The trouble with opinions is that everybody has one but not everyone is educated or intelligent enough to really need to share said opinions.

I recently had a gem of a conversation with a lady who was commenting on a social media post about some guy who killed an elephant.  She started with the usual rhetoric about the guy was a monster and humans were so cruel etc.  This was only one of such conversations I have jumped in the middle of in the past few months.  It seems the moron tree hugging snow flake animal rights wackadoos are oozing out of every orifice on social media these days.  They vomit forth their opinions on saving the fauna of the world without one ounce of practical or applied knowledge.

I want to put forth a little bit of knowledge so that all of you might have something to say when faced with these folks who can’t save the whales so they want to save the squirrels types. About 99.999% of your average animal rights champions have never actually done anything other than championed their cause behind a keyboard.  They have not donated time nor money that would ever make a true difference to anything animal related.  Oh they may donate the annual $20.00 to the ASPCA or PETA but they don’t actually do jack. These clueless keyboard juggernauts scan the realm of social media picturing themselves as the Jedi Knights of animal protections just foaming at the mouth to attack someone with a deer or bobcat tossed in the back of the F150.

 Every hunter is an active conservationist.  The fees each one of us pays for licenses and permits goes directly to pay for the restocking and restoration of animal species no matter what state you are from.  If you started hunting as a child then by the time you are 40 years of age you have given an average of about $2000 in license fees to your states wildlife department.  Then tack on permit fees for type 2 lands and hunting lease permits etc. and the sum goes up and up.  You can then add in the tons of grains and protein feeds we willingly and lovingly feed the game on and around our properties and that adds thousands of dollars.  This is feed that benefits everything from song birds who eat the cracked grains to birds of prey who eat the mice and rodents who sneak in to grab some corn.  We feed dozens of deer that we never hunt.  We often kill only one or two deer but feed the entire herd.  We insure the does have sufficient nutrients to raise healthy fawns which insures a healthy population growth of not only the deer but the predators who rely on healthy herd numbers in order to feed their litters of pups and kittens.

Then we rock right on into predator control.  The efforts of ranchers and agriculture agencies has resulted in the eradication or strong reduction in the diseases that not only plagued livestock and domestic pets but once helped keep predators such as bobcats and coyotes in check.  Recent years have seen the numbers of predators increase dramatically and without the efforts of trappers and varmint hunters we here in Texas would be watching Youtube videos like we see coming out of California where fluffy poodles are being dragged over picket fences by coyotes and kittens carried off in the mouths of cougars all while the tree hugging hippie home owners point fingers and call animal control expecting a guy with a stick to be capable of somehow rescuing Mittens who by then is a clump of hair in a turd somewhere..

Without hunters,trappers,fishermen\women and outdoorspersons spending billions of dollars yearly on hunting and fishing licenses and gear there would be no conservation.  Whitetail deer numbers have multiplied x100 and the Elk was brought back from the brink of oblivion to in some places numbers greater than ever.   Bison once again roam freely in some areas and wolves once a memory are now running in packs again.  All this was made possible by monies raised from hunters and hunting not one penny that has saved these animals came from any  animal rights group, not one.

Even in places such as Africa the only money which can be allocated for conservation is that which is raised through the regulated and legal hunting of animals.  It is difficult for a country to hand out money for animal welfare when 200,000 children starve to death yearly.  Countries which allow well regulated hunting have herds which show growth and stability.  Countries in which legal hunting is not permitted herd numbers are in a downward spiral.  By placing a monetary value on wildlife and directly allowing the local population to benefit from the legal hunting it shuts down the bush meat trade and poaching and engages and encourages the local tribes to police poachers themselves.  The money raised by a local tribe for one hunt can be more than triple the average yearly income of the entire region.  This means medicine and healthcare otherwise not attainable due to poverty. 

It is a proven fact that the only way to save wildlife is to allow well regulated and policed hunting.  so don’t stand in your wooden and plastic filled home wearing your leather shoes and carrying your designer handbag screaming death to hunters when your life practices cause as much natural destruction as anything but with zero positive return…

Story by Jeff Stewart

TF&G Staff

Recent Posts

2024 Tony Houseman Conservation Legacy Award Winner Announced

Higher Calling Wildlife® is proud to announce the winner of the Tony Houseman Conservation Legacy…

24 hours ago

An Honest Look At Outdoors Border Dangers

There are dangers in the outdoors along the Texas/Mexico border. And the mainstream media is…

1 day ago

First Fish On A Fly (A Fly Fishing Journey)

Late August in the Northern Wyoming mountains never reached more than seventy degrees. A cool…

1 day ago

Choosing the Best Jigging Gear for your Needs

When it comes to rod, reels, and line, we all have our own personal favorites.…

1 day ago

Here Are The Details On the Proposed Speckled Trout Trophy Tag

The Texas Parks & Wildlife Commission is set to make a decision on a trophy…

1 week ago

TX Wardens Bust Snapper Poachers

Texas Game Wardens, the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)…

1 week ago