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Don't tell them that in Alaska.


You must have missed my comment about "rare exceptions." These exceptions include Inuits and other native peoples, who hunt to keep their way of life alive as well as themselves. But that is a tiny minority of hunters, at least in the United States.

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Besides there, there are many places in America and elsewhere, where subsistence hunting is necessary, as there are not enough jobs nearby.


Where is the source for this claim? Sorry, but it sounds more anecdotal than factual as far as the USA is concerned. Native peoples aside, if I lived in an area where I literally had to hunt to survive, I'd move--particularly if I had "a family to feed."

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Besides, like you alluded to, if it is better to hunt than to work, what are the factors keeping people from doing just that?


I never said it was "better". I am saying that for many folks it is simply more enjoyable. And the main limiting factors would have to be game laws and bag limits.

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Coyotes, skunks, raccons, foxes, bobcats, and even mountian lions are just some of the examples of predator species that are just as competent if not more so at surviving near and in human habitat. Basic rule of thumb: Where there is prey there are predators. I know you meant wolves, but there is a reason why I mentioned those others.


I never said they couldn't survive near human habitat. I said they are not as likely to survive contact with humans as prey species are. Mountain lions and coyotes get shot by sheepherders while mule deer do not. Elk don't typically attack hikers but bears with cubs sometimes do, with disastrous results for the bear. Racoons and skunks are by and large considered pests and are therefore trapped, poisoned, and shot. You don't see that happening with ruffed grouse.

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Humans don't have any real way of determining whether these younger animals are the best choices for removing from the herd.


Actually we do. If they are slow enough and unwise enough to be shot by a human then they are removed from the gene pool. The smarter, stronger ones get away. I personally see it just about every year. grin

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I don't know why humans are so indignant in trying to prove themselves by hunting animals they would little chance of catching if they had no modern equipment.


I'm not sure what you mean by "indignant", but last fall I hunted mule deer and spike elk with a bow, and later I hunted cow elk with a rifle. I was in the mountains a total of 2 weeks and I never got a shot. (My time was drastically cut short by a serious bout of pneumonia. I make no apologies though; sometimes you are successful and sometimes you are not.)

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When was the last time you killed a deer with a knife? It sounds ridiculous, but that would rely on instinct, and only the unaware would be taken, to the benefit of the herd.


"Ridiculous" is a good word for it. By limiting hunting to knives you are essentially assuring that no culling takes place, which results in overpopulation of prey species followed closely by widespread starvation. I saw mule deer starving in the deep snow by the thousands in 1983. It's not something I care to see again.


Edited by norad45 (12/14/07 02:50 PM)