The Good Hunter

Is there such a thing as a good hunter? Hunting is a pretty complicated issue, and of course when faced with a complicated issue most of us revert to stereotypes to make sense of it.

Hunters = redneck republican bambi killers.

Nonhunters =  arugula-eating democrat sissies.

OK, a little over-simplified, but the point is that the two sides are so polarized that we're left with caricatures. Part of the reason for this may be that, as a nation, we are totally schizo about violence and killing. On the one hand our culture glorifies violence (I mean seriously have you seen that HBO show Dexter?), but on the other we can't stand the idea of killing animals in order to eat them. In fact, we can't even stand to see our meat resembling the animal from which they came - Thanksgiving probably being the exception here. And so we end up totally confused.

I've seen an argula-eating, meat-loving democrat give her husband endless grief about hunting small birds while feasting on a giant feedlot steak. I've also seen hunters cause animals to suffer unnecessarily, take more than they can use, and kill things they had no interest in eating while blasting the regulations to protect wildlife.

We desperately need a voice of reason that can speak to both groups. I think we have that person in David Petersen. His most recent book, "Heartblood: Hunting, Spirituality, and Wildness in America" is definitely at the top of my winter reading list.

See an exerpt of his recent interview here: On The Ethics Of Killing Animals For Food.

Full disclosure: Although I plan to someday, I've never hunted wild game. I have, however, killed my own chickens, caught fish and crab in the ocean from a kayak, dug for clams and foraged for shellfish on the coast.