The History and Socio-Economic Benefits of the Hunting Culture in the US

The Hunting Culture in the United States
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The Hunting Culture in the United States
Introduction
Hunting is widely regarded as one of the oldest economic activities practiced by man. Long before the arrival of European colonists in America, Native American Americans practiced hunting for nourishment, clothing, tools, and commodities for trade. In one of his books, famed historian, Philip Dray, traces the advent of the hunting culture from the frontiersmen through the warriors of the American Revolution up to the establishment of the more recent National Rifle Association and the conservation movement. Among the most notable hunters in American history in Dray’s account, are Davy Crocket and Teddy Roosevelt who were among the frontiersmen, people who selflessly fought for America. Although the frontiersmen practiced farming, they were still heavily reliant on hunting for meat and clothing. Today, hunting is mainly practiced as a sport.
Hunting has played a crucial role in the building of what we call America today and still plays a key role in American social production, including the protection of wildlife and the environment. However, despite its obvious importance to the welfare of our country, hunting has been widely demonized, being portrayed by the media as merciless and barbaric. Although the practice is dwindling in modern America, it is still a major controversial point, intersecting with issues of gun control, animal rights, and environmentalism. The hunting culture has great inferences for modern America. Hunting is described by many as terrible and cruel, but hunting has many benefits in American social production, including the protection of wildlife and the environment.
Wildlife Management and Conservation
Urban sprawl is causing major ecological imbalances for various animal species especially the deer in some cities of the United States of America, e.g., Austin and Texas. As humans settled into the lesser populated lands of these cities suburbs, they scared away most natural predators, leopards, tigers, etc., causing an influx in the population of deer’s, effectively leading to overgrazing (McCorquodale, 1997). Overgrazing leads to the extinction of some animal species either through diminished food sources or destroyed shelters. Therefore, as a means of wildlife management, hunting helps in balancing animal species in the ecosystem ensuring that the number of animal species is within what the land can comfortably support, thus curtailing crop damage, disease outbreaks and other environmental effects (Krenezevic, 2009).
The History of the Hunting Culture in America
Hunting was in existence in America long before European colonists arrived. In the early cultures, the primary role of American women was housekeeping and farming, while men took on hunting expeditions. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the civilized interior had concerns over the hunters because they lived in the woods, far from civilization, and only showed up sporadically to sell pelts and meat. People from the mainland’s felt that they would soon become outdated as civilization advanced (McCorquodale, 1997). However, all this changed in the Revolution War, the frontiersmen, the hunters, stood up for their country in at an hour of need. Among most indigenous American hunters, David Boone, a skillful hunter, is widely regarded as the founding father for his exploits during the war. Boone was the leader of a militia at the time of the war before later finding the path to Kentucky. Other notable hunters in that period were Davy Crockett, who came a few decades after Boone, Buffalo Bill Cody and of course Teddy Roosevelt decades later (McCorquodale, 1997).
During the early years of the republic, hunting in America was mainly subsistence-related before a new crop of hunters emerged, Roosevelt among them. It is this new crop that first noticed that wildlife was getting depleted and became concerned. From birds, buffalos, deer, etc. the numbers were rapidly dwindling. They realized that it was not possible to continue hunting in an unlimited way (McCorquodale, 1997). Therefore, they proposed game regulations and hunting seasons to preserve the wildlife. It was also these gentleman hunters who came up with the conception of “fair chase” whereby they proposed that the animal must have an opportunity to evade the hunter, thereby banning all types of trapping as it was not ethical (McCorquodale, 1997). This was a very crucial turning point in the hunting culture as it laid the foundations on which modern hunting regulations and policies are based.
The American hunting culture has been widely considered superior to the British culture with regards to democracy. When certain hunting grounds were designated as off-limits to hunters, they turned into poachers. People were very indignant, and socioeconomic factors were often given as excuses. For example, in Yellowstone National Park, hunting regulations had to be imposed by the US Army after the local police had given up, the interest in poaching was so high (Herman, 2005).
The large-scale immigration into the US at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century also brought its tensions in hunter communities (McCorquodale, 1997). Elite indigenous American hunters displayed extremely negative reactions to immigrant hunters. Accordi...