Amish America

The Amish and hunting with guns

Being a well-known pacifist group, people sometimes wonder if the Amish use guns for hunting. 

John at the Spokesrider has posted a few questions on this topic, which I've been meaning to get to for a while (thanks John!).

I remember while in the Arthur, Illinois settlement a few years ago being surprised to learn that the Amish do use guns for hunting.  Since that time I've found that many Amish are avid hunters and I've had numerous conversations with them about the sport.  Admittedly, I have never been hunting and would probably be ahead of the game if I made it out of the woods without a hole blown through my foot.

Hunting trips out West, to Canada and other northern points are not uncommon with some Amish, though other groups would frown upon such out-of-the-way pursuits.  Many Amish hunt on wooded parts of their own land or that of a relative or neighbor.  An Amishman I know in Holmes County has a plot of land in another part of the settlement used primarily for hunting purposes.  He has a time-operated camera set up on the property which photographs animals in order to learn about their feeding patterns. 

A rare photo of a bobcat, taken by this camera rig, recently caused a stir in the neighborhood.

On a couple of occasions I've seen the random Amish farmer or his son trolling the fields with a rifle slung across his back.  Varmint hunting?  Infidel deer?  Chances are he was looking to eliminate threats to his crop.

 

Bowhunting is also popular with many Amish.  It seems the compound bow is more challenging than the crossbow.  At an auction I attended fairly recently near Winesburg in Holmes County, Ohio, the first night was dedicated to hunting equipment, with many bows up for sale.  Some Amish become good shots, often practicing at home with fake deer targets.

This year in Ohio due to overpopulation, deer hunters have been able to buy licenses to shoot more than the standard limit (which I believe is normally two if I'm not mistaken).  Most Amish hunters I spoke with when in Holmes County in September were doubtful they would go for all six.  A deer, once shot, usually becomes venison for the family.  One or two is often as much as the freezer will hold, so most Amish it seems would be unaffected by the raised limit.

Perhaps part of what makes deer hunting more acceptable is the fact that the meat is put to use.  Though I have seen some fine trophies in Amish homes and shops, and know of numerous Amish taxidermists from Pennsylvania to Indiana who do a busy trade, most would find it un-kosher to let the meat go to waste while simply gunning for a prize to hang on the wall.

Settlements that failed: The Amish get 'nuked'

The Amish settlement at Piketon, Ohio was an odd one to begin with.

A few things made the Amish who settled here in 1949 different from most.

One was their evangelistic emphasis.  Amish traditionally do not try to convert others.  Piketon, Ohio was begun by a minister sympathetic to the idea of spreading Amish beliefs.

Secondly, they were the first Amish congregation ever to publish their own rule book, otherwise known as the Ordnung, and traditionally existing in oral form only.  Far more copies than were necessary for the congregation were produced, which hints that they were meant to be used as an evangelical tool.

Finally, the Amish of Piketon promoted the idea of assurance of salvation.  Most Amish take the approach of 'the best we can do is follow the Lord's commands and hope we make it'.  The Piketon Amish, however, followed a doctrine that stated that they could be certain of their fate beyond the grave. 


The settlement was comprised of settlers from various communities, who started up a close-knit farm community in the rolling hills of Pike County in southern Ohio.  Interestingly, despite the fact that they supported quite an unorthodox approach to the faith, the were 'in fellowship' with a number of other Amish communities, having preachers visit from Indiana and Ohio, including from the giant Holmes County settlement.

According to David Luthy, the Amish who settled there appreciated the sparsely populated rural setting, and got on well with non-Amish neighbors.

So just what did this settlement in? 

Word came in 1952 of government plans to built an atomic energy plant within a few miles of the settlement.

 

This messed up the Amish on two counts:  the massive influx of government workers and associated people would destroy the rural calm and make buggy-driving, for one thing, much more dangerous.  Secondly, the fact that a power plant would be located nearby would denote the area as a military one and a potential bombing target, and with the Korean War going on, this weighed heavily on Amish minds.  Soon after getting the news, the local Amish were looking for fresh pastures.

The facility which resulted, containing 'some of the largest industrial structures in the world', made nuclear material for both weapons and commercial plants.

The setlement itself was relatively tiny, maxing out at seven households.

The fate of the families? 

Most of them ended up moving to the Amish settlement in Aylmer, Ontario, at least partially to protect their sons in the face of the US military draft.

The Piketon plant, one of only two uranium enrichment plants in the country, stopped production in 2001.

(Source:  David Luthy's The Amish in America: Settlements That Failed, 1840-1960.)

Why Eli Stutzman fascinates us

The body of ex-Amishman Eli Stutzman--convicted of one murder, suspected in four others--lies in a Texas morgue, unclaimed by his former Ohio Amish community.

Stutzman's DNA may be the case-breaker in the 1985 deaths of two Colorado men.

Gregg Olsen, author of Abandoned Prayers, commented on the case which has hounded him for the past 20 years.

Olsen makes an interesting point--if Ida (Stutzman's wife and supposed first victim) hadn't been Amish, there would have been a full investigation of her death.

We often perceive the Amish as above blame.  As many Amish and ex-Amish insist, however, they are just like the rest of the world. 

But not exactly. 

Violent crime such as murder is extremely rare in Amish society.  When it happens, we notice.  Nickel Mines is one horrific instance of that.

But in the 250-year-old Lancaster County settlement, the only other killing in memory occurred when an Amish woman was murdered by a non-Amish neighbor in 1982.

Why does the Amish-violence mix get so much attention?

The Amish are famously pacifist. 

They submitted to massacre by Indians in the 18th century. 

They took physical and verbal abuse as conscientious objectors during the World Wars. 

When faux-Amish Harrison Ford decked the bear-baiting goon in Witness, the real-life community went into uproar.

It's the seeming incongruities--like when we see an Amishman on a cell phone, or filling up a Big Gulp--that fascinate us.

Thankfully, the sight of an Amishman on Verizon or at the Quik-E-Mart is much more common than in the nightly crime round-up. 

Tijuana-bound no more?

The Amish often seek medical treatment across the border.

Cost is the main reason why.  Lacking health insurance as the Amish do, treatment in the US can be expensive.

A new law requiring passports, complete with identifying photos, could stop trips to Canada and Mexico.

The photo part is the problem.  It's a no-no in most Amish churches.

The group has usually been able to negotiate exemptions on things like schooling, selective service, and Social Security.

This could prove tougher.

U.S. representative Joseph Pitts, whom the Amish have recruited to help, explains for the Lancaster New Era: 

"If you use religious exemption on photographs, there are Islamic groups with women who don't want their faces shown as well," Pitts said. "You have to be very careful about this."

Will the Amish be forced to compromise?   The law for land travel comes into effect in January of next year.

Some Amish have stated that this might prevent them getting proper medical care.  Others might concede.  "I guess if it comes to pass, we'll just stay home or follow the law,"  an Amish businessman commented.
 

Also:  USA Today mentions the Amish in a related article on Tijuana crime.