Kidding aside, hunting is among South Dakota’s greatest outdoor attractions. People from all over the world come to SD during this time of year to walk our fields, farms, and public lands to hunt. Apparently, from what I have been told (without confirming these details…), 150 million dollars are spent by hunting ‘tourists’ during the season’s opening weekend. This is a phenomenally large amount of money. A friend (on who’s farm we hunted) told me that the small airport of Mitchell, SD was inundated with private jets which flew here from all over the USA and other parts of the world. Hunting appears to arouse almost ‘primitive’ instincts within a certain segment of the male population.

We walked the fields for several hours, and with the aid of two hunting dogs and three other hunters, we managed to ‘bag’ (looking for the proper euphemism for ‘killed’ ) only one rooster. Oh – by the way – I learned at the last second that you are only allowed to shoot male pheasants – appropriately called ‘roosters’. Of course, coming from the East coast, a young boy generally does not know of these regulations. However, that ‘secret knowledge’ seemed to be obviously apparent to everyone else with whom I have spoken. It does make sense from a game management perspective – the females are needed to keep the population healthy. Males are only needed for one particular task – I will let you concluded what that task is – but the females are needed to birth and raise the young chicks.

This new and daring experience caused me to reflect theologically about the practice of pheasant hunting (and hunting in more general terms). Well, personally, I did feel a bit uneasy about the whole experience. Especially when I watched our hunting partner skin and prepare the pheasant. However, I had to ask whether this ‘unease’ had any legitimate theological grounds, or, whether my unease was simply the product the cultural setting in which I was born and raised. In sum, I currently do not think that there are any strong grounds (from a Christian worldview) for deeming the practice ‘wrong’. The arguments against hunting generally revolve around the following two issues: 1) cruelty to the animal, 2) that hunting is ‘unnecessary’ in our modern times. There are surely many more issues which might be discussed, but those two are the ones that immediately come to mind. Since this is not an academic paper, those two will have to do-

Based upon my own Christian view of the ‘unique’ status of humans within creation (I simply do not have the time or energy to argue for this position), I do not think that pheasants are ‘self aware’ or manifest any outward signs of higher intelligence on par with humans or primates. Thus, my own position is that hunting pheasants does not violate their ‘human rights’ (intended sarcasm there…). Second, as far as the practice being unnecessary, I have heard people argue along the lines of “well, we no longer need to kill birds (substitute your chosen prey here) for food, therefore, it is an unnecessary practice and should be banned”. Personally, I do not think that the ‘unnecessary’ argument can be sustained. If we examine the source for each animal product which passes down the food-chain and ultimately arrives on our tables, we would quickly see that each pre-packaged and hermetically sealed meat we consume has experienced an untimely death at some prior point. Whether it is a slaughter house, or other human-engineered ‘termination-solution’, the animal has not chosen to die to provide us with a meal. Basically, pheasant hunting is another means for putting a meal on our plates. It might seem more primitive than the chicken or beef we purchase at our local grocery store, but it has met its end via a similar act of human intervention. I would suggest that the ‘unnecessary’ argument seems to be more an argument about the ‘primitiveness’ of hunting.

Hunting reminds us of the fact that we are not very far removed from our ancestors. Life and death are an integral part of our life experience. Whether it is the birth, life, and death of us humans – or if it is the death of a pheasant – hunting reminds us that each of us are but a sliver of time away from our own experience of death. Two-thirds world cultures recognize that every participant in the created order experiences both life and death. Animals as well as people will all face the same end of our physical experience. Two-thirds world peoples tend to embrace this aspect of our existence.

However, in contemporary Western cultures, we go to great lengths to avoid dealing with our own eventual demise. We spend large amounts of money and expend a great deal of emotional and physical energy in our attempt to postpone, delay, and even reverse the inevitable end which each of us will experience. Or, we ‘sanitize’ death by dressing up our dead to make them look as if they are still alive! I believe that hunting reminds us, if perhaps subconsciously, of the fragility of our physical existence. It is also why Americans like to buy their meat in such pre-packaged, ‘neat and clean’ ways. We are becoming more and more removed from death and it has had an impact on how we perceive the world around us. Cultures which embrace all aspects of our existence (birth, life, and death) are more likely to be comfortable with the notion of ‘killing’ another animal. It simply is part of the ‘circle of life’ (add cheesy Elton John Lion King music here).

Having said that, of course, I do not think that SD fits under the ‘two-thirds world’ category which I have described (although some people from New York speak in those terms ). In this case, I believe that midwest affinity for hunting is primarily based upon a long-standing cultural practice which so deeply permeates the ethos of its people. Nevertheless, the attempt to ‘cheat death’ remains front-and-center – even here in the middle of the United States.

Well, that is enough contemplation for the day!