COURTESY OF HOWARD COMMUNICATIONS |
Today , wild turkeys number some six million and wander across every state but Alaska . Ivory-billed woodpeckers number zero and roam only in a few aging memories . Why the two different outcomes ?
The turkey was a game bird widely hunted . The ivory-billed woodpecker was a curiosity admired by a few bird watchers . Hunters knew they would neither hunt nor eat wild turkeys again if they didn ’ t do something to help wild turkeys make more wild turkeys . So , they researched , funded , trapped , transplanted and protected turkeys . The
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I don ’ t know if there ’ s a moral to this story , but there is a lesson : hunters can and do save and perpetuate the species they hunt , plus hundreds more they don ’ t hunt . The habitat that hunters defend , purchase , rebuild and maintain supports extensive biotic communities from wildflowers and insects to amphibians and reptiles to bats and songbirds . Grasslands , forests , wetlands , streams , deserts . It ’ s all necessary . It ’ s all important . It ’ s all being sacrificed on the altar of “ progress .” And hunters are a major force in slowing , even reversing , some of this habitat loss .
Of course , hunters also kill animals . Through selective and carefully limited seasons and harvest , hunters kill a small percentage of certain species each year . This is the same principle that gives us
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Hunters are needed to maintain the habitat to support wildlife . They are who hire and pay the biologists , researchers , game wardens , habitat managers and trappers who capture and restock restored wildlife areas . And , while kids might come along to join the work in 10 or 20 years , adults can help immediately .
Men and women in their prime have not only the interest , but the money with which to join and support the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation . And they in turn will feed their families and train their children to similarly appreciate , respect and support the wildlife and wild places we all need . And some of us love .
Please do your part to save wildlife . Take an adult hunting .
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WINTER 2023 23 |