First and foremost, I am not game hunt shaming

I completely support Maine's hunters on every level. Except for the ones that break the rules and make a bad name for everyone else. But I'm an avid fisherman and love the outdoors. So go out and hunt whatever your heart desires, as often as possible.

But I have to wonder... As we open hunting season on lots of small animals right now, such as gray squirrels and snowshoe hares, and as we're also about to open it up for a bunch of others in the coming days, I just really have to know...

Why would you hunt a skunk?

Are they tasty? Do you make hats out of them? For that matter, who would want to wear a skunk hat? Is the population so out of control that we need hunters out there snagging all they can find?

I've got questions here, folks. I'm not saying there's a bad reason to hunt a skunk either, but when I catch a sunfish or a yellow perch, I throw them back. Aren't skunks just the trash fish of the forest? If not, what is the motivation? Target practice? Do you get a prize if you hit them in the stink sack? Because that's a prize I do not want at all.

After several minutes of searching, I still can't find a good reason.

A quick Google search tells me all sorts of ways to hunt, kill, skin, dispose-of, etc... But no real reason to do it. Again, I'm not knocking anyone for doing it, but it has the same vibe to me, as saving the rookie baseball card of a two-season bench warmer no one's ever heard of. But hey, whatever blows your hair back, chummy.

But, as the 2021 hunting season goes on, I do look forward to gifts of venison, moose, and bear from my friends. I'm certainly not patient enough to get out and hunt myself, but I'm glad I know people who do. And yes... even if they hunt skunks.

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Because the regulation of exotic animals is left to states, some organizations, including The Humane Society of the United States, advocate for federal, standardized legislation that would ban owning large cats, bears, primates, and large poisonous snakes as pets.

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