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Be vewy, vewy quiet...the wabbits are hunting you

By "Milbarge" and "Fitz-Hume"

A couple of weeks ago there was a very thought-provoking article in Sports Illustrated about the decline of hunting in America. The premise of the piece is that the fall-off in hunting has led to a explosion in various wild animal populations. This isn't always good. For example, the booming numbers of deer, especially in the northeast, have led to a rise in car accidents and Lyme disease. The article details some even more harrowing encounters between humans and wolves.

The SI piece reminded me of a very good Washington Post Magazine story about coyotes in the D.C. suburbs. The catalyst there seems to be sprawl, and I think the combination of sprawl and the demise of hunting explains this trend better than either piece does by looking at just one aspect.

But in any event, both articles are good and raise a lot of intriguing issues.

The hunting thing reminds me of when I was a kid. I grew up in a pretty rural area (although it was a veritable Metropolis compared to where Sebastian grew up). I never hunted -- I did some fishing, which suited my personality better -- but I knew a lot of people who did and I ate the occasional venison. The first day of hunting season wasn't a holiday in my schools, but licensed hunters did get an excused absence that day. So many boys were gone that day that they might as well have not had class at all. Maybe if Sarah Palin ever becomes president, the opening of hunting season will become a federal holiday.

Coincidentally, this week I saw this article in the Minneapolis paper about hunters who save money by butchering their own deer (link via Deadspin). There's even some video! Sensitive viewers can console themselves by imagining that the deer is just sleeping...upside down...and inside out.

Anyway, watch the video for more on the way hunting used to be:

Full post as published by Begging the Question on December 03, 2008 (boomark / email).