For outdoors enthusiasts, hunters are sports or 'market' driven

“Hunting ain’t a competition. ... You ain’t trying to win any prizes. Hunting is watching the dog work, and taking it easy, and shooting just enough, and walking slow, and enjoying the day.” Robert Ruark, "The Old Man and the Boy"

ALBANY — When it comes to hunting and fishing, the concepts of sport, competition, legality and ethics can become confusing. The classification “sportsman” is rooted in the Old French “esport,” meaning “leisure.” Around the 1300s, this carried over into the English vernacular. Today, some believe associating the term “sport” with two activities rooted in the harvesting of living creatures for human consumption is oxymoronic. Throw in the actions of a few slob hunters, and they feel even more justified in these beliefs.

However, the modern use of the term distinguishes the sport hunter or angler from those who harvest game for the commercial market. The distinction is essential in understanding the motivation and self-imposed ethos of the sport hunter versus the market-driven influences of the market hunter. This contrast motivated the sport hunter to preserve the natural resources that make the hunt possible. And the actions resulted in putting a stop to the market hunting, which drove the passenger pigeon to extinction and nearly resulted in the same status for bison, elk, deer, turkey and waterfowl.

The earliest wildlife conservation efforts were implemented at the request of sportsmen. President Theodore Roosevelt helped lay the foundation of the federal rules and regulations that currently protect our national resources.

“There can be no greater issue than that of conservation in this country,” Roosevelt said.

In 1937, the Pittman Robertson Act authorized that an excise tax on revenues from the sale of firearms and ammunition products be appropriated to state fish and game agencies for a variety of projects related to wildlife conservation. Today, it also supports hunter education and shooting programs.

In 1911, the Georgia General Assembly passed legislation creating a law enforcement unit consisting of game wardens to patrol the woods and waterways of Georgia on foot and horseback, carrying their own firearms to enforce state game laws. This makes the Georgia Department of Natural Resources the oldest state law enforcement agency in the state.

Early rangers covered large geographical territories with limited support from local law enforcement and sometimes little more from the judiciary. Although many Georgians of that era supported the efforts, others openly flaunting the rules and regulations coined the title “Possum Sheriff” for those working for the DNR.

Today, the agency is well-respected, using state-of-the-art equipment and technology. All Georgia game wardens are POST-certified peace officers with statewide authority and arrest powers. However, they face many of the same challenges as their early predecessors, with only 220 officers covering more than 37 million acres of public and private property. Add 100 linear miles of coastline with a responsibility out to 200 miles offshore, 16,00 miles of riverway and 500,000 acres of impounded waterways, and they are still numerically challenged.

Last year, rangers reported checking 26,905 of the 770,000-plus hunting licenses issued and 31,689-plus of the 1,300,000-plus licensed anglers in the state. During the same period, they verified the registration of 21,142 of the 333,000 boats registered in Georgia. Rangers spent 3,410 hours in search-and-rescue efforts on both land and water. They also provided more than 3,800 hours of education and safety training.

These statistics underscore the challenge the DNR faces in regard to the enforcement of federal and state regulations related to legally hunting, fishing and boating in Georgia. Having hunted for more than half a century, I can count on both hands with a few fingers to spare the number of encounters I have had with DNR rangers pursuant to their official duties while hunting or fishing.

However, this does not mean that there was no accountability for the actions of those sportsmen who did not cross paths with a ranger during their outdoor activities. In many ways, they could have been held to higher standards. Human behaviors are measured by two different standards: those legal standards enforced by the rangers and the sometimes more stringent ethical standards regulated by peer pressure and shoulder angels.

Legal ramifications for violating hunting, fishing and boating regulations in Georgia have come a long way since the era of Possum Sheriffs. The days of paying a small fine or going to the county courthouse and getting a slap on the wrist are long gone. Shoot migratory birds over bait or shoot over the limit, and chances are you will be facing a judge in a federal courthouse. Today’s fines and the potential to forfeit firearms and vehicles have almost stopped the illegal shining of deer. Boating Under the Influence charges now carry fines and punishment equal in severity to DUI charges.

Where these laws stop, peer pressure takes over. Many Georgia hunters and anglers are actually calling for the DNR to modify regulations for the hunting of deer and turkey, further restricting and limiting legal harvests and shortening and altering open seasons for the perceived benefit of these species. At the same time, anglers are calling for decreasing or even eliminating the harvest of shoal bass. These sportsmen are already limiting their harvest of these species with self-imposed ethical decisions similar to those that led the early conservation movement in the late 1800s.

Your shoulder angel may be the final and strongest influence over your behavior and actions in an arena where the referee is only present less than 1% of the time. As so aptly portrayed in “Animal House,” the voice on one shoulder can be heard saying, “Go for it. No one will ever know.” At the same time, the voice on the other shoulder can be heard asking, “Will you be proud to tell this tale around the campfire as time goes by?”