Spreading the Gospel

Spreading the Gospel

Author: Buckmasters Magazine
Published: January 23, 2023

“Tips for talking to nonhunters about our sport.

If you’re reading this magazine, odds are you love deer hunting. You know it’s fun. You know it puts meat on your family’s table. You know your hunting-license dollars pay for the management of all kinds of wildlife. And you know that you are the primary instrument for deer management wherever you’re hunting. That is, you are the tool wildlife managers count on to keep deer numbers in check.

Do you think non-hunters know all those things about deer hunting? They don’t. To some, watching Bambi is the extent of their education regarding deer and deer hunting.

There are an estimated 13.7 million hunters in the U.S., according to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service statistics. But the nation’s total population stands at around 319 million. That means you’re surrounded by people who don’t hunt. Count on at least some of them to think hunting is barbaric and cruel.

Despite the fact that fewer people hunt today than at any other time in history, hunting is not universally despised by the non-hunting masses, however.

Prior to recent setbacks in public opinion spurred by social media posts and the shooting of a collared lion in Africa, surveys suggest Americans support hunting by a three-to-one margin.

Should you talk to non-hunters about hunting, or is it something that should just be kept in the family, so to speak?

If you do talk to a non-hunter, how should you do it? Are there things you should or shouldn’t say? Or should you just talk to them like you were talking to one of your hunting buddies?

Kip Adams is the director of education and outreach for Quality Deer Management Association. As QDMA attempts to spread the word about the value of deer, deer management and deer hunting, he often finds himself talking to people who don’t hunt, have no interest in hunting, know very little about hunting, and who, if pressed to take sides, would probably say they are against hunting.

Adams makes no apologies to anyone about being a hunter, and he’s obviously a staunch advocate for it. But depending on who he’s talking to, he moderates the way he talks about it.”

The full article can be found here.

Photo Credit: Original Author


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