Long gone are the days when a successful hunt dictated the evening meal. Replaced with the ease of the grocery store, hunting has been left to survive through supportive and understanding conservation groups and a dwindling population of hunters.
Several factors contribute to the downfall of my beloved pastime. A lack of necessity is an obvious factor. The constant evolution of the technological world has had a devastating impact on the survival of the hunting traditions. But the biggest danger to the continued survival of hunting is a problem that even the late Fred Bear had to deal with — misunderstandings of the hunting world and what it entails that still run rampant.
Recently, while enjoying a cold one, I had the opportunity to uphold the values of hunting and set a person straight on the facts.
I was sitting over my beer watching a baseball game when a hunting commercial flashed across the TV. I overheard a man say a rather abrasive and misinformed comment.
“Screw hunting, man –bunch of drunks.”
I spun in my seat so quickly the head of my beer slid to the floor. I found the source of the insult two seats down the bar. The man shot me a quizzical expression, certainly due to my party foul, as I asked him the source of his opinion.
“Well that’s what they do,” he said. “Drive around the woods with guns and whiskey. It’s ridiculous.”
I think if he had physically punched me in the face it would have hurt less. Why would he think this? Who in their right mind would misconstrue the hard work and dedication involved with this historic tradition into such demeaning terms?
These are the big time issues. While I was happy to give this man a new perspective, the fact is he isn’t the only person with skewed ideas of the hunting world. We as hunters need to understand that it’s our duty not only to put an end to these stereotypes, but to refrain from reinforcing them.
While I like to think of myself and my fellow outdoorsmen as cut from a certain cloth, there is no denying that there are hunters in this world who play right into this inaccurate perception. Swilling booze while they cruise the back roads to escape from their lives, these people give all of us a bad name and do serious damage to the future of the hunting industry.
Given these stereotypes exist, we as hunters and outdoorsmen will always be in a position to be looked down upon, but with the same hard work we put into each hunting season we need to work to change perceptions and ensure the future of our sport.
And if you are one of the drunken people giving the rest of us a bad name, please do me a favor and give up hunting for a sport like soccer, which has plenty of hooligans, so you will fit right in.
Michael French can be reached at [email protected]