Vegetarians Who Hunt

(Special from Field and Spleen — October 24, 2015)

This year Western Colorado will see record numbers of vegetarians traveling here to purchase hunting licenses. For some, like Herb Gardener, owner of the Mother Earth Root Salad Patio in Los Angeles, Ca., it was the repetition of the often-heard maxim; Hunting is good for the health and strength of deer and elk herds.

“We live in L.A. so of course we have a lot of guns,” said Herb. “And we really enjoy shooting guns. This seemed like a way to use my arsenal for something positive. Yesterday while I was stalking a buck I could just feel the positively charged ions in the air. It was like the deer were saying, “Thank you Mr. Gardener.”

For others the motivation is different. Skip Townsend, a hunter from San Francisco explains, “Eating meat definitely offends me. When I see people eating burgers I just want to smash their heads because they are so inhumane. I don’t even eat animal crackers. But man, I love hunting. I crave the challenge, the chase, the feel of cold steel and the smell of gunpowder. I want to get a big old bull elk; of course, this year I hired three veterinarians to go with me to doctor any animals I shoot. It’s very expensive but I don’t want to kill any animals, I just want to hunt.”
– Harold Forth