Why do I hunt? This is a question that I could answer in a sentence or write on for pages. Ever since my Dad took me hunting for the first time I have been hooked on it. Some people will call me crazy for getting up at five in the morning to hunt, but they just don’t understand what they are missing out on. Whether it’s watching that big buck come into range or calling a turkey in, that’s an adrenaline rush I could not describe to anyone else. If it were not for hunting and being introduced into the outdoors, I would not have majored in Wildlife Biology at Clemson now. Hunting has led me to have a love for everything in the outdoors. To sum up why I hunt in three reasons would be to grow my understanding and love for the outdoors, for conservation, and to help introduce new people into hunting.
Every time I step into the woods, I either gain a memory for life or learn something about the animal or area I am hunting that will stick with me to better the next hunt. I’m always excited getting up in the stand or blind just to watch the sun rise or set and observe all the wildlife around me. It is amazing to see how active the outdoors really is, even if the animal I am pursuing is not moving. Since I have started studying wildlife, my love for all the species has grown since I have more knowledge about the other animals.
Hunting is one of the biggest contributing factors to helping conserve the habitats for wildlife in the world today. Part of the money from sales of firearms and ammunition contributes to helping conserve and protect wildlife thanks to the Pittman-Robertson Act. Most non-hunters don’t understand how much hunters help manage and conserve the game and non-game species in the world. I believe that without hunting most game and non-game species would be over-populated and causing disease throughout their habitats due to their being to many of them. For example, deer are known for causing agricultural damage to crops and countless automobile accidents, if it was not for deer hunters this would be an even worse problem throughout the country. Conservation and hunting are the keys to ensuring plentiful amounts of wildlife for future generations to enjoy in our country.
Another reason I hunt is to try and get more people introduced into hunting. I have read where the number of people hunting is declining. I hate seeing this knowing how much getting into the woods and hunting means to me, so I am always trying to get my friends who do not hunt and know how much it means to me to start hunting. Without hunting I do not know what I would be doing with my life today. These are three of countless reason I could use to explain why I hunt and why hunting is so important in my life.
