Originally Posted by
Kybuckhunter
I agree that no one "needs" to hunt. We do it for sport. I love the meat also but I wouldnt starve if I didnt have it. Also hunting isnt needed for population control. No one hunts many species and they do fine. Sure deer would boom for a while, then massive starvation would balance the heard. It wouldnt be pretty but nature would do what it needs.
Sorry but this is a pretty naive post. In the process of over-population, the deer will eat everything in sight, destroying the ecology of the area and any farmers' livelihood in the area. Since we have destroyed their natural predators and the food balance by filling the land with agricultural crops to further our own existance, hunting for population control is MANDATORY.
The farm where I grew up is located in an area currently experiencing a deer explosion. Not enough hunters, no one wants to shoot does. When I grew up it was HUNTING, I was glad to get a deer or two in a year. Last time I went back I filled my 7 tags in four hours shooting only the biggest does I saw. Any crops within 100 yards of a treeline or ditch line are eaten to the ground, there is no edible foliage left within 6 feet of the ground and the woods are not replenishing with trees as the deer eat/rub off all the small ones.
Who is to say shooting only 1-2 deer is "hunting" vs 3 or more is "just killing" if it is within the management guidelines legalized by the state?
I shoot from 4 to as many as 10 deer a year, feeding several families. I call it population control and providing healthy lean meat to people who need it. Perhaps you think putting a $400 mount on your wall is somehow superior, but I see it the opposite way around.