Growing up mostly in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire, my grandfather taught me the art and skill of hunting, trapping and fishing.

When I was still quite young, I watched him raise the rifle at a pack of feral dogs that was chasing a magnificent 10-point buck across our back field. Fearing the worst, I pleaded with him not to shoot, thinking of course he was going to put the deer out of its misery. Instead, he stood there stoically, took aim and fired. Immediately the dogs turned and ran the other way, and we watched the buck bound right toward us, veering off only at the last minute as it leapt back over the cattle fence and disappeared into the woods. That was the day I learned about fair chase.

Learning about killing for a legitimate purpose played out in much the same way. Not unlike the critters we raised and processed for meat, bone stock and hide, the taking of wild game was purposeful, intentional and humane. We spent hours upon hours back-tracking, studying trails, understanding movement patterns and checking food source preferences.

We’d build “fooler blinds,” lay in fake scent lines and then find the topographic “pinch points,” which we would leave alone until things got serious. Then wait, and wait. And wait. Clean kill, leave some meat for the scavengers, use everything else. That was the way of the true sportsman.

So you can imagine my surprise when I learned about “wildlife killing contests” or WKCs. These barbaric practices not only kill indiscriminate amounts of animals, but they do so for prize money. The largest, the heaviest, the lightest in color, the darkest, and then of course the most animals killed are offered rewards like rifles, ammunition and hunting paraphernalia, not to mention bragging rights.

Almost any “varmint” has had a WKC in its name, including mountain lion, bobcat, coyote, fox, skunk, badger, weasel, beaver, woodchuck, prairie dog and squirrel. After the contest, the bodies are piled up, hauled off and thrown away.

Over 300 WKCs take place in the United States every year, with well over 10,000 animals meeting their demise for no legitimate purpose. Here in New Hampshire, we’ve had three WKCs on a fairly consistent basis, one based out of a sports shop in Jaffrey, one out of a sports shop in Rochester and a third held in the North Country that is mostly organized online.

New Hampshire WKCs, not unlike many in other Northeast states, focus on coyotes. The meat is never consumed, the hides are rarely used owing to the relatively low price on the fur market, and the carcasses are never studied for things like rabies or canine distemper or some epizootic disease.

Within the last decade, seven states have implemented full or partial bans on wildlife killing contests – California, Vermont, Arizona, New Mexico, Massachusetts, Colorado and Maryland (although the latter has to do with a non-furbearer, the blunt-nosed ray). At least 13 other states have considered or are considering outlawing these wasteful and unethical hunting practices.

Virtually all states, under their Fish & Game or Wildlife commissions, have nonetheless subscribed to the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation (or NAM for short), which not only has a 120-year history of favoring the conservation of wildlife, but is touted around the world as being the “state of the art” wildlife management manifesto.

According to senior wildlife biology staff members, New Hampshire Fish & Game subscribes to this model as well. Yet when it comes to killing contests, they turn a blind eye. Like in the 40 or so states that subscribe to the model, there is an ongoing disjunct between WKCs and the NAM. This can best be understood by taking a look at the seven salient principles of the NAM:

■Wildlife resources are a public trust – all wildlife belong to, and are held by the citizenry of the state, not unlike all public waters and the fish therein.

■Markets for game are eliminated – the former (19th century) practice of creating and/or maintaining commercial markets for the sale of game species is no longer allowed.

■Allocation of wildlife is by law – each state has the right and the duty to establish hunting regulations that set seasons, limits and procedures for all manner of “take.”

■Wildlife can be killed only for a legitimate purpose – these include non-commercial use, the absence of wanton waste and affording game a “sporting” chance (fair chase).

■Wildlife is considered an international resource – the recognition that many wildlife migrate across international borders was formalized in the Migratory Bird Treaty Convention of 1916.

■Science is the proper tool for discharging wildlife policy – largely driven by early scarcity of deer in over-hunted areas of the Colonies, the recognition that science must be the basis for proper wildlife management decision-making was formalized by Aldo Leopold in the 1930 American Game Policy.

■Democracy of hunting is standard – Theodore Roosevelt championed this principle where he believed that hunting should be available to all people, regardless of status, wealth, land ownership and other privileges.

As noted by the Arizona Fish & Game commissioner prior to him making a motion that resulted in the commission banning contests of “predatory animals or furbearing animals”: “I believe we have an issue before us today that is contrary to two important tenets of the North American Model: one that does not allow the take or use of wildlife for economic benefit, and other that prohibits the take or use of wildlife for wasteful, illegitimate or unsportsmanlike purposes. To continue to permit an activity that is contrary to these two important tenets undermines our duty as trustees for wildlife to ensure the proper use of wildlife.”

If a state like Arizona can recognize the inconsistency of adhering to the NAM with the indiscriminate killing of wildlife, isn’t it high time that New Hampshire did the same? If Vermont and Massachusetts chose to uphold the NAM in their states and eliminate wasteful, unethical killing contests, why can’t we now take our turn to help create a “contest-free zone” in New England?

I urge you all to support Senate Bill 588, a bill that would do just that.

Also, please keep in mind that New Hampshire’s WKC ban does not affect fishing derbies, big buck pools and all other legitimate hunting practices as authorized by New Hampshire law.

(Rick Van de Poll of Sandwich is a wildlife biologist.)