We do not agree in whole with this Oped do You? We do Agree that Man destroys everything he calls his own however. We also agree that the Wolf Control Board is nothing more than a legal massacre of one of Our Brothers. Hunting is a thing of the Past, it is no longer needed to survive in the Lower 48. Email Jon and Let him know 😉 Jon Alexander is opinion editor at the Times-News. He can be reached. jalexander@magicvalley.com.
There’s that moment before squeezing the trigger — excitement and a primal drive to finish the job. You’ve walked for miles, scouted for months and watched the breeze to assure you won’t be winded — all in the pursuit of this moment. You pull the trigger and the animal hops once as if stung by a hornet and topples head first.
I’ve always had a powerful emotional response to taking an animal’s life. The moments after sending a bullet plunging into the deer’s heart or lungs are some of the most confused feelings I’ve ever experienced. It’s always the same.Regret is invariably there to blunt the exhilaration of a successful hunt, especially as I walk up on the animal that, only minutes before, was a living being. It’s a deep-seated doubt of my actions, an emotion that seems to swell not in my mind, but in my stomach. I rationalize it away. The meat will save me a lot of cash in the months ahead. Deer aren’t penned or farmed. This herbivore lived its life and, as dictated by nature, is fair game to meat-eaters like me.
The emotional roller coaster is part of the hunt. It’s an awareness of one’s self and a keen connection to mankind’s half-a-million or so years as a full-on predator. I hunt for the connection to my genetic past. I hunt to force to the surface ancient instincts that are dulled by the modern world. I hunt to feel like a part of this inconsequential floating rock we call Earth.Maybe I’m again just rationalizing my taking of life when comparing to others. But, to me, there’s something different in the desire to kill wolves among many in Idaho. I kill with the knowledge that my single take won’t have a meaningful impact on the species’ overall population.
Regional extinction is the end game for those who slaughter wolves. They kill out of hatred. They kill out of a blood lust. With fewer and fewer children learning time-honored — and useful — outdoor skills, I can’t help but worry that the perception of blood-thirsty gunmen with a passion for eradication is working against the interests of outdoorsmen. Hate is the worst way to sell the sport.
NO Species modifies the planet as much as humanity. Even nature’s non-human engineer, the beaver, can’t hold a candle to how we alter ecosystems and consume resources. Man has a long history of eliminating anything that gets in the way of his pursuit of resources. Just ask our European cousin, the Neanderthal. Maybe Idaho’s wolf liquidation is just as human as my romantic notion of what I do when I take to rifle and round. But I don’t think so. I hunt out of respect. They hunt out of rage. It’s a small but important distinction that speaks to motive and manifests in the differing hunting cultures.
I pay for a sportsman’s license. I enjoy the wilderness more than any other place on the planet. It’s my church, in a way. But my fees are now subsidizing Idaho’s gently-named Wolf Control Board. Instead of reasonable, respectable management, I’m helping fund a massacre. And it turns my guts more than any instance when I pulled the trigger.
Jon Alexander is opinion editor at the Times-News. He can be reached at jalexander@magicvalley.com.