If you have recently been thinking about getting into hunting but are unsure if it’s right for you due to the things you’ve heard about it, then you’ve come to the right place. Many people believe things about this outdoor pastime that are outright wrong, which can be quite damaging to its reputation. We’re taking the time to go over some of the most common misconceptions about hunting to set the record straight for anyone interested in picking it up.
Hunters Can Shoot Whatever They Want
For some reason, a decent amount of people believe that hunters have some sort of bloodlust that causes them to want to kill anything that moves. We’re not quite sure why that is, but it couldn’t be further from the truth. Hunters have nothing but respect for the animals they kill, and they only go hunting with the intent of shooting whatever is in season at the time.
The sport of hunting is well-regulated. If someone does kill something they shouldn’t have, they could get heavily fined and have their hunting license revoked for a period of time. The vast majority of hunters do their best not to break the rules.
Hunters Are Generally Wasteful
Hunters do everything they can to make sure their kills don’t go to waste. Even if there are parts of the animal for which they have no use, they’ll still dress it properly to sell or donate to someone who does need it. Hunters never kill for the fun of it and just leave the animals corpses to rot. Poachers tend to do that kind of thing, but poaching is highly illegal.
Hunting Disrupts the Order of Nature
Many people tend to believe that hunting damages the ecosystem. This is one of the most common misconceptions about hunting, far from the truth. As we mentioned, hunting is very well-regulated, so if those in charge have noticed a sharp decline in the population of a certain animal, they’ll make changes to offset the difference.
An excellent example of this is turkey season. Most people believe you can only hunt turkey in the fall, but it’s actually a springtime game. Regulators made this change a long time ago because they realized hunting in the fall had a negative effect on the turkeys’ spring breeding season. Some turkey hunting is still allowed in the fall for people who like to hunt for their own Thanksgiving meals, but some states don’t allow turkey hunting at all. If you do want to hunt turkeys in the fall, though, be sure to have all the proper equipment well in advance, since fall hunting seasons tend be shorter than in the spring.
Only Men Go Hunting
To say hunting is only for men would be a massive misrepresentation of the sport. The number of women hunters has been rising in recent years, and men are incredibly supportive of it, encouraging more women to join if they’re at all interested.
