A college professor once told me that irreverence toward dead creatures (namely, from hunting) is common among humans.
The way he explained it was that those who seemed most obnoxious in their displays of irreverance to slain creatures are those who, in the moment, feel surges of anxiety about their own mortality. He said these reactions are hard-wired in our human psyche and we are often cognizant of them.
My professor also said it often takes but one reminder to trigger the necessary guilt to right one’s internal compass. Looking at what’s being posted these days on social media (namely Instagram) makes me wonder if this human condition is receiving national exposure to the detriment of our beloved lifestyle. To be honest, I really don’t have to wonder. I know the answer is a resounding “yes.”
Aldo Leopold once said that the more you know about something, the more you appreciate it. That’s why I find it beyond troubling to see photos and videos surfacing on social media that depict disrespectful — even vulgar — acts before, during and after a kill. If you haven’t seen any of this, bless your heart. But let me tell you, it’s bad. I’ve seen photos of young men and women pouring beers in the mouths of dead bucks; placing lit cigarettes in a deer’s mouth; even posing mostly nude (and sometimes in sexually implied poses) alongside deer, turkey and waterfowl carcasses.
It’s disgusting, and yet it’s trending.
Our prey deserve our respect, and if we do not know the history behind these historical game animals and how they came to populate these landscapes (through hard work of real conservationists), that flies in the face of everything that is good and right in the name of deer and deer hunting.
This type of unethical behavior far outpaces the unhealthy antler obsession we’ve seen among some hunters over the past 20 years. That has already been addressed by such men as Dr. Dave Samuel, the legendary educator from West Virigina. In his work with our own field editor Bob Zaiglin, Samuel once wrote:
“More and more we see a focus on trophy bucks, and there is no doubt that in some respects this isn’t healthy … The taking of a big buck with glorious antlers means little if not taken in an ethical fashion. If it is done to glorify the hunter and not the deer, it is a degrading activity.”
The final sentence should be humbling and compass-centering.
We can’t mandate character and integrity among our community members, but we can sure make it known that unscrupulous behavior does not for a moment represent the hunting community. We also cannot sit by idly while less-informed individuals make a mockery of what should be a private, humbling moment.