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Hunting
Regulations in
America
Ghillie
suits, rifles and ammo—all instruments that are associated with hunting in
America
. Hunting has been a part of human
history for thousands of years. In
fact, North American hunting predates the
United States
by several millenniums. Hunting
today has changed slightly. While
Native American cultures still retail most of their hunting rights and are
exempt from various laws, everyday
U.S.
citizens are highly regulated in their hunting activity.
This is primarily due to environmental law that protects endangered
animal species.
Regulations
on hunting differ from state to state. States
will have very specific demands involving protected species, though they will
rarely limit the hunting of unprotected species.
Varmints refer to unprotected non-game animals that are seen by most as
pests. This means that the animals
usually pose a threat to farmers’ crops, other livestock, landscaping,
infrastructure or even domesticated pets. Because
hunting varmints is seen as a means of controlling unwanted predatory animals,
there may be little to no regulation on these hunting practices.
Varmints include various types of rodents, coyotes, birds, foxes, cats
and hogs.
In
the category of game animals there are a few categories to consider: big game
refers to deer, reindeer, moose, elk, bear and bighorn sheep.
Small game refers to cottontail rabbits and squirrels.
Furbearers include two species of fox, red fox and mink.
Predators refer to cougars, including mountain lions and panthers as well
as coyotes. Lastly, there are
categories of upland bird, like grouses and pheasants, as well as waterfowl,
which includes duck and geese.
The hunting of game
animals does require a hunting license. In
order to qualify for a license you will usually be asked complete a hunting
safety course. In addition, hunters
will have to purchase tags for each animal they plan on hunting.
Tags are often limited, especially in areas where there are more hunters
than there are quotas for animal species. As
evidenced, hunting is a game to be taken seriously. |
