Is Hunting a Sport?

Diana Artemis contacted Patch after reading about the in December. Diana and Rhich Peppin are frequent visitors to Ellicott City, and wanted to express their opinions about this program, and deer hunting in general. Although the Veteran program has come and gone, it seemed like an appropriate pice to run in light of today's sharpshooter hunt near the Autumn View subdivision.

Rich Peppin and Diana Artemis 

As veterans, we are appalled to see Howard County promoting the killing of animals in the name of helping wounded veterans. These vets were wounded both physically and psychologically because of violent acts and now you asking them to relive this violence as therapeutic outdoor physical activity. You are taking advantage of them to give cover to a brutal activity that most people oppose. There are so many other less harmful, less violent, and more compassionate, ways wounded veterans, and all of us, can help the community.

Killing and wounding helpless creatures does little to promote well-being, physical rehabilitation and healthy participation in civic life. I am sorry that Howard County Government people feel that killing is a solution to anything (maybe the deer were pushed away by rampant development and construction in the County?) and sorry that veterans must kill creatures to heal their wounds.

When you pit humans with rifles, submachine guns and full hunting gear against a defenseless animal, odds are that the human is going to score the kill.  A ‘sure bet,’ yet this is considered ‘sport.’ There is no adversary, no competition; the side with greatest contrived force wins.

In Howard County, the government sponsors a spectacle hunt where wounded veterans get to take their frustration out by killing or maiming defenseless animals. The so-called Wounded Warriors fight a battle where the opponents cannot fight back and are just trying to survive.  Such ‘managed hunts’ are a euphemism that caters to the basest instincts of human animals – unprovoked violence.  The defenseless victim, in this case an animal of a non-human species, often is injured and left to die a horrible death. How very sad for all. How much more constructive would it be to stop perpetuating violence and instead do something to help our wounded veterans integrate with their communities in a positive way.

Is Killing the Only Answer?

The National Park Service discussed ways to use a regimen of birth control on the surviving deer after a futile four-year hunting spree in Pennsylvania. The NPS admits that it’s uncertain about the viability of a pharmaceutical solution since it involves capture, sedation, etc.

Contraception would require that the deer be captured, sedated, injected, and tagged for booster shots.  Difficult and inconvenient for humans?  Perhaps, yet several animal welfare groups have offered to team with local governments to implement non-lethal solutions.

Lack of Natural Predators

Nature itself balances deer herds according to available food, terrain, and weather, as well as the presence and health of carnivorous animals, such as coyotes. But coyotes do check deer populations. They take ailing, old, and young deer, thereby promote the health of herds.  (Progressive jurisdictions promote human coexistence with coyotes. In Los Angeles and Orange Counties in California, residents have learned to live with coyotes, even in densely populated suburbs. And, interestingly, there is no “deer problem” in the region.)

Conclusion

We can preserve biodiversity and peaceful co-existence between humans and other species with the help of the community. Accidents could be largely averted through safer driving, even if that means slowing the haste of a typical driver. Surrounding landowners could be more careful about what they plant to avoid attracting more deer, perhaps with the assistance of local officials and nature groups. It’s time to move beyond shooting, hunting, and chemically controlling the animals in our midst to preserve what is best in our own and other species.