Busted: 7 Common Hunting Myths

Setting the anti-hunting record straight

Hello, I’m Alice, and I write about getting outside, harvesting my own food, living a self-reliant lifestyle, and stretching beyond the limits of that pesky comfort zone. If you like any of those things, you can subscribe for free to have occasional posts delivered straight to your inbox.

I don’t pick fights on the internet. I have far more pressing matters to attend to, such as getting the spring garden in, petting my dog, and minding my own business. However, people on the internet seem quite keen on picking fights with me.

The most recent “squabble” started with this:

“I have terrible trouble understanding hunters who don't need to hunt.”

Usually, I wouldn’t have engaged. I don’t feel like I should have to apologize for being a hunter. For more than 99% of human history, Homo sapiens have been hunters. It’s in our nature, woven into our DNA.

But I’ve been attempting to participate in meaningful conversation, to move beyond communicating through ridiculous memes and shallow status updates.

Besides, public attitudes toward hunting are usually fueled by emotion, propaganda, and misconceptions instead of hard data, scientific evidence, and proven practices.

It seemed like a prime opportunity to set the record straight, so I (rather foolishly) took the bait.

There was a brief exchange in which I mentioned that I don’t need to hunt, but I do need to eat.

And buying meat from the grocery store isn’t the healthiest option. One of the best things about wild game meat is its minimal impact on the environment. It is all free-range, organically raised, and sustainably harvested.

She threw an orphaned Bambi into the conversation and accused me of using “monstrous methods” to put food on the table before storming away and refusing to engage.

Image Credit: Kovukiara1

Tossing around a fictional animated cartoon to support an anti-hunting stance is ridiculous. Disney doesn’t equal reality.

Hunting seasons are typically scheduled, so they don’t coincide with birthing and rearing seasons. For example, deer season comes in here in the US at about the same time mama does are driving their spring babies off so they can breed again. At that point, those babies are more than capable of surviving independently.

Only humans refuse to kick out their mature offspring when their progeny is perfectly capable of living on their own. Instead, they let their 30-year-old “kids” play video games in the basement for hours on end when they could be gainfully employed — but only after they’ve made Little Billy a snack and attempted to bolster his self-esteem by telling him how great he is.

Anyway, I thought this might be a good time to address a few other common myths about hunting.

Busting Common Anti-Hunting Myths

Myth: Hunting is Cruel

Reality: Nature is cruel. 

When wildlife populations are left to expand beyond what the local habitat can support, nature takes over. Nature is a heartless manager. 

Harsh winters and slow, merciless death by starvation are what Mother Nature typically uses to keep populations in check. Also in her management toolbox are diseases and parasites, which cause more suffering and slower death.

Nature is so beautiful!

Weakened wildlife is also more prone to natural predator attacks, which rarely bring swift, humane deaths to their prey.

For example, wolves kill large prey animals like deer, elk, and moose by attrition. The pack exhausts an animal by swarming in, weighing it down, and ripping at the animal's legs, neck, and abdomen until the victim collapses from exhaustion. They often begin eating while their prey is still alive. 

Myth: Hunting Threatens Wildlife

Reality: Regulated hunting is largely responsible for the abundance of healthy wildlife we enjoy today.

Hunting seasons, quotas, and procedures are established based on scientific data, including hunter survey information, harvest data, and direct observation. Biologists and wildlife managers develop and implement detailed regulations and harvest limits explicitly tailored to each hunting area. Regulations address hunted species, sex of species, quotas, legal hunting times and seasons, and weapons hunters can use. 

The data is reexamined after each hunting season, and adjustments are made to the regulations for the following season. This science-based regulation is the reason game animals, especially those once considered threatened, exist in sustainable populations. 

Hunting is directly accredited for the funding that goes into habitat development, acquisition, and restoration. Conversely, anti-hunting groups focus their efforts and money on lobbying and directing legislation to take away hunters’ rights. So ask yourself who does more for wildlife.

Anti-hunting sentiments often attack hunting based on emotional arguments, not scientific data. For example, the Humane Society of the United States has criticized Washington’s spring bear season, a season used to regulate problematic bear populations in the Evergreen State for nearly 50 years. The HSUS has called the spring bear season unnecessary and claimed “one bullet can kill a whole family,” citing orphaned cubs as a major concern. 

However, an examination of the data shows that HSUS’s assertions are not backed by science or harvest data. During the 2021 hunting season, biologists collected and analyzed teeth from bears killed by hunters to determine age and sex. According to that research data, hunters killed 124 black bears in total, 45 of which were female. Only one of those females was lactating, indicating she was nursing cubs at the time of her death.

Myth: Humans Don’t Need to Hunt

Reality: Hunting provides a significant source of meat for many Americans. 

