No wolf ever limits its kill or observes closed seasons . No hungry cougar ever lets a fawn escape . No eagle ever builds ponds or plants forests for the benefit of other species . No beaver ever removes its dam so burrowing rodents can reclaim their tunnels and fish can swim to upstream spawning grounds . No lions ever build nesting boxes for owls , bluebirds or wood ducks . Human hunters do . Although humans are routinely accused of selfish , heartless destruction of Nature , we are the only species that voluntarily works to help other creatures . And hunters are , once again , the prime exhibit . Sport hunters ( distinguished from market hunters and poachers ) initiated and continue the American tradition of protecting and enlarging wild habitats . They lobby for and pay to create wildlife refuges . They build ponds and restore wetlands . Hunters fund wildlife disease research , species protection and reintroductions .
During specific , limited time periods each year , hunters commune with Nature , taking from her the free-range , organic , biodegradable , endlessly recyclable meat and fur she provides . And they do it in sustainable quantities , accepting the necessary limits that ensure the wildlife they love continues to thrive . Sport hunters do all this despite the best efforts of misinformed anti-hunting zealots to stop them .
This unique , remarkable altruism has saved many species from extinction and restored many to abundance . Not every hunter knows the right postures and phrases to explain this . Hunters typically do not seek the limelight in which to parade and pontificate . They do not protest and rant and claim the moral high ground , though they could . Perhaps they should .
Because they ’ ve long known and accepted their responsibility to the wilds and wild creatures they love , sport hunters were the cultural group that initiated wildlife sanctuaries , for saving forests and wetlands , for closing seasons and hiring game wardens . Sport hunters were the first who argued against market hunting and excessive harvest . They self-imposed closed seasons and limited take . Sport hunters called for license and tag fees , even excise taxes on guns and ammo to fund habitat improvement . They still do .
Proof of sport hunters ’ successes is found in the remarkable numbers of prime game species once on the brink of extinction but now thriving . The list of recovered and growing species is long and inclusive of virtually all hunted species protected by modern game laws initiated by hunters and paid for by hunters . This is remarkable , yet consistently ignored , corrupted and flipped 180 degrees by anti-hunters posing as environmentalists . Perhaps , for the survival of our wildlife and wild places , society should flip it back . Back to what Nature created . Back to what works : Sustainable use of Nature ’ s resources .
Nature doesn ’ t care if humans drain the last wetland , dam the last river , pave over the last grassland . But we should . And we do . Just as we perhaps dream of seeing a living mastodon or T . rex , future generations might dream of seeing a whooping crane , sage grouse or woodland caribou . If sport hunters have anything to say about it , they won ’ t have to dream .
Humans care about the welfare of the animals they hunt , conserving and improving wildlife habitat such as wetlands .
ADOBE STOCK
30 SPORTSMENSALLIANCE . ORG