It would appear that the human race has it out for deer. oh, don't believe me? try this experiment. go to Google search, and type in just the word 'deer' and hit Search. look at what comes up. hunting this, venison that, bowhunting this, hunting license that. now type in Dog, or even Turkey and Cow.
Try it many ways. 'Cow Lover' 'Dog Lover' 'Deer Lover' what does that last one show? yep, hunting again. it's as if deer are only known to our species as meat, trophies, or targets. no other animal that i am aware of has such a ridiculous reputation.
There is always an answer to any thing we do. whether it is pre-meditated murder, rape, or simple larceny. there is a reason hunters choose deer the most. the problem is, until i know for sure, i cannot fix the problem. even a doctor, despite my abhorrence to them, has to know the underlying cause of a disease in order to treat the problem. if he just uses general therapy to treat the disease, masking symptoms, while it appears the problem is resolved, he has simply treated the symptom and not the problem.
There is a reason. the deer have a worse reputation than a cockroach. they are the only animal with whom the first thought which comes to our minds is 'hunting'. they are the only animals who are hated by us. even non-hunters will claim hunting as a valid means to reduce deer population, not even counting that they are only one out of billions of species that have populations. so why always deer? since i have yet to find the answer for sure, i can only speculate. the reasons are listed below, despite how ridiculous some of them appear, remember, i am only coming to these conclusions based on how many of a certain response i hear from hunters:
1. Deer are a reminder of veganism. Hunters, if you have ever tried even the very mention of the word 'vegan' to them, seem extremely offended. some use anger and insults, even physical threats (word of advice, never ask one about going vegan while they are drunk). the very mention of the peaceful lifestyle garners insults after insult to anyone following it. extreme fury. even acting as if the very thought of caring for a non-human is a violation of humanity itself. but don't laugh at the speculative reason i have chosen. if any one of us has heard the dreaded 'plants have feelings too' argument, to which we all know is ridiculous, we do know those using it do not intend to come off stupid (even if they do in fact seem to have lost some I.Q. points in the process) but they do seem to only eat the meat of plant eaters. deer, cows, sheep, horse, goat, chicken, you name it. those animals all live vegan. aka herbivorous. coincidence? if it were legal would they be eating us as well?
2. Deer are 'attacking' our vehicles. Deer hunters always seem intent, including their supporters even the non-hunting public, on using deer and vehicle collisions as evidence of a overpopulation issue. to which any state government or mayor will believe right out of the blue without even research to how it is no different than any 'at-fault' accident involving a vehicle hitting a child who runs out into the street after a ball, or any other animal at that. it's always deer accidents. I hate to break it to ya, but deer are only one out of many animals, some considerably larger, that hit cars
Certainly none of us would be hunting horses for hitting cars too? so why attack deer all of the sudden, placing all the blame on them? when they are only ONE out of MANY victims of the unfortunate result of a car accident?
3. Deer ruined my garden! Oh really now? forget that rabbits, foxes, and skunks also do considerable damage? what about Squirrels? oh you have got a repellent for those? you do know deer repellents exist too, right? oh you don't! oh my word! so killing is just 'easier' right? easier than doing real homework?
4. Deer are 'overpopulated'. Ever notice how the dreaded 'they are overpopulated and hunting keeps them from starving to death' always applies to deer? what about rabbits? ducks? turkeys? humans? Also, ever see how illogical it is to save animals from death by killing them? how is one death worse than the other when the result is the same? also, nature has checks and balances as well. disease, natural predation, and starvation, like it or not, are the ways nature ensures the strong survive. with strength comes less disease, less gene pool problems, as well as less mutations which are un-natural. we may not like the grizzly effects, but we have no right to interfere with their natural course of evolution. we are also a part of it as well. humans are no superior species, and killing a tiger for 'eating our kids' is a vengeful act and not much logic within it. hunters seem to not like it when true predators hunt or control our populations, so why would we assume animals want us to interfere any more than the tiger?
My own speculation? I find it that it is a matter of human control. wild animals are beyond human control. there are no boundaries. they are truly free. they are untamed. untrainable. and most likely presumed 'savage'. unfortunately, this is why i think the true goal of hunters is to eliminate all wild animals, leaving pets and livestock and nothing more. it is as if an animal's status as a 'pet', be it deer, cow, or even chicken, gives them rights that those same animals would not have if they lived wild or on a farm. so my guess is they want to eradicate all wild animals. however, it does not answer my inquiry about why they seem intent on elimination of deer first above all others, does it. the way we use bows and arrows. that takes extreme anger to use such a weapon. but deer are the main target of such weapons. not the only one mind you, but the main one. so where did our hate root from? did deer once eat people before they evolved to a herbivore? did they? was that a possibility? did some big impact that caused extreme anger happen? to whom? and why is it still breeding today?
I am unsure about anyone else, but i will not rest until i find the answer. to treat this 'disease', we must find the underlying cause. treating the symptom and not the problem will have ill effects. and much like a cold remedy, the problem is likely to resurface later on. so without this information, which hunters seem intent on skating around or not answering, hunting will, in fact, never end permanently. so we must find this real cause. lest we fight the same battle over and over again.
"We've lost our way. We've allowed our predatory instincts to dominate us. We disperse ourselves throughout the quadrant sending ships in all directions. We've become a solitary race, isolated. We've spread ourselves too thin. We're no longer a culture; we have no identity."
--Star Trek: Voyager 'The Killing Game'