Although archeological evidence suggests humans have hunted animals for at least 400,000 years, modern hunting critics point to fully-stocked grocery store shelves as evidence that humans no longer need to hunt for food. When choosing from neatly packaged selections in the meat case, it is easy to forget that those steaks, hamburgers, pork chops, and buffalo wings were once living, breathing animals. Ultimately, purchasing your meat from the local grocer is just a way to pay someone else to do the dirty work so that you can enjoy a flavorful finished meal at the end of the day. Whether you’re eating venison, beef, wild turkey, or chicken, an animal has to die first. Many hunters find deep satisfaction in taking responsibility for harvesting their own meat. A recent poll shows that hunters not only prefer game meat but also that it is the most important part of the whole hunting experience.   

The truth is millions of hunters across the country rely on hunting to put food on family dinner tables. If suddenly those hunters were forced to quit hunting and instead rely on grocery store beef, pork, and chicken to replace that game meat, it would create a food security crisis, potentially crippling our country’s agricultural system.

To put it in perspective, during the 2020 hunting season, Colorado hunters alone tagged 39,014 elk. Although yield varies by animal, a single elk provides approximately 200 pounds of lean red meat. When you do the math, Colorado hunters harvested over 7.8 million pounds of meat, or well over 20 million meals (factoring six ounces of lean meat per meal). 

That is one animal in one state. When you multiply that by the number of elk taken in other states and then add the whitetail deer, mule deer, pronghorn, moose, wild turkey, ducks, geese, and small game animals, the amount of meat that hunters provide families is quite significant. 

Myth: Nature Can Take Care of Itself

Reality: Humans are part of Nature.

When the United States was founded in 1776, roughly 2.5 million people lived here. Today, the US is home to almost 330 million people. The human population stretches from coast to coast. Although American cities have high population concentrations, human presence has touched even remote areas.

For some, it is easy to think we should step aside and let Nature take care of itself. However, human presence has already had a massive impact on wildlife and the natural world. Unchecked populations, including both prey and predator animals, ultimately spread disease, alter the landscape, and destroy human property.

Predator populations (including wolves, coyotes, mountain lions, and bears) can be particularly problematic in areas shared with humans. As wild habitat dwindles due to urban and suburban sprawl, many species are forced to live in close proximity to people, which increases human-wildlife conflicts, including attacks on livestock, pets, and people themselves.

The notion that predators will keep prey in check is no longer a reality. If left unchecked, predators will decimate a prey population to near extinction, causing the natural phenomenon of the predator pit.   

Myth: Hunters Don’t Care for Wildlife

Reality: Hunters care for wildlife in a fundamental way. 

Hunting develops an understanding and appreciation of wildlife like no other outdoor activity. Because hunters immerse themselves in those ecosystems and become active participants, they develop deep love and respect for the wildlife there. 

For this reason, most hunters take their sport very seriously. They spend countless hours studying wildlife behavior and anatomy. They also hone their marksmanship skills to ensure they kill game as cleanly as possible. They also go to great lengths to follow wounded animals to end suffering quickly.

Hunters also willingly donate their hard-earned dollars to support organizations like the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Ducks Unlimted, and the National Wild Turkey Foundation. These groups do much of the groundwork that keeps habitats and wildlife populations healthy so future generations can continue to enjoy and appreciate them. 

Myth: Hunters are Dangerous and Trigger Happy.

Reality: Hunting is less dangerous than most outdoor activities, even those that don’t involve firearms. 

According to National Safety Council statistics, hunting is one of the safest activities in the United States. The data indicates a person is far more likely to be injured riding a bicycle, playing a round of golf, or shooting backyard hoops. A baseball game is 30 times more likely to end in injury than a day spent hunting with a firearm. 

Mandatory hunter safety courses are at least partially responsible for hunting’s impressive safety record. Most states require new hunters to take a safety course and pass a test before receiving their hunting license.  

Hunting has its share of careless lawbreakers. However, most hunters follow the rules and act responsibly and ethically in the field. Hunters even created Turn In Poachers (TIP), a non-profit organization that provides hotlines and rewards for information leading to the arrest of fish and game law violators.

Myth: Hunters are Only Interested in Trophies.

Reality: Even when hunters keep antlers, hides, or heads as trophies, they also harvest the animal's meat.

A recent poll suggests that the meat is just as important to 100% of hunters and 75% who answered indicated it was more important to them than the “trophy”. 

In many states, hunters are required by law to process the meat from their big game kills for human consumption. Removing only the hide, antlers, or head and leaving the meat behind can result in felony charges. Most states enforce wanton waste laws, which make it illegal to leave meat in the field or let it rot.