I have been asked several times "Why or how I can hunt or trap? "Well here is where I explain.
First off let me say that I am a very big animal lover myself. I have raised a litter of three day old puppies whose mother had been killed by a car.
I had never hunted or trapped until I met Wolfer. I read a lot about deer hunting and studied his books on deer behavior and started hunting deer with him. I have always thought of a deer as a very beautiful and graceful animal and still see them that way today. Hunting helps thin out the population some, that way the ones left have more food and a less populated habitat so they can survive the winter better. Have you ever seen a deer so starved for food, that it didn't have the energy to clear a fence and then tangle itself in that fence? They just hang there until someone comes along and puts them out of their suffering or they die from exposure. I have witnessed this and it is very heart breaking.
My "beginning to trap" started the same way as my hunting. I did a lot of reading of Wolfers' trapping books and magazines and thought I could do this. I asked him what he thought about me trapping? Well being the kind loving man he is, he said it would be great! He gave me some of his traps, lures and other supplies, and showed me how to make some sets, and so I began trapping!
I would like you to all to take a good look at this picture of a coyote with mange.
Now think how bad this poor coyote must have been suffering to dig and pull so much of its' fur out like this. There is no way this animal could have ever made it through the winter, but before it died it would have dug out even more fur, and had very little if any left to protect it against the cold of winter. Between the intense itching and pain, and the lack of fur, it would not have been able to hunt enough to keep it alive.
This is only one of several ways wild animals suffer slow painful deaths when they get overcrowded. When Wolfer and I go into an area we DO NOT try to wipe out every living animal, but rather take a few and move to another area. This helps the animals that are left by giving them more food and better living conditions, and avoids major outbreaks of disease.
I hope this helps some of you to understand why I do what I do. I just love the outdoors and like my Native American ancestors, I always tell every animal harvested, thank you.
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Why I Hunt and Trap By Wolfer
