How We Talk About Hunting Matters

I was basking in the glory of a fall day filled with blue sky, golden aspens, and the light-heartedness of a successful hunt when I came around a bend to see a hiker approaching on the trail. I could tell from the gray-haired woman’s ear-to-ear smile that she too found unrestrained pleasure in the colors brought by the changing of the seasons.

“Good morning!” I greeted her.

“Yes, it is!” she answered, smile fading slightly as she scanned me from head to toe. “Why are you wearing the camouflage?”

“I’m hunting,” I responded, an answer that elicited a noticeable jolt of surprise, mixed with a little fear, from the leaf-peeper.

“Should I be concerned about my safety?”

It was a legitimate question, and while no excursion into the backcountry is free from risk of injury or accident, before me was an opportunity to allay the fears of a fellow public-lands user not accustomed to sharing the trail with hunters — and, a little selfishly, conduct some positive PR on behalf of our kind. I suggested she had little to fear. It was September, after all, and the only open big-game seasons in this part of the state required primitive hunting equipment that necessitated getting so close to one’s target to make a safe and ethical shot that it would be virtually impossible to mistake a human for big-game quarry.

“I see,” she said, the tension melting from her body. “Did you see anything this morning?”

“I had the good fortune of killing an elk,” I beamed, to which she jolted again with surprise, paused contemplatively, and then peeked around my figure as if expecting to see me dragging the animal across the rocky slope.

“Well, where is it?”

“I cut it into quarters, and I’m carrying them out in my pack,” I said, pointing to one of the game bag-covered leg bones protruding skyward from behind my head. Another jolt from the women.

It was my second trip carrying quarters from the kill site, and I explained that it would take another two to recover all of the meat. The woman’s uncertainty shifted a little toward curiosity. She asked what I planned to do with the animal (eat it!), what I planned to do with the antlers (it was a cow elk; they do not typically grow antlers), how long the season would last (two more days), and whether I encountered any other hunters (a group of four from Indiana, a couple miles up the trail). By the end of our conservation, it was clear that my acquaintance did not oppose hunting, she simply knew little about it and possessed a few preconceived notions about what it means to share the woods with consumptive users of our wildlife resources.

I bid her adieu, and we went our separate ways. In the time since, I’ve thought frequently about this encounter, hoping that it left a positive impression — especially amid growing attempts to change wildlife management which do not bode well for the future of hunting, or our wildlife.

“There is a growing trend across the country to undermine over a century of successful wildlife management built on a foundation of sound, peer-reviewed science,” wrote Patrick Berry, President & CEO of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, upon taking the helm of the organization earlier this year. “Along with nefarious tactics of special interests to subvert — and even manipulate — the spirit and intent of the public trust doctrine that wildlife is managed for all, we are facing an unprecedented threat to our public wildlife resources. These efforts chip away at the very underpinnings and successful conservation outcome of the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation.”

Given as much, how we talk about hunting matters. As hunters. As business owners. As recreationists. And as wildlife enthusiasts. Whether we hunt or not. The regulated and ethical harvest of wildlife for legitimate purposes is a basic tenet of the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation. What is the North American Model? Put simply, it’s the world's most successful system of policies and laws to restore and safeguard fish and wildlife and their habitats through sound science and active management. Under the North American Model, wildlife is held in the public trust to benefit present and future generations.

And, yet, in Colorado and elsewhere, we’re seeing state ballot initiatives seeking to remove decisions about wildlife management from trained wildlife experts. For example, activists have gathered enough signatures to place a question on the 2024 Colorado state-wide ballot asking voters to prohibit the legal, limited, hunter harvest of mountain lions, bobcats, and lynx in the state (see sidebar). Lynx are already protected by both state and federal law, with hunting and trapping prohibited. Colorado’s mountain lion and bobcat populations are thriving, and the state has strong regulations in place to ensure healthy populations of our wild cats.

I don’t hunt mountain lions or bobcats. But I fully support science-based wildlife management decisions to help avoid unintended consequences for people, other species and the entire ecosystem. And I recognize that conservation revenue derived from hunting and fishing licenses has resulted not only in healthy and sustainable populations of mountain lions, bobcats, elk, deer, bears, pronghorn and countless other critters, but in the recovery of species such as peregrine falcons, lynx, greater prairie chickens and bald eagles.

Plus, conservation revenue from license sales provides the vast majority of Colorado Parks and Wildlife's funding for wildlife management, education, law enforcement, and other programs that benefit all wildlife species. Hunters support wildlife management across Colorado in a number of other ways as well: habitat enhancement and land conservation, engagement in critical land-use issues, mentoring, providing data for wildlife management, assisting law enforcement by reporting poachers, etc. For those reasons, we all stand to lose, should the proposed hunting ban pass.  

As hunters, it’s easy to talk about our own motivations for hunting. Who doesn’t love to recount tales of monster bucks and bulls that get our blood pumping? But what image of hunting does that form in the eyes of the non-hunting public? When given the chance to talking about hunting to non-hunters, we are being given a prime opportunity to highlight the broad public and ecological benefits. Think of it this way, national surveys place the number of hunters at about 5 percent of the total population in the United States. We contribute tens of billions of dollars annually to our economy while raising billions for wildlife conservation through license sales and excise taxes, but we pale in comparison to the number of non-hunters! 

Interestingly enough, surveys show most people support legal hunting. So, if we’re going to continue to collectively benefit from hunting as visitors to and residents of wildlife-rich places like the Gunnison Basin, our effectiveness in sharing this information in a respectful manner to our non-hunting friends and acquaintances who might see things our way if given the chance is critical. Like the woman I encountered on the trail, many folks may have never considered the countless ways hunters have helped conserve our public lands and protect the rich wildlife resources we all enjoy.

Proffered as part of a friendly conversation, it’s sure to make them jolt.

(Will Shoemaker is a professional communicator in wildlife and public lands conservation and former editor of the Gunnison Country Times. He serves as secretary of the Gunnison Wildlife Association Board of Directors.)

Colorado’s Proposed Mountain Lion and Bobcat Hunting Ban 

A question on the 2024 Colorado state-wide ballot will ask voters to prohibit the legal, limited, hunter harvest of mountain lions, bobcats, and lynx in the state. Despite the measure’s language, lynx are already protected by both state and federal law, with hunting and trapping prohibited.

This appeal to voters follows several failed attempts by proponents to ban the harvest of mountain lions and bobcats through the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission and the Colorado state legislature. Colorado Wildlife Conservation Project, a diverse alliance of wildlife organizations with a common interest in conserving wildlife and their habitats and preserving our hunting and angling tradition, has issued a position statement on the ballot measure, available at the QR code.