The hunter should examine himself thoroughly prior to the hunt to determine his mental and emotional status with respect to these volatile, emotional matters. Some people make good hunters, hunters who can do it right.

In modern times we have a balance of nature in our civilization harmonious with the balance of nature in the wild. If hunting were for everyone, there would be no wild game. If it were not for the fear or distaste for spiders, snakes, poisonous plants, and so on, there would probably be no untrampled woodlands remaining as wildlife habitat.

Seasoned hunters appreciate non-hunters from this standpoint. When the proud hunter displaying his kill is greeted with scorn and ridicule by an anti-hunter, he should remember that each of them has a place in the world today.

The hunter who decides he will attempt to take a deer should realize he is in a position to be judged and that his actions and reactions will influence the overall opinion of society towards the sport of deer hunting. The age-old saying "It only takes one rotten apple to spoil the whole barrel" is true.

Having settled the issue of whether or not to kill a deer and made the decision to hunt, one should conduct his life in a fashion that will bring no reproach to himself or the general hunting population. The majority of deer hunters cannot respond clearly and appropriately when asked why they hunt. This is because their desire to hunt is rooted too deeply within to be dug up and examined. The standard hunter cites the need to get outdoors, the challenge and excitement, meat for the freezer, and the companionship of friends as his reason—but all these are possible without hunting and killing deer. An exciting excursion into nature can be made without the burden of weaponry, and the road-kill deer is an underutilized meat source which is a great loss if left to waste.

Since all animals die either from disease, starvation, thirst, predation, accidental injury, or old age, the issue is not really whether the animal dies, but when it dies. How it does is not a good argument against hunting since in reality all the ways the animal might die naturally can be more cruel than the proper gunshot or bowkill.

Commonly, deer herds suffer malnutrition and eventual starvation before the public shifts its awareness to the need for number reduction. People who stroll through the woods and fields see lots of greenery apparently available for the deer and find it hard to imagine deer lacking food.

Anyone who does not think that deer can overbrowse should witness the experiment used to illustrate browse depletion. Here a portion of consistent habitat is enclosed for a few years with a deer-proof fence to demonstrate the striking contrast. Malnutrition leads to disease.

Automobiles and trains cause the greatest number of deer fatalities. Next to hunting, winter losses, loss due to crippling, poaching, being caught in forest fires, getting trapped in tree crotches and vines, running headlong into fence, falling through ice and drowning, disease, and predation all take their toll on deer.

Only 10% of the deer herd is killed by hunters in the fall, while a harvest of 20% is what it takes to maintain a proper herd balance in terms of available browse, agriculture, and forestry.

Everyone loves a provider. Deer meat has no preservatives. There are no growth stimulants, hormones, antibiotics, or other artificial additives to the meat. As our society becomes more scientifically oriented in its productive farming methods, research on the effects of such farming and marketing practices stays a step behind the production of the animals. In many cases the products hit the market and are consumed before the consequences are thoroughly examined. There are farmers who, for their own table use, raise cattle which have not been subjected to additives and are relatively organic, just as there are grape growers who don't spray a few vines intended for their own use. Thus, many people prefer the meat of wild game to that of domestic animals because they know what is in it.

The hunter should:

work toward making clean kills that limit animal suffering through sufficient practice with his bow or firearm,

at all times abide by every applicable law,

be respectful to Mother Nature and leave her the way she was before he became her guest,

be safe, and

search for and find any animal he shoots and utilize the entire creature.

In short, the deer hunter should be a model conservationist. "Conservation" is defined as "the wise use of natural resources."

The deer hunter should be settled in his understandings and courteous to those whose thoughts differ.

Let us not add to the "too many fools in the woods."

Mother Nature is a lady. She entertains many gentlemen guests and she sends intruders away.