Healthy food, healthy lifestyle, healthy environment — the stigma behind hunting your own food

Recently, I wrote a response article to correct a range of frankly ignorant opinions expressed by Cristine Rose, focused on Duck hunting. The article has been shared and read by thousands of hunters across the country, most of whom share similar views. However, those who didn’t like the article were often at the other end of the spectrum; polarised and angry that Duck hunting — or hunting in general — existed in the modern age.

The fact that the article seemed to hit a nerve got me thinking. Is Christine a lightning rod for a fairly broad section of the community who don’t like guns, or the idea of killing one’s dinner? Or is there something deeper going on here?

Let’s start with the supply chain for making a beef-based Spaghetti Bolognese which is a meal you’ll find on the table in most households across the country at some point every year. Each of the component parts are produced in various locations and brought to the supermarket for you to purchase. Oftentimes a single meal can have ingredients from several countries, especially if you’re buying from the larger supermarkets. While it’s highly likely the pasta, the sauce, spices, salt and even some of the fresh veggies you might add are not produced in New Zealand, it’s more than likely that the beef will have been produced here, however it often comes from Australia if it’s found in the cheap isle. There are several reasons for this but let’s assume that the beef you buy at the supermarket is NZ made — maybe it has a sticker on it telling you so — and you decide to buy local meat. Sadly, most people at this point don’t give things a second thought beyond the price per kg and drop the meat into the cart.

Some people are more concerned about the location of the produce and if that’s you, good on you. My point is that even if you do work with a local butcher — and you should — the number of people who know which farm their meat comes from and the conditions under which that meat has been produced is tiny. Maybe they don’t want to know, maybe they don’t care, or simply don’t know the benefits of understanding the paddock to table back story of their food.

It may sound counterintuitive for those who either don’t eat meat or don’t care enough to find out (both of which are fine by the way) that a large number of Kiwi’s take the next step and begin to plan how to gather their own meat. I use the term ‘meat’ loosely because I see fishermen, small and large game hunters, spearos, and shellfish gatherers as community unto themselves. Primarily because this group researches and understands their target species and live to maximise their recreation time in the outdoors. They purchase equipment necessary to gather this free-range protien and they put measures in place to make sure it’s done safely. Yes, there are some who flaunt the accepted or legislated best practices for each activity but they tend to be in the minority.

So my question is if it’s okay to go fishing and gather a few mussels, why is it different for firearm based hunting? Most hunters, as with most fishermen, will routinely release fish or choose not to take animals based on a number of different factors. This is why we have quotas and size limits, but the number of 20lb snapper that get released in favor of taking a few 7lb fish for eating might surprise non-fishermen. Similarly, deer hunts for meat supply are far more common than trophy hunting and again, there are protocols and best practices that most people abide by as part of the hunting culture.

Duck hunting and deer hunting in New Zealand also share an interesting similarity. Not only are the forms of recreation that utilise firearms, they also target introduced species whose numbers require control every year. It’s a win-win for conservation that recreational hunting supports conservation measures. This positive contribution helps in part to enable hunters to use crown land to harvest deer and in some cases Ducks. I question if we would get upset if recreational hunters targeted the possums, rats, stoats, and mice that are destroying our native flora and fauna? Again, it might surprise non-hunters to know that all Deer and some Duck/Goose species are on the national pest list.

So wrapping all of this together, you have a large and safe group of Kiwi’s who care about where their meat comes from, are prepared to go and do something about this and who predominantly harvest pet species? You’ll forgive me if I struggle to see the issue here? Are we getting upset because Duck hunting tends to be done in a short sharp burst of activity and is, therefore, more visible? There’s lots of fishing going on every day and there are very few national articles lambasting the harvesting of fish? I have to conclude, therefore, that the issue is with firearms and perhaps also that Ducks are often categorised as ‘cute’ animals that we may feel emotionally connected to? If it’s the former, I’ve written extensively about this <HERE>.

Firearms are safe if handled and used correctly and are part of Kiwi culture. If it’s about Ducks being too cute to be a meat source, there’s little a hunter will be able to do to change your mind. The truth is that Ducks are an introduced species and hunters augment the work required to manage their numbers. 

What I will say is that Kiwi’s taking it upon themselves to harvest wild meat in a safe and sustainable way with conservation and health benefits of getting outdoors will be a part of our culture for some time to come. It’s quite possible that some people fear what they don’t know. If this is you and you’re scared of firearms you do have legitimate concerns especially if you take a look around the world.

However, NZ is among the most restricted and controlled firearms licencing processes with a world-class safety record. Hunters, by and large, take their privilege to use firearms recreationally very seriously. Also, if you were to visit any farm in NZ chances are there will be a rifle and a shotgun on the premises. Traditionally, these are being used for pest control and often double as recreational firearms as well. Think about this as you drive through the countryside next time.

I’m conscious that there’s a great deal of people who consider all meat gathering activities as barbaric and arcane. This article isn’t really for them. Who it is for is someone that might ‘like’ an anti duck hunting article online while eating a Spag Boll. For them, I’d really challenge them to meditate on the idea that gathering one’s food is an integral part of being human. Having an ethical issue with someone harvesting a sustainable species does seem a little out of sync with common sense?

Matt Gibson