As more U.S. meat processors close down due to employee sickness, layoffs and other issues related to COVID-19, more people are turning to the old American tradition of hunting to secure their food supply.
“It’s not just because what’s going on in the world right now. Frankly I don’t make that much money, so like this is just a good idea anyway,” David Elliot, Holy Cross Hospital emergency manager, told Reuters.
Elliott does not own a rifle but plans to buy or borrow one after successfully entering New Mexico’s elk draw. And he’s not alone in the pursuit to fill the freezer.
“The coronavirus has only made me want to go and do it more so that I don’t have that scared feeling of where’s my next meal going to come from,” Nina Stafford of Fayetteville, Georgia, who shot her first deer in January, told Reuters.
According to the report, the number of hunters seeking wild turkey in Georgia increased by nearly 50 percent compared to 2019. Indiana, Minnesota, New Mexico, Colorado and other states are also seeing more people apply for hunting licenses.
(Photo source: South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks)