The Joy of Hunting Essay

From gophers to the mighty Cape buffalo, people across the world love hunting animals. It has been a favorite past time for countless years and a survival need as old as the dinosaurs themselves. One local millionaire however, took the sport severely too far.

As this debate is an emotional one for many individuals, discourse surrounding it can become fraught will fallacious appeals to emotion, which undermine the basic principles of argument themselves. One topic of this debate that comes up frequently is that of the attitude and motivations of hunters themselves. While anti hunters make them out to be bloodthirsty killers, that do it purely for the enjoyment of the act, others maintain that it stimulates an appreciation for nature and respect for the world around us. These biases that both groups fall victim to stir emotion in readers, and are present throughout the debate. While mild usage of pathos is acceptable, such demonising is not.

With the hopes that it wouldn't snow, I traveled to Silverton Colorado with my dad in October. My dad and I had six elk tags for the very first rifle season. We pulled our camp trailer down to a nice wooded area about five miles before you get into town. The camp sight was about a quarter mile off of the highway. There were trees all around the camping spot; the only break in the trees was where the road came through.

According to an article entitled “Point: Hunting is the Ultimate Primal Sport” by Sally Driscoll,

What is a hero’s cycle? The hero’s cycle is a quest pattern that all heroes (someone who embarks on a quest) follow. The hero’s cycle is found in almost all myths, legends and novels. A great example of the hero’s cycle could be seen in the novel, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. The main character, Harry Potter, goes through three important stages of the cycle, the departure, initiation, and the return stage. Theses stages have subdivisions which not only contributes to the growth of the hero, but also lays out what a hero goes through in order to achieve his/her quest.

In the fall of 2012, I had just completed a six hour hunters education course and my father finally deemed me ready to hunt. Hunting is a tradition that has been in my family for generations. My grandpa taught my father how to hunt, and finally it was time for my father to teach me. “Once a Gerace gets his first kill, he earns the responsibilities of being a man,” That is what my Grandfather told my father many years ago, and now my father told me. Later that week, we found out that we were drawn for javelina hunting, although the hunt was not until February. For the next four months I spent every weekend at the shooting range, the determination I had for getting my first javelina was unmatched. I never wanted anything more in my life.

The third Saturday of November was one filled with conflicting emotions: excitement, fear, optimism, and nervousness. The screeching sound of the alarm at 4:00 a.m. initiated a sense of panic and thrill throughout me; it was the opening day of the gun deer hunting season. Within minutes, I was dressed from head to toe in bright, blaze orange that could be recognized from miles away. I reluctantly, yet willingly, climbed into the truck to head to the hunting land in Adams County, Wisconsin. My stomach felt like it was tied into knots. My mind was again flooded with conflicting emotions. I began to wonder: will I get a deer? Will I not get a deer? Will I get a buck?

Every year our family gets together and spends the whole week of deer hunting in the woods together. We set up a big army tent and most of us guys stay in there. What really makes this such a good experience is not just when one of us shoots a deer, but everything that comes with it. The stories of missing a big buck, or the practical jokes we pull on each other, or finding your friend sitting down leaning on a tree asleep. There’s nothing like it, and these are just some of the aspects that make it so

In today's world, the president of the United States holds the most important position with significant political power in other parts of the world. The president's job description expands further than the United States; he or she holds significant influence in the world. Furthermore, the position allows the president to shape foreign policy, which can affect global decisions such as immigration. For many decades, immigrants from around the world have come to help build America. For example, statistics show how working immigrants have increased the GDP as a result of their employment in the states. Nevertheless, immigrants have not always been welcomed to the country for several reasons such controversy has caused divide among Americans. Those who support banning immigrants cite social and economic drawbacks to the nation. While those who are in favor of immigration applaud their contribution to the nation's economy. Although immigration has some disadvantages, the United States benefits significantly from immigration and it needs control to foster these benefits.

When a Minnesota dentist killed a prized African lion named "Cecil" he received an onslaught of criticism and reignited the debate concerning hunting. I hunt. I have hunted for years and I don't see anything wrong with it.  The reasons I hunt are for the meat, I think it tastes better than store-bought meat and it doesn't have any additives in it, and for the time I get to spend out in the mountains. However, there are some people who are against hunting.

Edgar Allan Poe is an early American author, viewed as one of the greats. Poe’s work as a poet and short story writer are well known and still timeless tales even today, more than one hundred and fifty years later. Poe captivates his audience with his poems and short stories by telling tales of all kinds. Poe is said to have created detective fiction with his short story The Murders in the Rue Morgue (Fisher IV). Poe’s life was surrounded by mystery and death a lot of what is known about Poe is said to be false or romanticized by Poe himself (Fisher IV).

Many people have misconceptions about hunting. One such misconception is that hunting is easy and any person can go sit in the woods and wait for an animal to cross the hunter’s path. However, people who believe this are sorely mistaken. Hunting is not just sitting in the woods with a rifle; there are many other aspects that must be considered. An individual must have all preparations complete, purchase or gather the equipment needed, and know what to listen for while in the woods.

Humans have been hunting on this planet for over two million years. Our ancestors used complex hunting techniques to ambush and kill antelopes, gazelles, and other large animals dated back to times before Christ. People all around the world still carry on the tradition, but the view on hunting is not the same as it was back then. The world is so industrialized, and people think hunting is cruel and useless because you can buy meat at grocery stores. But in reality, it is the reason the wildlife they see are not extinct. Harvesting game not only benefits the hunter with the meat, but also the land, the wildlife, and controls the game population; therefore, without it wildlife would starve, and land would not be managed.

INTRO: I never thought I would feel so awful after pulling that trigger and watching that innocent animal give it’s life to me. I was only ten years old and my life was certainly impacted forever. Nowadays, many people think that pulling the trigger of a gun is not hard at all. In reality, it might be pretty easy. It is the aftermath on the other hand that will leave an internal scar, changing a person forever. On my first deer hunt, a young buck stepped out of the dense willow clusters with it’s head down, giving me a shot. Soon I would be faced with the tough decision of taking the life of an innocent animal. Meanwhile, on my first turkey hunt, there too I would soon be changed forever.

Would you ever want to kill someone because they are valuable and famous? No right? Well that's what is happening to animals and some people are just having to pay $500, don’t you think there should be more? According to Star Tribune the only punishment for killing deer when it is not deer season is only $500. That's not enough for killing animals and making the become endangered. Therefore, there should be a bigger consequence for poaching for because it leads to endangerment of animals and animals should not be used to make things that we want.