As a hunter and outdoorsman, I’m fascinated by wildlife and ecology. Not surprisingly, I have a particular interest in understanding everything I can get my hands on about North American wildlife, especially those species that are also important table-fare in various communities. This first post may be somewhat removed from the regions and species many of us hunt, but I chose this story because it’s a species that is relevant to the areas I work in the Canadian Arctic. Some people may not even be aware of the narwhal’s existence, but it sure is a fascinating and mysterious animal.
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There is an issue that has become increasingly relevant in recent years as technological advances in hunting equipment have begun to outpace our conversations around its use. It’s a debate I’ve heard in different settings and for various purposes, but it comes down to a question that is personal, legal, and ethical in nature: where do we draw the line in our use of technology in hunting?
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I’ve posted reviews on here about both my Hoyt Charger and my Prime Rize. In those posts, I bounced around a little between straight up reflections on the equipment I use and background information on some of the terminology and specifications I was describing. Many people who were reading those posts probably wanted to skip right to the gear talk, while others could probably use a primer on the lingo, so I decided to separate the posts and create one that is just a backgrounder on the terminology you will encounter when beginning archery.
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Endangered species conservation, management, and recovery are complicated tasks. While the U.S. and Canadian share many parallels in our history of wildlife conservation, there are some important differences in our respective approaches to endangered species frameworks. Species at risk classification and management systems are also layered across jurisdictions and wildlife species have a great deal of variety in how their populations are classified and managed. It is understanding that these complex systems sometimes lead to uncertainty among the public about hunting and endangered species. I want to offer some information on the ecological and legal meanings of the various species at risk classifications in Canada.
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My last post suggested that we should be conscientious about the perspectives of our audiences when we communicate about hunting. When thinking about how we frame and present our roles as hunters, one approach positions hunters as an isolated group and therefore better off taking an offensive position to protect our interests. In contrast, I believe it is valuable to actively cultivate collaboration and dialogue with many different social communities to create a diverse alliance of conservation-minded individuals. At the same time, I think we already have far more in common with other actors than we may at times recognize. In fact, some of our most important alliances might come from unexpected or overlooked subcultures such as environmentalists and vegans.
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Ideas are given meaning when they come to life in a specific context and their meaning is expressed through language. As such, we tend to better understand new ideas by contextualizing them in our own lived experiences. For me, sometimes this happens more unconsciously as simply a way to make sense of what I’m taking in; other times, I come across something that clearly has direct applications to my own priorities and interests. I recently came across a study that has the potential to help us more meaningfully engage with the public and change the way people respond to hunting by purposefully selecting the language and messaging we use depending on our audience.
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I have a enormous sense of affection for wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo). I cringe every time I hear someone say that wild turkeys are ugly, unintelligent, or otherwise unworthy of our admiration. More than likely, if someone thinks a wild turkey is ugly, that person has probably never been up close to one. The colour of their feathers is almost impossible to pinpoint and when examined up close on a sunny day, has a shimmer that is hard to overstate. I’ll concede, their head looks like something that might have been drawn by someone with a complete disdain for colouring inside the lines (then again, so are many of the most celebrated art masterpieces); however, wild turkeys are big, beautiful birds whose ability to gobble a spring predawn forest to life is unparalleled.
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Its March 2016. I’m writing this from Kugaaruk, a community of about 800 people in Nunavut’s Kitikmeot Region. Kugaaruk is on the southeast side of Pelly Bay, which at its north end opens up into the Gulf of Boothia, in the Canadian Arctic. The community itself is right at the mouth of the wide Kugaaruk River and is surrounded by an amazing topography of rocky hills and islands. Right now, the ice in the bay is flat and smooth, but during years with strong North winds during freeze-up, it can be full of chunky ice that is blown in from the Gulf of Boothia. The community faces west out to the water, so the sunsets here are incredible as the sun goes down over distant hills across the bay. It’s a community with a strong hunting culture, the most important being caribou, polar bears, musk ox, narwhal, and Arctic char. It also has an active seal hunt, including ringed and bearded seals.
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I decided that I wanted to try shooting a different bow this year. I have such a curiosity and excitement with archery technology and products that I can’t help but want to try everything I can get my hands on. So far, I’ve always shot Hoyt, and they’ve been great bows, but there are so many manufacturers making great products, I thought it would be a good idea to see how another one felt.
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Most people have at least a passing familiarity with the history of bison (Bison bison) in North America. More specifically, people have probably heard about the almost complete eradication of the species from the continent due to massive overharvest fueled by market and colonial interests, and enabled by a complete lack of management.
Perhaps fewer people are familiar with the bison as a success story, the one that is ongoing and will hopefully have a happier ending.
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Paul McCarney