The Meat of the Matter

Ive seen lots a hunters up here in the North, and its got me "thinkin":
What do I think about hunting as a means of obtaining food for modern people?

Well, to start with, lets address that concept of "NEED" to have meat!
Not only do nutrition scientists say we "developed world peoples" eat way more meat than we need; But its a plain and obvious fact that there are a large number (albeit a small minority) of people who live active, healthy, (and convenient too) lives as vegetarians and dont eat any meat at all... So, the idea of "needing" the meat clearly is inaccurate :)
So, with that point made, its clear that eating meat is a choice rather than a necessity, but I think the real issue here is weather its better to eat domesticated and farmed animals or to hunt and eat wild animals?

Hmmm, Well, I myself like a good steak, so perhaps I should think about this some more...
Do I think its bad to eat meat? ...
No I dont! (and isnt that just oh so "convenient"! )

I think that is what we humans have evolved to do and I think its OK to keep doing it. I also think its fine for those who choose not to eat meat...Obviously the human body can deal with it  very well (in most cases) and if thats what some people want to do, then great :)

Do I think eating domesticated animals is better than eating wild animals? ...
Thats a bit more complicated...

I think its pretty clear that domesticated animals are far easier to manage and can be raised at much higher densities than wild animals... Likewise "harvesting" the meat is far easier with domesticated animals than the effort of hunting etc. Another point is that domesticated animals have been bred with the desired attributes for the market rather than being bred purely for survival as with wild animals.

BUT, I think its also clear that in a great many cases, the life of a domesticated food animal is far from desirable and we humans are far from kind or gentle to them. Also, its extremely clear that our farming practices so far have been incredibly bad for the environment, and the more densely the animals are raised then the worse the results for the environment as well as for the quality and safety of the resulting "meat products".

Plenty of arguments on both sides here, and you may see things differently, but for my money, the life of a wild animal is better than that of its domestic meat producing relative - Even if that means eventually dying from disease or being hunted and killed by wolves etc... We all gotta go somehow :))

So, from the perspective of the animal its self, I think the "living wild and then being hunted" option is currently the preferable one (certainly for the animals raised for meat production).
But its also very obvious that it is completely impractical for the worlds people (well the ones who choose to eat meat) since there are simply far too many people and far too little habitat for wild animals to live in sufficient numbers for that to be a real option.
And I think I am OK too if the meat is used for feeding pets... This comes to mind for me because up here in the North, lots of people have lots of dogs for sledding and they eat lots of meat... Unlike humans, dogs do not thrive as vegetarians!

So, what to do?
Well, there are more and more people and less and less wild spaces (and that trend is only going to get stronger!).
Basically I think that hunting will eventually need to stop more or less altogether.
For the time being, the privileged places with lots of wild country and game, and few people can carry on allowing hunting as long as they can manage it... Managing the populations of the game species as best they may (though usually not well enough). These places are places like Canada, and Australia, and regions like Alaska etc.
But eventually, the population pressure and habitat destruction will put an end to hunting in more and more places.
And in the mean time we humans will need to reduce our overall meat consumption and for the more and more meat that we produce on the planet, we need to do it with less and less environmental impact and we need to be more humane with animals raised for meat.

Easily said, but what will I be doing about it?
I will continue to eat meat in small quantities ( I certainly dont need it every day).
I will try to promote better commercial animal husbandry by being selective about what meat products I purchase (eg, organic, free range etc).
And I will always think of meat in my diet as a luxury (and possibly in the future this view will retrospectively become "an immoral luxury") not a right or necessity
.... Im sure plenty of people would not approve of this outlook, but thats how I see it for the present :)

So, I guess Im OK with hunting if its for the meat, is done "humanely", the animal species is not endangered, and the meat is for consumption.

But its a choice not a necessity, and therefore a luxury!

... As an end note, I actually feel that I will eventually become more or less a non-meat eater (more accurate than "vegetarian" since Ill continue to eat eggs and dairy products) and one of the main influencing factors is learning/knowing more of the details of how our industrialized "meat" farming systems treat the animals (the conditions in which most farmed chickens live their short and very unpleasant lives is terrible!) as well as learning what sorst of drugs and hormones and genetic manipulations are being used in the process and that Im ingesting as a result!!

... I think most people (myself included) remain very much unaware of these things... and very "conveniently" at that!!  I think if we all knew more, then there'd probably be a lot less "meat eating" !