Destruction

To eat is to appropriate by destruction.

- Jean-Paul Sartre -

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Some may know I have owned and operated firearms for over thirty three years, the majority of my life has been spent learning how to shoot at long range and in various other situations, behind a gun shooting at things, cleaning guns, hunting, stalking, killing and culling and I'm very good at it; but it's the last I'd like to touch on a little today. Culling.

You'll note the use of the words hunting, and culling, which are two completely different things.

Hunting is the activity of seeking out wild game and animals for the purpose of killing them. Culling is the activity of reducing the population of a species by selective slaughter, and one should never be confused with the other.

I am on the permit to destroy wildlife on behalf of a farmer who operates a large cattle farm in the hills. You can see part of that permit below.

It is government-issued and specific to that property (and me as the shooter - my name appears on the permit as a registered shooter) and is renewed each year with the species and number I am allowed to cull clearly noted. The permit holder is the farmer, I am simply noted as a shooter able to destroy the noted animal up to and including the number on the permit. This animal, the Western Grey kangaroo is a protected species and they are only permitted to be killed by permit. I also shoot deer and foxes on the property however, as introduced species, they're unregulated.

I shoot three to five times a month (usually), take a few, say two to six of them with my culling rifle and the rest bugger off back over the fences and don't come back for a short time; getting shot at with live ammunition tends to have that effect, it's not enjoyable to get shot at. On shooting the animal I mostly leave it where it lies, the other wildlife in the area cleans it up and within a week or so there's just a few bleached bones where once an animal existed. I take the deer though, venison is a legit meat, so tasty.

You'll note the mention of tags on the below permit. To remove a kangaroo (or part thereof) from the property a government-issued tag is required and must be affixed to it. As you'll note the farmer has tags available so that happens sometimes; I take it and give it to mates, bater it for other things or just because.

After I leave the property, I report to the farmer how many I shot and he records them. I have no idea if he records them accurately though, (I have heard of farmers under-counting destroyed animals so they can eradicate more than their allotted quota), and it's not my job to know; it's his permit and it's up to him to comply. As for me, I do the right thing and report accurate numbers.

These animals are controlled because they cause damage to the property (fences) which means cattle may escape and wander and with the price of them at market that's not productive for the primary producer. They also eat precious feed meant for the cattle and this all drives costs up for the primary producer and considering the buyers will only offer a set price for the cattle at market that can make farming unviable. If farmers don't farm people don't eat, a pretty simple concept.

I often get people saying what I do here is cruel but I call bullshit on it. We all use animal products and the animal usually dies for it. It's convenient for people to soapbox their skewed agenda from the comfort of their café while they eat bacon and eggs, after which they walk to their car in leather shoes and sit on their leather seats, check their animal product make up and head off to the supermarket to buy their meat and other farmed produce...but someone has to supply it and that process means things die. Crops are sprayed for pests, birds are controlled in vineyards, vermin in chicken farms, worms on the ends of fishing hooks, not to mention the animal farmed/harvested itself...But delusion is the new black and humans are good at deluding themselves.

I don't expect people to want to go out and gather or harvest their own food, it's unrealistic to think that because people like convenience too much and most just don't have the skills. I don't expect most people to respond well to the killing of animals, be it culling or hunting. I actually don't expect much from humans at all, except misjudgement, hubris, ego and self-righteousness especially in respect of this topic.

I expect a lot from myself though, and so I cull (or hunt of course) humanely with as much care and respect for the target as possible. I don't enjoy killing, much the opposite in fact, but I'd rather do it myself knowing that I am responsible when it happens, disciplined enough to know I'm doing it right. Even though there's no one out there to see what I do, I believe it's what we do when no one is looking that truly defines us as a person of character.

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Anyway carnivores and non-carnivores, that's it for this post. If you have any questions feel free to speak up in the comments field, I'll be happy to respond.