| Hunting is mainly regulated by state law. This means that regulations change from one state to another, apart from the basic rules. When it comes to endangered species and other environmentally important animals, additional laws can be imposed by the federal government. Hunters of protective species need a special license and also need to complete a hunting safety course.
Game animals are generally categorized as below to help enforce these rules:
Big game - deer, moose, elk, caribou, bear
Small game - rabbits, hare, raccoon
Furbearers - red fox, mink, musk rat
Predators - mountain lion, tiger, coyote
Upland game bird - grouse, turkey, pheasant
Waterfowl - ducks, geese
If a hunter wants to go after big game, he needs to buy tags, which are issued on a limited basis. Each animal that was hunted must be tagged. These tags can even be limited to a particular area such as a wildlife park. Hunting of other smaller animals can be restricted by a ‘bag limit’. This is the highest number of animals that can be hunted in a single day. There can also be ‘possession limits’, which means there is a limit to the number of hunted animals that one can have with him/her at a given time.
Firearms are usually regulated based on the type of game they are purchased for. A low caliber level is advocated for firearms used on big game. Rifles are banned in highly populated areas in some states.
In the USA, hunting has a broad support base and is not limited to any class or other social group. More than three quarters of Americans view hunting as an acceptable recreation although the percentage of actual hunters in the country is much lower. Hunting groups have been influencing successive federal and state governments through lobbying.
Varmint hunting- As the term ‘varmint’ suggests, this is the selective killing of non-game animals that are looked at as pests. For example, rodents and coyotes and foxes have been the culprits of destroying crops and killing livestock. So here hunting doubles for a pest control method, albeit not a very successful one.
The principles of the Fair Chase have been around for many years. It has taken a more modern meaning by being linked to the hunter-conservationist concept.
Hunting ranches – This is where game is fostered in ranches (i.e. in Texas) for sport hunting. Examples of such animals are Blackbuck, Nilgai and antelope. |
