Apologies in advance if there is a better community for this question.
Just out of curiosity, how many folks around here hunt?
I ask because I don’t encounter too many people far left of center (especially in my geographic region) who hunt. Fewer still, are those who keep and train dogs for this purpose.
Not intending to start a debate, just checking the barometer around here.
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i would say that killing animals, especially for sport, is not considered something to be proud of in progressive spaces.
Agreed. Thank you for your response. To be clear, I am neither advocating for the killing of animals in the pursuit of sport hunting, nor am I suggesting that pride is an inborn consequence of killing animals.
Again, I’m not intending to start a debate, as I know this is a delicate subject. I personally don’t see progressive/leftist ideologies as being mutually exclusive of hunting, and am simply curious if there are other likeminded folks in this community. My expectation is that there are very few people who share in this belief, but I’m asking nonetheless.
I personally don’t see progressive/leftist ideologies as being mutually exclusive of hunting,
I agree as far as sometimes you might need to so some invasive species that a rich dipshit introduced in the 1800s doesn’t kill the entire ecosystem but then looking at hunting as a subculture the people who do that has gotta be in the second number after the comma of percentages
looking at hunting as a subculture
I pretty much abhor hunting culture (or any sort of purely extractive subculture for that matter), but I continue to participate in the ways I do because I appreciate the opportunity to spend time with people who are ideologically opposed to me. We are all members of the proletariat, and I’m quite certain that I am one of the few leftists many of the hunters I encounter will ever personally meet — much less have a relationship with.
Curiously enough, the right seems to be doing a sufficient job of alienating their base of hunters. Millions of acres of public lands are slated to be sold, while countless more are being opened up for mining and various other forms of resource extraction.
Additionally, non-toxic (read: lead-free) ammunition is becoming more expensive due to the ongoing trade war with China, which controls upwards of 80% of the global supply of bismuth and tungsten. This poses a problem for migratory bird hunters and all hunters who hunt on federal land regardless of pursuit. Federal regulations stipulate that use of lead shot is forbidden for pursuit of migratory birds, and the mere possession of lead shot is forbidden on federally owned and managed lands.
Copper and Steel alternatives exist, yes, but they are as yet inferior to bismuth and tungsten. Prices for bismuth and tungsten cartridges skyrocket, as does demand for steel and copper, thus driving the price for those inferior products ever higher, and —as fucked as they all are — I can’t see any federal regulatory agency backpedaling on the issue of lead. Moreover, the so-called “ethical hunters” who refuse to shoot lead are in an even bigger pickle. Superiority of bismuth and tungsten is due in large part to increased density which means superior killing potential over steel and copper. This results in fewer crippled birds, and thus, is considered more humane.
Autistic info dump. Sorry. Anyways, I’m curious to see how all of this plays out.
We are all members of the proletariat
how sure are you of that? because from what i understand, most hunters are either landowners, or related to landowners. the requirements for hunting dont really fit working class constraints.
