When people think of hunting, naturally they think of the killing of animals. However, some people also think of eating meat and how we used to hunt animals to survive. We used to survive off of hunting animals, not only for the meat but also for the animal skins. Some hunters still rely on the meat to feed their families, but hunting today has some new benefits. Hunting is good because it helps regulate animal populations, improves the economy and helps the national parks.

Hunting has and will always be a controversial topic because the killing of animals doesn’t sit well with some individuals. Environmentalists and animal lovers argue that it is morally wrong to kill animals and that the animals don’t need population control (Does Hunting). They view hunting as cruel because the deer killed are losing their families (Does Hunting). These people often picture families being broken, and they are envisioning the taking of innocent life. However, there are some facts that these individuals aren’t considering. Deer aren’t like people. When deer are born, the fawns are hidden (for protection), and the doe leaves and only returns to let the fawn have milk (Leave the). This is a role the buck takes no part in, and most hunters hunt only for bucks. Additionally, deer aren’t as emotionally attached to each other as humans are to each other. Truthfully, I also don’t like to think about killing animals, but the economic, and environmental effects outweigh my dislike of hunting.  

Regulating wildlife populations helps to keep the animals out of agricultural crops, increasing the growers’ profit. Joel Steinman, a farmer, said, “the crop damage by deer will amount to about $20,000 loss this year” (Mulhollem). The money he is losing to deer damage could go to buying new equipment, paying taxes, and purchasing anything else he needs, but instead, the money is just wasted. He and many other farmers need a way to reduce the deer population so that the deer stop eating their crops. This is one reason why hunting is so important. Hunting will help reduce the deer population so that farmers do not have to worry about losing money and their crops to animals.  

Hunting improves the economy and creates jobs. Hunting has created 700,000 jobs nationwide (The Economic). Along with creating jobs, hunters spend about 24.1 million dollars every year. If this was on the Fortune 500 list it would be thirty-fifth coming in right behind JC Penny’s (The Economic). Hunting helps people obtain jobs and support their families, and the money the hunters spend helps businesses maintain a steady income. This past year, President Barack Obama wrote a letter announcing that September 24th is national hunting and fishing day. In the letter he said, “Hunting and fishing helps strengthen local economies and provide sustenance…” (Obama). Some of the money that hunters spend also goes to help the national parks. Hunters pay for the majority of wildlife conservation and research through the Pittman-Robertson Act (Hunting and Wildlife). This act creates an excise tax on guns, ammunition, bows, arrows, and other hunting related equipment (Hunting and Wildlife). The money is then used to support wildlife conservation and research opportunities. Economically hunting keeps wildlife research open, creates jobs, and increases income in rural areas.

Hunting helps create jobs in our country, helps support businesses, and helps to fund research that will lead to the discovery of things that will be helpful to wildlife. It can help fund research to figure out ways to preserve wildlife habitats and get rid of invasive species. Without hunting, animal populations such as deer, could ruin a huge amount of a farmer’s crops. Businesses and national parks wouldn’t have the income from hunters.  Next time you think about hunting, think about the positive effects it has in our country.




“Does Hunting Help or Hurt the Environment?” Scientific American. N.p., 30 Oct. 2009. Web. 06 Nov. 2016.

“Hunting and Wildlife Conservation Go Hand in Hand.” DNR. N.p., 27 Dec. 2012. Web. 06 Nov. 2016.

“Leave the Fawns Alone!” Wildlife in Crisis Inc. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Nov. 2016.

Mulhollem, Jeff. “Farmers Report More Crop Damage by Deer – Outdoornews.” Outdoornews. N.p., 19 Oct. 2016. Web. 06 Nov. 2016.

Obama, Barack. “Presidential Proclamation — National Hunting and Fishing Day, 2016.” The White House. The White House, 23 Sept. 2016. Web. 06 Nov. 2016.  

“The Economic Importance of Hunting.” California Department of Fish and Wildlife. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Nov. 2016.

CC BY-SA 4.0 Our Country Needs Hunting by Lena is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

1 Comment
  1. Tevy 11 months ago

    I really liked reading your essay. I liked how you gave so many new perspectives on hunting. I especially liked when you mentioned that deer can hard the farms crops too. This is because it is a totally different view point from what people are used to hearing about. I also really enjoyed reading your intro and find it very effective. Good Job!

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