The American Hunting Myth

by Ron Baker

In his book The American Hunting Myth, Baker examines the so-called "sport" of hunting and the destructive system that state and federal wildlife agencies use to perpetuate it. One by one, he convincingly refutes the arguments that hunters and wildlife officials use to defend recreational hunting. He graphically illustrates how greed for more funding by state game bureaus results in environmentally destructive practices; how politicians on both the state and federal levels use their influence to expand public hunting; how traditional beliefs about nature are partly responsible for the nonecological educations received by college and university students who train to become wildlife biologists and wildlife managers and how this training ensures land and wildlife mismanagement practices.

287 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1985

Reviews

[Peacegal]

The American Hunting Myth excels as a contribution to the debate over recreational hunting. The author maintains a level-headed and rational tone as he refutes the arguments advanced by sport hunters and their lobbying groups. (Although this book was published in 1985, most of the hunters’ arguments remain the same.) I was also very pleased to see that the author supports vegetarianism and encourages his readers to cut meat from their diets. (Addressing one of the few hunters’ arguments I actually agree with: A person who eats factory-farmed meat has no standing in criticizing a hunter for being cruel.)

However, the book’s aforementioned copyright means that all of its examples and statistics are 25 years or more out of date. This may be interesting from a historical perspective, but it won’t help much with the modern discussion of hunting beyond the general arguments. A more modern book could have addressed crucial modern developments such as the growth of the canned hunting industry and the increasing popularity of bowhunting.

Perhaps more than anything, The American Hunting Myth confirmed to me the need for a more up-to-date book exposing the sport hunting industry.