The Subculture of Hunting

Commonly portrayed negatively within society, some modern hunters are fighting against the norm and using their skills to feed the hungry and to conserve wildlife habitat.

By Kiersten Boehm

Easily found within every cultural tradition and the major source of protein until modern times, hunting has literally shaped the direction of human evolution. Only through the consumption of more protein was the development of the extremely complex and large human brain even feasible. These inventive hunting practices of ancient peoples gave rise to better access to food sources and some of them can still be found in use today. Groups of nomadic peoples in Africa, for example, the Bushmen of southern Africa, hunt through a combination of expert tracking, intense long distance running, and the use of tools like the bow and arrow. Many cultural complexes were also developed and thrived based around hunting practices. Modern day Eskimos’ ancestors for example, replaced their predecessors only because of their better adaptations to marine hunting through toggle harpoons and better seafaring crafts.

A modern Eskimo uses a harpoon spear to hunt marine mammals in the Arctic.

Upon the domestication of plants and animals roughly 10,000 years ago, farmed animals have also been a source of protein, though until recently this did not play a significant role in the human diet. Before meat became so readily available in modern grocery stores, many families still received their large bulk of protein from hunting. Today, modern technology has greatly increased the ease of hunting on those who can afford the equipment, but it is still a culture of tradition and inventive technique. The reputation of hunters in the United States is quite varied and depends a lot on region, but one thing is certain, the general public and mass media has a negative point of view. With organizations like People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) promoting that the killing of animals is unethical, to any movie that portrays hunting, hunters as a whole have gotten a bad rep. Not surprisingly, most of these portrayals and claims are greatly sensationalized and blow out of proportion. In fact, hunters make up a subculture onto themselves, one that like every single other group of people out there, has many, many views.

Hunters for the Hungry

In almost every state there is currently a program that involves multiple levels of cooperation from hunters, butchers, and government officials to donate millions of pounds of venison each season to local food shelters. Most of these programs have so many hunters who want to donate that they simply have to turn people away due to a lack of funding. Virginia Hunters Who Care, Inc. has a statewide program that reported taking in 405,340 pounds of venison last season, which specifically went to food banks and shelters across Virginia. Minnesota also has five of these similar programs. The Minnesota DNR’s website actively supports these efforts stating, “This program provides an excellent source of protein to people in need while helping reduce local deer populations.”

Many of these programs also make the process extremely easy for hunters and if they donate a whole carcass there is commonly no cost to them. The steps are quite simple for the hunters if they follow proper and timely field dressing and keep the hide intact, then all that is required is to bring the animal to a participating meat processing plant or butcher. From there, the meat processing plant with butcher the animal and they will also be reimbursed $70 for their effort. Dan Masello, 27, is an avid hunter and shot his second deer in northern Minnesota this past fall, though he didn’t donate the meat to the program due to his own need for access to affordable and high quality meat, he feels that this is a great program for hunters who want to help the poor. “If I knew the meat was going to be consumed, I would have no problem donating the meat because I know it wouldn’t be wasted,” Masello said.  “Its nice to think that people who are living on the street and get very low quality food, would be getting top quality, organic, very healthy meat in exchange for me doing a recreation that I enjoy so much.” In addition to providing people with high quality meat, this program also allows trophy hunters, those who kill animals for the reward, an opportunity to let their meat be consumed by humans. Though nothing is wasted in the wild, by donating a deer to the program, someone who doesn’t have the same skills and resources will have access to protein. Masello also feels that this is a great program for non-hunters to taste wild game, something that many people will never have access to in their lives, and as a way to develop better eating habits. Later in this article, Masello will demonstrate his own recipe and the proper cooking techniques for venison through a still photography slideshow.

Hunters for Conservation

Beyond meat, hunters are also actively involved in helping to conserve the land they hunt game on. “Hunting is a part of the wild and by protecting the environment, you are protecting wildlife and the game we peruse,” Masello said. “Being and hunter and a conservationist, it goes hand in hand for me.” This wasn’t always the mind set of hunters though, at the end of the 19^th century the wildlife populations in the United States were dwindling due to over hunting and habitat loss. From here conservationist, like Teddy Roosevelt, realized something had to be done to protect the wildlife and environments of America. “The true hunter, the true lover of wilderness, loves all parts of the wilderness, just as the true lover of nature loves all seasons… there is no portion of the wilderness, where game is found, in which it is not a keen pleasure to hunt,” Teddy Roosevelt famously said about his love of the outdoors and the sport of hunting. It was from here that the North American Wildlife Conservation Model was born, a program based about two main principles, “…our fish and wildlife belong to all North American citizens, and are to be managed in such a way that their populations will be sustained forever,” according to their website.

Today, there are still hunters who practice illegal and unethical hunting through poaching. “A lot of the origins of conservation started with hunters, unfortunately there are hunters who don’t have that mentality and they are the ones who are portrayed in the media, you know the trigger happy red neck types,” said Masello. Luckily, there are enough conservation hunters who abide by the laws and want to give back to the environment that they take from with every season. This can be seen in the large number of organization like Duck Unlimited and Pheasants Forever, to name a couple major groups. Conservation laws with healthy safety are also the main reason why wild game cannot be sold or why parts of wild animal cannot be sold legally. The Seven Sisters of conservation first classifies wild life and wild places as a public trust that is not any individual’s to own or control therefore it also makes sense that because it belongs to everyone, the product of the wild cannot be sold. “Hunting for me, is a kind of way for me to interact with environment and to take more responsibility for what I consume. Everything from finding it, to killing it, to eating it all of the processes,” Masello said.

Hunting is a tradition, a sport, and can be a very productive practice to managing wildlife and for sustaining a healthy lifestyle. Hunters are not made up of one person, one thought, or one mindset. Instead there are many varieties of hunters, just like there are in any organization and yes everything that is good comes with a price and the price here is all of the reasons why people don’t give hunters a chance. With just a little research it is clear to see that hunting can greatly benefit not only society, but also environmental conservation in America.

Venison with Salsa by Dan Masello

Ingredients

2 pounds venison back strip, cut into pieces

2 tbls olive oil

Pepper and salt to taste

1 tbls bacon fat

¼ Cantaloupe, diced

1 Mango, diced

1 Avocado, diced

½ Onion, diced

6 large Strawberries, diced

1 Green Pepper, diced

1 tbls dried Basil

½ lemon juiced

Directions

After dicing all of the fruit and vegetables for the salsa, mix with basil and lemon juice in medium bowl and place in the refrigerator. Next coat the venison in olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Get a iron skillet very hot before placing the venison on it. Once it is smoking, place the venison onto the skillet so that it sears, flip and place bacon fat into the skillet. Serve with rice and place salsa on top of venison.