COMMENTARY BY DAVE SAMUEL
Trophy hunting always gets a bad rap and is really not understood by non-hunters, and, frankly, not understood by some hunters.
Lots of the media material on hunters gives one the impression that we all just hunt for trophies and for no other reason. Not true, and if I had to say why I hunt, it’s really not about wildlife management (although hunting does that), and I don’t just hunt for the meat (though I put two deer in the freezer every year). I hunt because I love to do it, and, in some situations, I do hunt for big animals.
I’ve hunted since I was 12 years old and love the woods: The early morning quiet, seeing wildlife, learning about wildlife and the challenge of bowhunting. I definitely don’t do it for notoriety, and the mounted animals in my den are not there to display my ability. Those mounts are my memories of adventures and great times in the outdoors.
One more thing before I go on: I think we do hunting a great disservice to label hunting as “sport hunting,” “meat hunting” or “trophy hunting.” Reducing hunting to one dimension just doesn’t describe what hunting is all about.
Hunting for quality animals is a part of my bowhunts for deer. I’ll take the first legal deer I can to make sure there will be meat in the freezer over the winter. Then, I will become selective and attempt to harvest a larger deer. In so doing, I will pass up many shots, observe lots of deer behavior, and spend many hours in the woods.
If you don’t hunt, your mental image of what trophy hunting is probably differs from my real-life experience hunting quality animals. Maybe you see an image of the rich, illegal hunter who wants to kill the biggest animal at all costs. That might be what trophy hunting is to a few, but it is not what trophy hunting is to most, and it never has been. Yes, trophy hunting goes back many years.
Several books and many scientific papers show we evolved as trophy hunters. The highest social status went to primitive hunters who were the most fit and who killed the most and biggest animals. If a male hunter advertised their hunting prowess, it was noted by females. Most early peoples advertised their hunting success by displaying trophies. Akoa pygmies wore elephant hair bracelets. Bushmen used antelope hair to make bracelets for their wives. Early native Alaskan tribes had to kill a series of animals, culminating with the polar bear, prior to a completion of marriage eligibility. Males became chiefs of the Sciriono peoples of the Amazon based on their hunting abilities.
Several studies showed that good hunters became chiefs. Indeed, there was a selective advantage to being a good hunter. Even in pastoral societies that raised livestock, predators had to be killed giving the hunter the highest social status among males. It’s suggested that the best hunters (who killed the biggest animals, thus, “trophy hunters”) bred more, ate more protein (as did their families) and hence survived better.
In some cultures, art originated from hunting trophies. Some dancing evolved from hunting trophies, as they imitated “animals to enhance hunting success.” We still utilize trophies as important symbols of society. Automobiles (cougars, jaguars, etc.). “Red Lion Inn,” and many others.
Is male ego a part of trophy hunting? Sure. But as mentioned above, it’s not the only thing. I keep my trophies for many reasons: To possess the beauty of the animal, to remember the hunt, to let others know I’m a skilled hunter, a good hunter and maybe even something more subtle whereby I subconsciously want to maintain my tie to my evolutionary past.
Anti-hunters suggest trophy hunting kills off the best animals and thus damages the herd. Various studies show little support for that charge.
For the common species that we hunt. there is no biological proof that shooting big animals affects the reproduction of the species. One exception is wild sheep and that is why legal sheep have to be over 7 years old, beyond breeding status, to be harvested. Same for lions in Africa. In most countries, lions must be 6 years old or older before harvest.
Trophy hunting is not a science, but a philosophy. With science you have an external reward to prove your accomplishment. With a philosophy the reward is something internal, and it’s hard to measure. The philosophy of trophy hunting doesn’t involve ego as much as it involves honor, self-respect, achieving something and responding to challenge.
A trophy has different meanings to different people. The hunter decides what is a trophy and the key to trophy hunting isn’t the killing, it is the hunt and the way it was done. It must be totally ethical, totally legal and totally in keeping with good biology and good wildlife management. It’s all about how we hunted.
Yes, a few hunters cheat in this system. They are the takers. The trophy hunters are the givers. They fight for hunting, and for the animals.
Dr. Samuel is a retired wildlife professor from West Virginia University. His outdoor columns have appeared, and continue to appear, in Bowhunter magazine and the Whitetail Journal. If you have questions or comments on wildlife and conservation issues, email him at drdave4@comcast.net.
