4 ms·
In most (all?) states in the US selling hunted game, such as deer or boar, is illegal. Conflicted opinions on this. I very strongly support the right to hunt,
by rjf72 8y ago
In most (all?) states in the US selling hunted game, such as deer or boar, is illegal.
Conflicted opinions on this. I very strongly support the right to hunt, and also find it vastly more humane for the animals. On top of this I also tend to take a libertarian slant on most things. However, in this specific case you have a textbook tragedy of the commons waiting to happen. The reason game is so widespread is specifically because of these laws. When it was legal to hunt and sell game meat/products we hunted numerous species far beyond sustainability.
Maybe one solution would be to offer limited vouchers that enable an individual hunter to market some fixed amount of game -- not all that different from how wild fishing/crabbing/etc is handled. But I think it's clear that without extremely judicious management here you'd likely see over-hunting rapidly take hold, and that's no good for hunter, animal, or society.
- dagw 8y agoDoesn't the US already have hunting seasons and quotas?
- int_19h 8y agoIt does, but we're talking about seriously overpopulated animals which are destroying ecosystems - wild pigs are the biggest concern there. For those, even where there are permits, there usually aren't quotas. And despite no limits, there aren't enough hunters to keep them in check.
- hprotagonist 8y agoit’s not illegal to sell game meat per se, but the hoops you have to jump through are (probably intentionally) prohibitive. it’s illegal to sell anything without a USDA stamp on it, and economy of scale means that it’s not profitable to have an inspected and cleared process and processing facilities just for game. Other perfectly reasonable nations don’t do this—and in part due to the fact that deer are an invasive pest in New Zealand, you can buy wild game meat pies in gas stations for about 3 bucks there.