Question:
WHAT'S WRONG WITH DEER HUNTING?
Answer:
The purpose of this document is to provide animal protection activists with a set of rational counter-arguments against the most common reasons given by hunters to justify killing deer for sport. It deals primarily with deer hunting in North America, and the
United States in particular. Distribute it freely, but please don't
change the contents without my permission.
No, it doesn't, for two reasons. First, buck hunting, which is the mainstay of this "sport", is virtually useless in effectively managing deer populations. Why? Because deer are not monogamous, and a single surviving male in a population of deer can impregnate all of the surviving females. Doe hunting can offer some measure of control, but despite their claims to the contrary, most sport hunters have merely a slight interest in hunting does. The only really effective lethal controlling measure against deer, however, is killing does. Our current system of game management allows does to be killed mainly to leave enough forage to produce another year's worth of "Trophy Bucks". There must always be a yearly "surplus" of deer to satisfy the hunters who are essentially the paying customers of wildlife managers. This arrangement places the interests of the hunters above the goal of having a
biologically ideal, diverse deer population.
