Hunting is NOT a sport or a game. The definition of
sport includes 3 criteria:
1) All of the players have consented to participate;
2) All of the players are equally equipped;
3) All of the players know the rules.
Any TRUE sport like basketball or tennis would meet
these criteria. However, the hunter uses a weapon to stalk, prey upon
and injure or kill a defenseless, unsuspecting animal who is in his own
home minding his own business. This scenario is no different than a
person relaxing in the comfort of his living room and suddenly and
unexpectedly being shot at by a stranger from a nearby rooftop.
Hunters often use the poor excuse that they are reducing
deer populations, when in actuality they are a cause of overpopulation.
Deer populations are manipulated by wildlife agencies paid for by
hunters for the purpose of producing maximum targets and revenue. Make
no mistake, a state's deer herd is a "cash crop" to the state. The deer
herd is intentionally cultivated and harvested in the same way a farmer
grows his crops. This is done by selectively killing the males, thereby
skewing the natural 1:1 sex ratio. In some areas, hunting has caused the
sex ratio to rise to as many as 25 females for each male. Deer are
polygamous and a male will breed with as many females as are available.
With this female to male imbalance, more breeding females are left
available to increase the herd size. Fish and game reports show that
even when female deer are killed, the remaining females compensated and
had increased birth rates that not only replaced the ones killed, but
increased the overall size of the herd. Despite all of the hunting and
killing, deer populations increase, and that is exactly what hunting
commissions planned.
When left alone, God and nature manage populations of
every species via natural methods such as survival of the fittest.
Instead, hunters usually target and kill the fittest, strongest animals,
leaving the weak. Deer birth rates are also directly related to their
environment and food supply. A herd that is stressed by overpopulation
and a short food supply has a very low fecundity rate (successful
pregnancy and births). When overall deer herds are reduced and there's
plenty of food to go around, the successful pregnancy and birth rates
increase and twin and triplet births often occur. Nature figured this
out millions of years before hunters in orange coats showed up.
Hunters also use the excuse to kill that weak deer
"might" starve, and that's a cruel way to die, so instead, hunters
injure thousands of deer and leave them to suffer in agony; and kill
others, dismember their bodies and eat their flesh in order to "save"
the deer from cruelties. Hunters don't shoot scrawny starving deer
anyway, they target big healthy ones.
Hunting actually can cause deer starvation. Deer build
fat reserves during the spring, summer and fall that is meant to carry
them through the winter. When the hunting season starts, deer are forced
to flee and run from place to place which causes them to lose these fat
reserves. If game commissions and hunters were really hunting because
they were concerned about starving deer, then hunting seasons would be
in the late winter and early spring when the food supply is at the
lowest. Deer don't starve in the hunting months of November or December.
Animals are living creatures that breathe like we do,
their hearts beat like ours, they suffer and feel pain, their blood
appears identical to ours, and they have the same desire to live that we
do. Rather than taking pride in a murdered animal strapped across a car
or a decapitated head of a peaceful creature hung on a wall, show your
appreciation for nature and animals and shoot only with your camera and
preserve the beauty of all living beings. Choose a compassionate
lifestyle and leave the animals alone!
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