Normally, I approach a subject with lots of facts and figures, throw in some historical perspective and make my case based upon good science tempered with common sense. This subject does not allow for quite that kind of approach.
Instead, I will be ruminating on less tangible concepts like tradition, courage and social responsibility.
The story was entitled “Local Scouts propose hunting merit badge.” I found it through one of my Internet news sources. Jim Harger of The Grand Rapids Press wrote the article.
This is how it started:
Eagle Scout Scott Kingsland wants to bag a new “badge of merit” for hunting.
“It would be kind of cool knowing I would be one of the first to get this badge in the world,” said the Forest Hills Central High School sophomore, who earned Eagle Scout status last month.
The initial thought that ran through my mind was, “Great! It’s about time.” Unfortunately, that thought was interrupted by the next sentence.
Article excerpt:
Better yet, he won’t have to kill anything. Scouts will earn the badge by taking a picture of their prey.
The rest of the article raised red flags for me on a variety of levels. Those flags, and my rationale for waving them, are the topic of this column. In my estimation, this topic revolves around two basic questions.
First, what are the lessons being taught?
Second, what are the lessons being omitted?
LESSONS TAUGHT
The article explained the areas of instruction intended to be included in this newly proposed program.
Article excerpt:
To earn the hunting badge, a Boy Scout will have to learn and write about the history of hunting, take a hunting-safety class and earn a merit badge in archery, rifle or shotgun shooting.
Scouts also will need to earn an outdoor skills badge, such as camping or wilderness survival.
To complete the badge, a Scout will do everything but pull a trigger or release an arrow. Instead of field dressing their kill, they will get the film developed.
The skills to be taught in this program are necessary but I question the reason for creating a “hunting” program of this kind when viewed in the context of what this organization already offers.
As the article explained, the Scouts currently offer merit badges for archery, rifle and shotgun shooting but it doesn’t stop there. In the way of basic outdoor skills they also offer badges for backpacking, camping, canoeing, climbing, emergency preparedness, first aid, hiking, horsemanship, lifesaving, motor boating, personal fitness, rowing, safety, weather and wilderness survival.
The skills necessary to take the picture of an animal are already covered under merit badge programs for cinematography and photography.
The rationale offered as to the need for this specific course of instruction goes like this:
“We’re advocating the study of nature and hunting’s impact on our world.”
In that regard, the Scouts already offer merit badges for bird study, environmental science, fish and wildlife management, fishing, forestry, general science, geology, insect study, mammal study, nature, plant science, reptile and amphibian study and soil and water conservation.
The hunting-safety class is taught by the state. So, in essence, the lesson being taught in this program that is not included elsewhere in their merit badge program is “the history of hunting.”
THE OTHER LESSON TAUGHT
However, there is another lesson that will be taught in a subtle, though certainly unconscious, way.
Article excerpt:
“Your ‘kill’ is your picture,” Sulgrove said.
The new badge should not arouse protests by animal-rights activists or anti-hunting groups, he said.
“They’re not going to have much of a leg to stand on, since there is no harming of animals in this,” Sulgrove said.
The lesson that will be taught these young boys is this:
Courage in support of your convictions is to be abandoned when other people disagree with those beliefs.
Despite the fact that hunting is the most efficient, effective and sound manner of wildlife management; that hunters have a proud and aggressive history in preserving and enhancing our natural resources; and that hunting is morally, socially and scientifically defensible – we will be teaching Scouts that it is best to deny the essence of our actions. Instead we should hide our activities from public scrutiny as if they do not occur.
We will teach you to “be” a hunter… but you can’t kill in the process.
This will provide for a lack of confidence in hunting practices and it will instill within these boys a level of shame when they participate in hunting traditions. Should they ever decide to participate at all?
Unfortunately, the Scouts are not the first to teach this lesson. Rather, this approach to a hunting badge is just one more symptom of a disease that has infected sportsmen in this country for many years.
When sportsmen’s groups hold public demonstrations they advise their membership to wear something other than camouflage. They perceive an “image” problem with the uniform of our chosen craft.
When we talk or write about hunting in a public forum, even within hunting magazines, we shy away from using the word ‘kill’. Instead, we have changed our vocabulary to include words like ‘harvest’ and ‘take’ because we perceive it to be less offensive.
