You don’t have to be a tree-hugging member of PETA to respect nature. Gun-toting Republicans like me also enjoy being part of the cycle of nature. I love being out in the field; the stillness of a peaceful setting and the time spent with an uncluttered mind – free from the distractions and stresses of everyday living. While I do get a rush out of dropping my prey out of the sky or bagging multiple birds with one shot on the water, that thrill goes away when the bird I have shot does not immediately die. I have to admit, though, I hadn’t always been so concerned with an animals’ suffering.
As a child, I grew up raising chickens as a source of food, not pets with names. My siblings and I were involved with every aspect of getting the animals to our table. To make it bearable we made a game out of it. We would chop or pull their heads off and throw them up in the air to see how many times they would flip or how far they would bounce. Pretty sick, huh? Even though I found the process of butchering to be a bit barbaric, I just accepted it as being necessary. These birds provided nourishment for our big family.
Now that I am much older, hunting is a different situation. I still hunt for the food, but now it is my choice to hunt. I could just buy meat from the local grocer. There’s nothing controversial about it. And, that would eliminate the question of my treatment of what I see as a suffering animal.
As a Biologist/teacher, I think I understand the physiology of birds quite well. From this standpoint, I have tried to convince myself that the animals are not suffering. But, in the long run, that doesn’t really matter as, ultimately, I believe each animal is a creation of God and therefore deserves respect. With that in mind, I have researched and experimented with many different ways to humanely treat these creatures.
I have personally observed others, in the field. I watched videos on YouTube, and I read articles where I could find them. The little bit of information I could uncover all dealt with how to quickly end the life of the wounded animal. I thought, as so many others do, that was the goal. The advice you can find on the internet, by the way, runs the gamut from 1) “Duck Commander style” – biting their head, to 2) setting them across your lap, gently stroking them and then cutting their jugular. Both ways claim to be the most humane for ending or preventing suffering. This just didn’t agree with me.
In spite of my education and what I thought I knew, there were still times in the field that I didn’t feel like I had found my answer, so I figured I better look for my answer somewhere far, far away from my thinking. Naturally then, I posed the question to a tree-hugging, left-wing Liberal who thinks her chickens are pets. I was sure she would say that, of course, I have to end its suffering immediately. Boy was I surprised.
We briefly discussed my concern and then I was asked a series of questions I had not considered. Is it humane to take away the process of giving up one’s life? Is it more humane to harass an already frightened animal and cause its last moments to be filled with greater stress? What does it look like when the animal is allowed to experience its last breath on her own terms? How does it feel to have to force the life out of the animal?
I was then asked what I do with fish. Do I leave them on a stringer until they die undisturbed? Or, do I end their life immediately after catching them? The answer is that I always leave them to die on their time. I recognize now that, at some point in my 40-something years of fishing, I decided I didn’t like the idea of immediately ending the life of the fish I caught.
The questions brought back a very clear picture in my mind from my past. I watched a man, who was hit by the footpeg, in his temple, by a motorcycle at a race, experience his death uninterrupted. I stood ten feet away from him. It was clear he was about to die. I found it odd and comforting that he appeared to be very peaceful; accepting. He looked around, drew his last breath, folded his hands as if to sleep, and then slowly lowered his body to the ground.
The tragedy felt strangely peaceful because of the undisturbed time this man had to accept and experience the end of his life.
My mind was then filled with thoughts of other experiences where I witnessed life ending abruptly. Terror, fear, and anxiety was always the outcome when the process was disrupted by another. She left me with this final thought: All too often we experience the most terrifying stress when we are born and when we die.The question has been answered for me. When possible, I will respect the creature by allowing it to let go of its life without adding unnecessary fear and stress. I will continue to give thanks for its life and the food it provides. I know that not everyone believes that the hunter is truly respecting the animal by allowing it to die on its own. Many people will argue that you should quickly end their suffering. That is a personal question for each hunter to consider.hunter to consider.