WHAT HAPPENS TO THE MEAT?

A Hunter’s Responsibility, Culture & the Conservation Story Few People Hear

By JR Hossack – Big Game Hunter Magazine

“Do you use the meat?” It’s the most common question hunters are asked by non-hunters, especially women.

During a recent Amtrak rail journey across the USA, I was asked the same question I’ve been answering for more than fifty years of hunting around the world. The concern is genuine, often emotional, and comes from a good place: Is the animal respected?

The answer is simple.

Yes—always.

Nothing Goes To Waste

NOTHING GOES TO WASTE

Across the USA, Australia, New Zealand, South America, Namibia, and South Africa, the principle remains identical: the meat is used.

Across North America, hunters donate millions of meals every year to churches, food banks, and tribal communities. Entire charity networks exist to distribute clean, organic game meat to families who need it.

I share my harvests with friends I’ve made across the Lower 48—deer, elk, javelina, hogs, game birds—and what isn’t enjoyed in camp is donated. And of course, like most hunters, I enjoy wild game at home: grilled, stewed, or my personal favourite—chicken-fried with brown gravy.

Wild game is the purest, cleanest protein on earth. Nothing is wasted.

WHEN THE QUESTIONS TURN TO AFRICA

The second question usually comes quietly:

“But what about Africa? Especially elephants?”

This is where emotion steps strongly into the discussion. And I understand why. Elephants are iconic, intelligent, and carry enormous emotional weight.

But emotion alone cannot guide conservation.

"The part most people don’t know:

In some regions of Africa, elephants are overpopulated—severely"

Not by a few animals. In certain areas, three to four times what the land can sustain.

Elephants must eat vast quantities of vegetation daily.

When populations exceed the landscape’s carrying capacity, the destruction is catastrophic:

• Forests stripped bare

• Wetlands and waterholes destroyed

• Agricultural land ruined

• Other species displaced

• Elephants themselves dying slowly from starvation

Botswana once banned hunting. The result was tragic: thousands of elephants starved.

The ban was reversed because the science was undeniable.

HOW REGULATED HUNTING SAVES ELEPHANTS

African conservation today is built on science, sustainability, and community benefit.

Legal, regulated hunting:

• Targets older, non-breeding bulls

• Funds anti-poaching teams

• Supports habitat restoration

• Pays for wildlife monitoring

• Reduces human–elephant conflict

• Provides communities with meat and income

In many rural regions, hunting income is the only reason communities tolerate large, dangerous wildlife instead of killing it out of necessity.

Without hunting revenue, elephants, lions, and many other species would decline—not increase.

THE EMOTIONAL BARRIER

When I explain these facts to non-hunters—especially women—I can often see understanding begin to develop. But sometimes, emotions close the door before the message can enter.

And that’s okay.

Emotion is human.

But this truth must be understood:

Responsible hunting is not the enemy of wildlife. It is one of its greatest protectors.

Whether it’s a white-tailed deer in Texas or an elephant in Namibia, the core principle never changes:

• Wildlife must be managed

• Habitats must be protected

• Communities must benefit

• Every part of the animal must be used

This is ethical hunting. This is conservation.

A MORE HONEST CONVERSATION

Hunters aren’t destroyers. We are participants—providers—caretakers of the natural world.

For more than half a century across six continents, I have witnessed one universal truth:

When wildlife has value, wildlife survives.

And yes—we always use the meat.