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Hannah Sisson
Professor Dimakos
English 101
8 December 2016
Environmental Utilitarianism: The Hunter’s Narrative
There is an internal struggle amongst some humans waging between their love for
animals and hunting. Many struggle with the idea of losing some to benefit the whole; however,
environmental utilitarianism can strike a healthy balance between animal activism and hunting.
When recounting a story about his friend whose town was known for killing baboons for food,
Hal Herzog recalls in the book Some We Love, Some We Hate, Some We Eat that the
townspeople feel guilty for killing the baboons because they have human eyes and it makes them
feel like murderers. This demonstrates that humans project a mentality onto animals that affects
the way that we act around them. Because hunting has such a large influence on the environment,
it is important to understand where it originates from in order to critically analyze why it might
impact the environment in many different views. Hunting, in addition to food, provides clothing,
shelter, tools, weapons, and a multitude of various materials. In the United States, the
government has established laws to determine kill limits and they require permits in order to
prevent extinguishing species. Now, hunting is more than just a sport; it is used to maintain
populations of animals that would otherwise reproduce at an alarming rate and negatively impact
the environment on a massive scale. Although many animal activists believe that hunting serves
the sole purpose of killing for pleasure, many hunters would contend that hunting allows for
population control; without which, many animal species and environments would be ultimately
destroyed.
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As humans, we often project our mentality onto other animals. Hal Herzog asks in his
book, Some We Love, Some We Hate, Some We Eat: “Do the metaphorical roots of original sin
lie in two conflicting aspects of human nature: our inclination to empathize with animals and our
desire to eat their flesh?” (Herzog 62). This conjecture asks hunters and activists to question their
ideologies from the perspective of the opposing side. It allows readers to understand the duality
of the argument before choosing their position, promoting critical analysis. He quotes animal
ethics professor Dr James Serpell, as he describes the moral issues that hunters face:
“Highly anthropomorphic perceptions of animals provide hunting peoples with a
framework of understanding, identifying with, and anticipating the behavior of prey.
[However,] they also generate moral conflict because if the animals are believed to be
essentially the same as persons or kinsmen, then killing them constitutes murder and
eating them is the equivalent of cannibalism” (Herzog 62).
The particular mindset humans hold about animals typically separate the hunters from the
activists. It is similar to the internal struggle within many people, which is usually separated
between those who love animals and those who eat them. Herzog, however, does not explain the
tangible benefits of hunting animals that positively impact our world and ecosystems.
Many animals that are hunted reproduce too quickly for the environment to sustain. For
example, Minnesota has a population of about 1,000,000 white tailed deer according to
Minnesota’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR). They assert that the “hunting season is
important to keep the deer population from getting too large. Each year, Minnesota hunters
harvest between 150,000 and 200,000 deer” (DNR). The deer population is controlled by hunting,
which, in turn, is controlled by laws within the state in order to control depletion of the species as
a whole. If hunting was not in place to control white-tailed deer, they would simply consume
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more than the environment around them could sustain, leaving many underfed deer to die of
starvation. Additionally, they would exhaust the food supply that other species require,
essentially starving the entire ecosystem. Car collisions would rise, as more of those uncontrolled
deer cross the roads, which would not only be more dangerous for those animals but for humans
as well, increasing fatalities on the road. Ohio Wesleyan University explains environmental
factors deer can have on their habitat, “Many species of trees have also been shown to have
reduced growth as a result of high deer density. In addition to growth, deer have been shown to
decrease or eliminate (depending on the density of the plant) flowering in plant populations, and
therefore their reproduction.” (Ohio Wesleyan University) Moreover, animals are not always the
only species to be affected, plants are a big factor in this as well. Deer are also a major carrier of
Lyme Disease. Not only can this be transmitted to humans, but other species as well, who could
