Virginia Thinks Kids Under 12 Should be Able to Hunt

Here’s the set-up:

• There’s a decline in hunters in Virginia ("Hunting’s Bind of Less Space and Time" in today’s Washington Post), due to suburban development, busier suburbanites, and suburbanites who are less willing "to go into the woods on a cold, wet morning to wait in breathless silence for a deer to walk by." That, my friends, is the "sport" of hunting: waiting in silence for your prey to walk by. When I first read the article I thought, Geez, I’ll have so much to say about this. It could take me all day to deconstruct it. But then I realized the article, its quotes, and the website referenced all speak for themselves. I couldn’t possibly make more of a statement than they do.
• Hunting used to be so revered that "kids would take off school on the first day of hunting season," but that time is gone.
• Paradoxically, public support for hunting is stronger than ever, as suburbanites are viewing deer as a nuisance (like here in South Florida with alligators, muscovy ducks, and any other creature inconvenient to development and cushy suburban life).
• The biggest reason for the decline is that the hunting culture is breaking down because not as many younger guys (under 40) are hunting.

How does Virginia plan to solve this terrible problem? By trying to convince children and teenagers that hunting is cool, through programs like Families Afield, which is "working to lift restrictions in 20 states that limit hunting to children 12 and older." So they can’t legally have sex, drink, drive or even get a permit, and they can’t vote, but they should be able to tote a gun and shoot, injure, or kill a creature who feels every bit of the pain they feel?

One of its "research-based core values" is "When introducing youths into hunting, earlier is better." You have GOT to go to see their website! These people know what they’re doing. They know that the earlier you introduce something when a child is developing, the less of a chance you’ll have that they’ll resist it. And they could very well grow up thinking it’s okay because it’s what they know. Their capacity to make decisions based on any kind of organized system of morality is, in most cases, virtually nil, so the poor kid doesn’t stand a chance.

Virginia also has enlisted Xtreme Jakes, which is a magazine and (profoundly disturbing) website for teens 13-17 that’s run by the National Wild Turkey Federation, in its efforts to promote hunting. In the magazine’s "Are you an Xtreme Jake?" top 10 list, number 3 is: You’d rather bag a turkey in the woods than on your video game. Rob Keck, chief executive of the federation said:

"It’s got to be a cool thing to do . . . . I think there is a real need to be in line with what turns young people on . . . . They’ve got to feel good about it and say, ‘I want to be cool.’"

And we wonder what’s wrong with our nation’s kids, and how they got that way . . .