When we transport our game from field to home, we have made it a matter of practice to hide our trophies from the public eye.
In short, we have adopted a lifestyle that communicates to the public at large – we are embarrassed by our actions. We no longer show pride in who and what we are.
This approach to a hunting merit badge can only reinforce that mentality in our next generation of hunters.
LESSONS OMITTED
There is a common fairy tale that grew massive wings and has swiftly moved its way through the sporting community. It has been spoken of so often as to become an accepted truth – despite the fallacy that spawned it.
Hunting isn’t about killing!
How many of us have said that?
I understand how this sentence first came about. It was, no doubt, uttered in self-defense to someone who attacked a hunter’s motivations. Under the tension of the moment it most certainly was the intent to simply offer some manner of explanation. How do you explain something like killing to an individual who cannot possibly understand?
It is true that hunting has many benefits that are very difficult for non-hunters to comprehend; benefits that go far beyond killing.
However – It is time that we quit lying to everyone else, and especially to ourselves, about this issue.
Hunting IS about killing!
There will certainly be some who will bristle at this statement. Nonetheless, the mountains around my home in Wyoming are filled with people in the fall who were fortunate enough to draw tags. These same mountains, however, are missing those who should otherwise be here ‘for the experience’ even though denied a tag during the selection process.
Yes, we love the camaraderie of the hunt; the interaction with the wild; the smells and the food and the time away from the rest of the world. But were it not for our desire to pull the trigger, to beat wildlife at their game and on their turf, to put a trophy on the wall, very few of us would be in the woods and the fields if there weren’t some potential for a kill.
We don’t call this sport wildlife watching. We don’t call it nature interaction. We don’t call it environmental science.
We call it hunting.
Hunting is about killing and if a person fails to learn about the role of the kill in the hunt – they can never truly learn what it means to be a hunter.
There are many lessons the Scouts will never learn from this proposed merit badge program without the necessity for making a kill.
The Scouts will not learn how to navigate the legal system in order to qualify for, apply for and receive a tag with which to hunt. You don’t need tags to take photos.
They also will not learn the disappointment and reality that comes from being denied a permit when the drawing doesn’t result in their favor.
They will not learn the restrictions and limitations inherent in a real hunt because of season dates, shooting times and the necessity for selecting a ‘target’ that fulfills their permit requirements.
They will not learn the necessity for building relationships with landowners in order to get permission to hunt. I can attest to the fact that many people will allow me to take pictures on their land that would never consider allowing me to shoot an animal in those same places.
They will not learn the correct way to field dress their quarry and so, as with too many other new and inexperienced hunters in the field today, they will ultimately ruin a cape, waste meat or in some other manner fail to make the best use of the game they ultimately kill as real hunters.
They will not learn to care for meat on the ground. They will not taste its wild and delicious flavor. They will not learn the satisfaction of providing for oneself and for ones family as our ancestors did every day in order to simply survive.
They will not learn the harsh reality of having to pack or drag their kill out of the woods or how that work comes as a price for their enjoyment.
They will not learn of the disappointment that results from a missed shot, of the problems linked to making a poor shot, or the sense of accomplishment that comes from doing it right.
Even with the preceding list, we have yet to cover the most important lesson this proposed program will not teach.
THE MOST IMPORTANT LESSON
The greatest lesson of all that will be missed is the lesson about responsibility.
There is a great responsibility that comes with pulling the trigger. Doing so not only ends the hunt, it ends the life of an animal.
We talk today about the prevalence of slob hunters and the lack of respect that some show for our natural resources but an individual cannot learn that respect by taking a photograph, knowing that the animal will walk away.
I am a photographer. I am a hunter. Each activity has, over the course of the years, made me better at the other. But these two activities are separate and distinct.
I have great respect for the Boy Scouts as an organization and as individuals. These young men have chosen to follow along a course of learning and achievement, despite the many other options available to them. They are to be commended.
As their elders, teachers and mentors we have a responsibility to them.
We have a responsibility to offer them something more than a politically correct fantasy. We have a responsibility to offer them more than a “badge of merit” that omits the most important lessons. We have a responsibility to avoid providing them with a false sense of accomplishment.
We owe them more and we owe our sporting traditions more.
If we cannot accept and act upon our responsibilities, how can we ever expect our next generation to even recognize their own?
That’s the view from here.