ARCHIVES—Killing the Female: The Psychology of the Hunt

By Merritt Clifton | September 1990

Deer hunters similar to Lynn and Gerry make up 85 percent of the U.S. hunting population, according to the National Shooting Sports Foundation.  The next most popular targets are rabbits (71 percent) and squirrels (60 percent),  followed by quail (48 percent),  pheasants (45 percent),  turkeys (26 percent),  and geese (24 percent).

Morning Tribune editor Bill Hall offered recently, “They hunt for the bragging rights on what they kill.”

Los Angeles Times last fall.

HUNTING MANHOOD

Mother Earth News “Beginner’s Guide to Deer Hunting,”  and then suggested why:  “Consider that the term venison, for the meat of the deer,  is derived from the name of Venus, the Roman goddess of loveŠvenery means both ‘the art of hunting’ and ‘the pursuit of sexual pleasure.'”

Universite de Montreal with a semiautomatic rifle and a buck knife.

TRAUMATIZING CHILDREN

DEMOGRAPHICS

A hard corps of hunters still hopes to perpetuate the status quo, or even to turn back the clock to frontier days.  Indeed, one stated purpose of the recent Nucla,  Colorado prairie dog shooting contest was to encourage more hunters to move in,  and to scare off anti-hunters.  Political organizer David Keene has assembled the American Hunting Rights Action Committee in hopes of placing a pro-hunting plank into the national conservative platform.  But the number of active hunters continues to drop at both ends of the age range.  A 1977 study by James Applegate showed that in New Jersey,  at least,  there are already over twice as many ex-hunters as actives.

MERRITT CLIFTON is editor in chief of ANIMAL PEOPLE, the only independent international publication devoted to the coverage and analysis of animal issues. Among its services, AP publishes The Watchdog Report, assessing the performance and integrity of animal defense organizations. The report can be purchased here.