“A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise.” Aldo Leopold A Sand County Almanac
Politics aside, the Nixon Administration actually had a pretty good environmental record. National Hunting and Fishing Day is celebrated on the fourth Saturday of every September and is designed to promote others to get involved in hunting and fishing.
My hunting (and fishing) background is one of the reasons I am passionate about the environment and conservation. If I can bring a bit of nature to your backyard where you can also forage for fruits, nuts and berries in an environmentally sound way that's a win-win. If you have a bit more land, we can design it for abundant and diverse wildlife, that includes wild game.
After years of declining numbers a new emphasis on clean food and ethical sources of meat, hunting is on the rise with younger generations.
“It feels more responsible and ecologically sound to eat an animal that was raised wild and natural in my local habitat than to eat a cow that was fattened up on grain or even hay, which is inevitably harvested with fuel-hungry machines,” writes Christie Aschwanden, a self-described “tree-hugging former vegetarian.”
Read more: "Hipsters Who Hunt" on Slate.com
Now the question is how will this renewed vigor for locally produced food affect hunting in America?
Experienced sportsmen may be rolling their eyes at all of this, imagining a bunch of yuppies tramping through the woods and scaring off all the deer. And they’re probably right—these new hunters will inevitably foul opportunities at game, as would any nascent sportsman. But despite however self-important or naive these hipsters may seem, their presence should be embraced nonetheless, for the sake of the sport and wildlife, both of which they seem bent to encourage. These eager, engaged sportsmen may provide the jolt of enthusiasm needed to combat the misguided and poorly informed anti-hunting rhetoric that too often proliferates through the creative class. Now we’ll just have to wait and see how deep their convictions run if shooting game doesn’t stay in vogue.
Read more: "The Rise of Hipster Hunters" on Sporting Classics Daily
If you want to discuss and learn more from a Permaculture perspective head over to the Hunting and Fishing forum at Permies.com
from the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation
So enjoy the day afield (or consider doing so later this Fall if the 90° temps don't inspire you), be part of the time honored tradition and celebrate the conservation successes brought to you by America’s hunters and anglers.
