I know many hunters that find themselves in the pretty odd position
of justifying their decision to bring food home for their families. It
is odd because what we're doing is fundamentally at the heart of our
existence: we're providing for our families - just in a slightly
different fashion than heading down to the local Coles.
One
of the reasons I hunt, and there are quite a number, is that for me it
is a way of assuming total responsibility for the process of sourcing
meat for my family's table. From the outset I am in control of the
process: I chose the beast from which the meat will ultimately come
from, how it is killed and how it is treated and prepared, ready for
consumption. At no point do I outsource a part of this process; I own it wholly.
In
utilising a wild beast, there is the added benefit of the beast having
the least possible chance of suffering at the hand of man. It has lived a
life - ignoring the fact it is exotic - as nature intended and you
can't get much more free-range than that!
I firmly
believe that we, not as hunters but as humans, should have the freedom
of choice when it comes to sourcing our food. We should have the right
to be guided by our own morals and our values and if those morals and
values deliver us to hunting as being our preferred means of sourcing
food, we should have the freedom to pursue that path.
I
can only imagine the hysteria (and justifiably so) if individuals were
robbed of the right to choose whether or not to grow their own
vegetables or harvest their own water. It would be grossly unfair, some
may even say a denial of a basic human right, if that were to occur. Why
is hunting any different?
I don't think for a moment
that we're about "converting" anyone to subscribe to a life philosophy
of providing for one's family on any scale. Far be it for me, or anyone,
to dictate to another how they should live their lives, but I and the
hundreds of thousands of hunters across Australia would certainly
appreciate that same courtesy be returned.
So if you're horrified by hunting, that's ok, just don't try to stop me.
