farm animals, countering common arguments that the trophy hunting of carnivorous animals like wolves and cougars helps protect livestock. The Humane Society references a 2014 analysis conducted by researchers from Washington State University, which found that the indiscriminate killing of wolves appeared to cause more livestock deaths because wolf families that are broken apart by the actions of hunters can split up and increase reproduction, leading to more frequent attacks on farm animals. Detractors have also accused trophy hunters of using unfair and unethical hunting practices that contravene fair chase principles, including captive hunting, baiting, hounding, and trapping.
The US government has traditionally led efforts to curb illegal and unethical hunting practices domestically and internationally, but conservationists and animal rights advocates have expressed concern that actions taken by federal agencies under the presidential administration of Donald Trump undermine the nation's commitment to conservation and fair chase. In June 2017, for example, US Department of the Interior secretary Ryan Zinke announced that the grizzly bear population in the Yellowstone National Park region had recovered enough to warrant removal from the USFWS endangered species list. Removal from the list effectively legalized the hunting of grizzly bears in the region, which contains parts of Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming, for the first time since 1975. The move was initially put on hold due to a joint lawsuit filed by indigenous tribes and conservationist groups and later reversed in September 2018 when a federal judge ruled that the USFWS had acted "arbitrarily and capriciously" by failing to consult the best available scientific evidence. Despite the judge's reversal and the Yellowstone-area grizzly's return to the endangered species list, in February 2019 state lawmakers in Wyoming advanced a bill that would allow the state's game and fish commission to administer licenses for grizzly hunting. Removal of other species' threatened or endangered status, such as the delisting of gray wolves in 2017, has resulted in the proliferation of unethical and inhumane hunts, particularly in western states.
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