People hunt all the time. Two brothers were hunting in a cornfield in Michigan looking for a buck one of them had shot when they had gotten separated. One brother heard rustling in the field and open fired on what he thought was a deer. Turns out, it was his brother he had shot. He had quickly called 911 and got his brother to a hospital via helicopter. He was in critical condition and thankfully he lived. Hunting-related accidents happen all the time, but only 1% of them are fatal. People commonly think this happens more often than it really does. Peta2TV produced a video that explains why hunting is harmful to the environment and society. They make false claims and common misconceptions about hunting that are not backed up by evidence. On the contrary, hunting has more benefits than people realize. 

1. Organization: peta2TV

The YouTube video is published by peta2TV. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, PETA, is a vegan nonprofit animal rights organization to stop animal cruelty. The YouTube account is not the real PETA. It is a fake account pretending to be the real PETA. The peta2TV account should not be trusted as it only has 103 thousand subscribers and PETA´s YouTube channel has 536 thousand subscribers. So even if peta2TV was the real PETA, Media Bias Fact Check rates PETA far left and low credibility. They state how “most videos and photos displayed on the website come from anonymous sources indicating poor sourcing.” Even Newsgaurd gives PETA’s website a whopping 57/100. This is not something you want to see when looking at animal rights activists. I am not saying animal lovers are animal experts, but most animal lovers do not like or support PETA. 

2. “Hunting hurts dogs” (0:36)

The video shows a picture of a dog while it claims that “hunting hurts dogs.” They are trying to use our emotions to influences us not to “hurt” dogs while hunting. ESPN comments how the noise a shotgun makes can “permanently [damage] the dog’s hearing.” However, nobody said hunters need to use dogs to hunt. It is not required by law to have a hunting dog. Amy Shojai from the Spruce Pets acknowledges that dogs have different abilities to hunt, so not all dogs are successful hunters. Therefore most dogs will not be used by hunters. If dogs are used, they are born with predatory-like hunting skills needed for survival, so they know the basics of hunting. Olga Uhle of Gander Outdoors notices how hunters are also allowed to use crossbows to hunt. They are much quieter than guns and will not produce a loud noise when fired risking a hearing loss in dogs. More often than not, hunting dogs are well trained and well-behaved. They know what to do and when to do it because they are trained to listen to their owners. They are like service dogs in a way. 

Fig. 1. Peta2TV uses a picture of a dog in the video to play on our emotions to get us to not hunt (Peta2TV). 

3. “Hunters disrupts nature’s balance because they prefer killing the strongest animals” (0:26)

Hunters usually prefer to kill the biggest animals and that upsets nature’s balance. This causes less breeding to happen. Sciencing claims hunting predators creates an imbalanced ratio to its prey. Humans have an impact on natural balance. According to the Patriot, they do not understand why hunters go for the strongest animals instead of the weaker ones to manage the population. The bigger the animal means the bigger prize you take home. What many people don’t know is that hunters purposely hunt the “older and more mature animals.” This is because the animals are past their prime breeding time. Oftentimes hunters will gut their animals for the meat. They will leave the rest of the organs such as the intestines and other parts they do not eat in the woods. This helps decomposers such as fungi start the food cycle all over again. This allows younger animals to grow/develop and carry certain traits to their offspring. Hunting has never caused a species to be considered “endangered.” There are laws and regulations on how many and which animals you can hunt and when you can hunt them. Hunting actually does manage wildlife populations. People hunt all sorts of animals which include predators and prey so there is not an abundance of one. It keeps a species from having too big of a population where its environment can’t support them all. 

4. “It’s unnecessary” (0:41)

Hunting is unnecessary and hunters only hunt for “trophy” animals to hang on their walls. The Patriot does not think hunting is morally right. Animals are innocent and killing them should not be fun or satisfying. These animals did nothing to us but yet people still kill them. There are so many reasons hunting is necessary. For starters, it helps keep hunters in shape. They need to be able to hold all of their gear and the meat from animals if they get any. All of the guys on my dad’s side of the family are not in the best shape, but they all hunt with keeps them active and in a somewhat healthy shape. Greg Wagner of Nebraskaland states hunting lets people experience the outdoors like never before. Like I stated previously, hunting allows people to go out of state and see animals they would not normally see from where ever they live. When you hunt, if you catch an animal, it provides meat for families claims Louise Gaille from Vittana. Animal meat has a lot of protein and nutrients in it that are very good for you. It can be eaten in many different forms such as burgers, brats, and steak. My family still has meat in our freezer from some of my dad’s hunting trips in 2019. The creatures hunters hunt do not go to waste, it is used to feed people. 

5. There are “delicious foods that are cheaply available everywhere” (0:48)

The video claims there are other foods that are delicious and cheap everywhere. It does not say if the alternatives are vegetarian or vegan. The Beet shares that on average, people save $23 a week when eating vegetarian. Most meat-eaters think it is more expensive to become vegetarian compared to eating meat. This is, in fact, not true. When comparing the prices of vegetarian burger patties and pure beef patties, the pure beef patties are cheaper. At Walmart, the vegetarian patties are $4.84 for a 2 pack. A 32 pack of pure beef patties costs $19.83, which is roughly $3.23 for 2 patties. Walmart stores are all over the US, including 26 other countries, proving it is cheaper to buy real meat that is in fact “cheaply available everywhere.” Yes, meat is sold in stores, but it is much more fun and exciting to be able to say that you caught your own food. You can also bond with your family and friends while hunting. Sarah Kesseli agrees that being a vegetarian or vegan eater means fewer options at restaurants or in general. It is hard to find meals everywhere that are still delicious. New York Times states that there are health concerns in plant-based meat substitutes which are supposed to taste and look like the real deal. Yes, some vegetarian and vegan substitutes look the same, but there is no telling what products are really in them and if they are safe for you. 

Fig. 2. Screenshots from Walmart’s website comparing the price of plant-based patties and pure beef patties (Walmart). 

Conclusion

While we are in the middle of turkey hunting season, people need to know why others hunt before bashing the idea of killing animals. Even though many people have negative thoughts about hunting, they do not realize the positives. If the only focus is on what negative impacts there are, it does not allow room to look at the positive aspects. Hunting does not hurt dogs, nor does it disrupt nature’s balance. It is necessary and eating meat is better and cheaper than eating vegetarian or vegan. Along the same lines, eating the animals you hunt is cheaper than buying meat at stores.

Hunting: noun. Benefits both the human and the environment rather than destroying life.

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Featured image is taken from the video, text was added over it.