Never the twain shall meet by John C. Street

Those of us who hunt and fish are a strange lot, as diverse as any group can be and still be considered, as I and a few other introspective outdoor writers have suggested, members of one - the “Blood Sports” - community. Depending upon who is providing the description, we are both an “economic engine” and this nation’s first and only “true conservationists.”  

Given the dichotomous ground between these accurately descriptive labels, it is fair to ask, “Are the ‘Blood Sports’ really a homogenous community (as the economists label us) or, as we speed down the inexorable trail of modernity, have we finally reached a point where we will split into incompatible, competing factions?”  

Like many of you, I read a wide range of outdoor literature on a monthly basis, material that runs the gambit from “how-to” stuff to articles that get after the philosophy of why so many of us feel compelled to be “out there” in the first place. I can generally transition from one form of literature to another without a glitch but a recent session left me with a sense of unease. 

Once or twice a month I check in on the web site of a couple local guys who are making quite a name for themselves. Every year they raise a pile of money to take differently-abled kids on the hunt of a lifetime and the stories and pictures they publish of these events gives me a grand case of the warm and fuzzies. At the risk of making this sound like a promo for them, I deeply admire what they are doing. 

Relevantly, though, a good portion of the remainder of their site is given to photographic and narrative descriptions of their hunting and fishing exploits and, based on the quantity and quality of the high-tech equipment they employ in these outings (and prominently list on their web site), the term “economic engine” seems quit appropriate. 

Shortly after reviewing the above, I clicked over to the electronic offerings of another group, one that advocates for backcountry hunting and angling. The big-picture message of this site is that without large tracts of wild and uncut land (specifically land with formal “Wilderness” designation and protection), there is no meaningful future for hunting and fishing. 

Employing high tech or mechanical aid (whether fish finders or four-wheelers), this web site suggested, is akin to denouncing the ancient skills of the hunter and angler. So, to demonstrate their commitment to the “backcountry,” they eschewed taking advertising money from the very same dispensers of the high-tech gadgets and gizmos that are the bread and butter of the aforementioned web site.    

Reviewed separately, both of these web sites are interesting, informative and enjoyable. Read back to back, they are perfect illustrations of the yin (the negative) and yang (the positive) that is the “Blood Sport” community; this nation’s first and only true conservationists who also happen to – collectively – constitute one of the few remaining “Bright Stars of the American Economy.” 

Numerous polls and copious amounts of research conducted over the past thirty years reveals that a vast majority of Americans either approve or – at least - do no object to hunting and fishing when it is done to procure food for the participant’s table or to assist in the management of fish and wildlife populations. 

This polling and research also reveals, however, that the same vast majority of Americans disapprove of hunting and fishing when it is done to “make the book” or to win trophies, money or prizes (competition).  

Yet as clear a guideline as the results of this polling and research should be for the “Blood Sports” community, it is – as the popularity of the gizmo and gadget oriented outdoor websites reveals – largely ignored. 

Conversely, however, it must be conceded that without the monetary life-blood of the “economic engine” to support them, this nation’s “first and only true conservationists” would have neither the financial means nor the political wherewithal to make certain that the “backcountry” (and all that this term implies and entails) will still be around for future generations. 

Therefore, while these accurate and descriptive titles – “economic engine” and “true conservationists” – seem to represent polar opposite and mutually exclusive philosophies, the “Blood Sports” community needs to embrace both in order to survive. 

If never the twain of our yin and our yang shall meet and work in mutual respect and cooperation, the entire Blood Sport Community – and hence this nation’s wild life and wild places – shall be the loser. 

And we’ll have no one to blame but ourselves.