Just as there are people with less than good motives in all groups of society, there are some hunters who couldn't care less about the environment. Also, when I think of rednecks, I don't really envision them as hunters.
That said, it really bothers me when people condemn hunters because they shoot animals and the wounded animals might suffer for hours if it isn't killed right away. As if raising animals in factory farms for meat causes any less suffering on the animals. Furthermore, hunting was (and often still is) a major part of life for my ancestors (Taiwanese aborigines). The entire culture centered around hunting and farming. It was a rite of passage and served to connect the people with nature and their food source. As modernization and foreign cultures have come along, the old ways get swept aside and forgotten. Because my family gave up on tribal culture several generations ago, the only way I can really connect with my ancestors is through learning the language and building the same relationship with the earth that they had. Hunting is something that I've always wanted to do but don't yet have the time for, and though I live in an entirely different ecosystem, every time I hike the canyons around my home for elderberries, dig under the oaks for mushrooms, or plant the seeds for next year's fava beans I can appreciate my ancestors for how hard they worked and understand their culture a tiny bit better.
To hear people calling hunters savages or uncivilized is far more insulting to me than they think not only for their ignorance of how most hunting is done but also because they are insulting an ancient way of life.
That said, it really bothers me when people condemn hunters because they shoot animals and the wounded animals might suffer for hours if it isn't killed right away. As if raising animals in factory farms for meat causes any less suffering on the animals. Furthermore, hunting was (and often still is) a major part of life for my ancestors (Taiwanese aborigines). The entire culture centered around hunting and farming. It was a rite of passage and served to connect the people with nature and their food source. As modernization and foreign cultures have come along, the old ways get swept aside and forgotten. Because my family gave up on tribal culture several generations ago, the only way I can really connect with my ancestors is through learning the language and building the same relationship with the earth that they had. Hunting is something that I've always wanted to do but don't yet have the time for, and though I live in an entirely different ecosystem, every time I hike the canyons around my home for elderberries, dig under the oaks for mushrooms, or plant the seeds for next year's fava beans I can appreciate my ancestors for how hard they worked and understand their culture a tiny bit better.
To hear people calling hunters savages or uncivilized is far more insulting to me than they think not only for their ignorance of how most hunting is done but also because they are insulting an ancient way of life.
