Hunting will never be a topic that doesn’t sow some kind of discord. It does make sense, after all — animals, for the most part, are cute and smart and killing them for food can feel… wrong, somehow. But, we are humans and we eat animals. Lots of us, anyway. And if you’re someone who eats meat, there is no better way to do it than by hunting it yourself. It’s far more sustainable. Far healthier. Trophy hunting is a whole different conversation, but if we’re talking about hunting for food, well, getting it yourself is better on multiple levels.
Respecting where your food comes from is something that’s been lost in the age of the commercial grocery store. Whatever you want is there in aisle seven, frozen, packed to order, and decidedly un-animal like. Not only is hunting healthier than eating any hormone-filled, miserable creature that spent its short life in a tiny pen, but it’s far more sustainable in the long run. Yes, shooting an animal is a lot harder than going to the store and buying a slab of dyed-red cow, but that’s part of why it’s better.
Mark Healey is a hunter. He’s a world-class spearfisherman. He also hunts axis deer, an animal with a booming population.
The axis deer population on some of the Hawaiian Islands is out of control. The first deer was reportedly brought to the islands back in the mid-1800s. Then, in the 1950s, a few deer were taken to Maui “as part of post-World War II efforts to introduce mammals to different places and increase hunting opportunities for veterans.” Steven Hess, a wildlife biologist for the U.S. Geological Survey, said that biologists believed the introduction of a non-native species could improve the environment, but since there are no native predators there (axis deer are an Indian species, normally hunted by tigers and leopards), the population exploded.
In 2011 and 2012, it was estimated that the deer caused about $1 million in damage for ranchers, resorts, and farmers. According to a county survey at the time, those entities spent nearly half that trying to get a handle on the population.
In the latest episode of Mark Healey’s Strike Missions, he takes the viewer on a bow hunt for axis deer during the summer rut.
See episodes of Strike Missions on YouTube or check out Mark Healey’s Guide to Heavy Water, designed to help you push yourself, keep calm, and build confidence in the ocean and heavy surf.
