Yesterday some lady wrote to tell me that she detested my writing about hunting poor little critters. She was referring to the majestic five year old trophy Tom turkeys that were recently harvested on Honey Lake that I wrote about.
I wrote her back and told her, “Well pooh pooh pee doo… I’m a hunter and a fisherman and God gave me the authority over those animals and I’m going to take Him at His word on that matter and I don’t apologize for it. So all of you bunny huggers in the world can just put that in your peace pipes and smoke it…”
She followed up with more disparaging comments in which she said she must have hit a nerve with the “big bad hunter“.
Hmmm…I reckon she did. It always irks me to converse with someone who has such a poor understanding of sportsmen and their role in preserving the fish and game that are so abundant in this nation because of hunters and fishermen. Wildlife is supported almost in its entirety by license fees of sportsmen. She wouldn’t see many “little critters” if it weren’t for those dollars and the millions more spent on conservation programs.
While she is bloviating about little critters, I am setting aside thousands of acres of land for them, and spending my time and serious money building excellent habitat and feeding plots and nurturing them throughout the year. Due to the destruction of habitat created by development and our widening urban areas, wildlife is disappearing except in places like the ones set aside and created by me and other landowner/sportsmen who love the land, flora, and fauna.
Ignorant people do not understand that a natural death to an animal is cruel. I watched a bear die such a death right down the hill from my house not long ago. I could see every rib in its body and he was too old and weak to walk and finally he collapsed and laid there suffering. I wanted to put him out of his misery with a quick humane shot, but the game warden told me it was against the law to dispatch him. The law was no doubt created at the behest of a bunch of tree hugging bunny huggers who have never even gotten off their duffs and into the woods to even see a bear, much less understand their life cycle.
With few natural enemies, wildlife populations reach a point whereby the food supply cannot keep up. When that happens nature wipes them out with starvation and disease. Those cute little fawns are the first to go, because they are too small to reach the browse lines, even when they stand on their rear legs. They literally starve to death and when that happens, it is not a pretty thing to watch. Hunters keep their numbers manageable and consistent with the available food supply and most are quickly and humanely dispatched and nothing is wasted as it heads to the dinner table shortly afterwards.
Just like pruning a rose bush, or combining soybeans it is smart and prudent to harvest the wildlife crop when it is time. It provides food for the table and fond warm memories that will last a lifetime.
Bah! Enough about facts, the PETA crowd will just dismiss them and cling to their misconceptions, so it is a waste of time to expose them to the truth.
I suppose what puzzles me the most about writing WFTD for 12 plus years is why the people who complain so much about it don’t just unsubscribe. I own a hunting plantation. My life is deeply entwined with hunting fishing and the great outdoors; it is obvious that is what I love. It stands to reason that I’m going to write about it now and then.
I cannot thank God enough for allowing me to live in this paradise. It is amazing to watch His glorious sunrises and sunsets, and it is equally exhilarating to hear the woods come alive when the sun does peek its head out. It sends chills down my spine to hear a big gobbler announce his presence, or see whitetails standing in a misty field, or hear the eerie whistles of wood ducks as they zoom their way to their favorite pothole. I never get tired of riding or hiking around this plantation looking at everything from woodpeckers and bluebirds to gators and whitetails.
I truly feel sorry for those who have not experienced this, because few things in life draw me closer to God than being in the woods. I can feel His very presence far more than in most churches. I believe the forest is His favorite church and I appreciate His making me a steward of this fabulous place, if only for a “vapor’s” worth of time.
As for me I wouldn’t get out of the electric chair to play golf, nor would I put on white shorts and a wig and play tennis. Not that anything is wrong with either mind you, but I probably wouldn’t read a daily devotional written by someone who was passionate about them, nor would I ridicule them for loving them. I would simply unsubscribe in peace.
The verse below says it all. (By the way “reign” or “dominion” as it appears in some translations, in part means “to exercise great care over”.) To think that sportsmen, or us “Big bad hunters” will plunder and destroy the wildlife that we love is ludicrous. We, more than anyone on the planet, want to preserve for future generations the wonderful wildlife and environment that God has created for our use and enjoyment. And yes I’m passionate about this subject!
Gen. 1:26
“Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.”