Post by cambygsp on Aug 1, 2006 10:33:00 GMT -5
www.theolympian.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060801/OUTDOORS/608010387
Hunting competition degrades spirit of the sport
I've killed one deer in my life -- a forked-horn central Oregon buck in the early 1980s -- so I'm not much of a big-game hunter.
I haven't even hunted deer since I shot that buck -- I'm glad for the experience, but I learned that deer hunting isn't for me.
But I still cringed when a news release for a competitive hunting tour that offers "hundreds of thousands of dollars" in prizes appeared in my e-mail the other day.
The World Hunting Association claims that some of the world's finest hunters will stalk whitetail deer in a 1,000-acre fenced compound in Michigan this fall.
The hunters will use tranquilizing darts, and no deer will be killed during the competitions.
World Hunting Association founder David Farbman says on his Web site that he hopes the competitive tour will increase the popularity of hunting.
I think it will damage hunting and hunters.
This tournament tries to turn hunting into a game, and hunting is not a game.
Sure, you can find bass, walleye and crappie fishing tournaments where pro anglers catch -- and usually release -- fish for big bucks. Those fishing tournaments have sparked generations of new anglers.
I'm a rabid angler, but I've never fished in a tournament. At the risk of sounding like a misty-eyed geezer, I fish for fun, relaxation and to immerse myself in the outdoors.
So, competitive fishing is not for me. Some of my friends love fishing tournaments, and more power to them.
But hunting is different.
When you hunt, you're stalking animals with complex brains that care for their young, have big, beautiful eyes and feel pain just like humans.
Hunting, unlike angling, isn't a catch-and-release sport.
Hitting a deer with a tranquilizing dart and then posing next to it and tallying up points just seems crass to me.
It also taints hunting with the worst human traits, such as ego and greed.
And I don't think hunting is -- or should be -- a spectator sport. Hunters are solitary creatures for the most part, and they tend to have a very strong affection for the very animals they stalk, kill and eat.
At its best, hunting is about becoming so much a part of the natural landscape that a deer or elk doesn't even know you're there.
Taking the life of that animal is an intensely personal moment that comes at the end of months -- or years -- of training and preparation.
This may sound strange, but killing a deer with a bullet or an arrow and then posing next to it for a picture doesn't seem crass at all.
It's a celebration of a successful hunt, and keeping a record of a hunt is a tradition that goes back in time to when humans lived in caves. Prehistoric art from many parts of the planet show how hunters respected their kill.
So, hitting a big whitetail buck with a tranquilizing dart while a camera crew is working doesn't seem like hunting to me.
It seems even less like hunting when the deer are in a fenced, 1,000-acre compound. Now, 1,000 acres is a lot of land, but it's dinky compared to the Gifford Pinchot National Forest.
I think people who have never hunted will change the channel quickly if this tournament pops up when they're surfing the Internet or cable television.
It's not what hunting is about.
Now, if this program tried to show people how hunters learn about their prey, work to help deer and elk thrive and volunteer in habitat projects, I think it would attract more people to hunting.
A show that shows how hunters eat their kill -- and frown on waste -- may attract more people to hunting.
Real hunters respect the woods, their prey -- and themselves.
No one knows the woods like an experienced hunter.
No one is less likely to enjoy competing against another hunter than an experienced hunter.
No one is going to enjoy watching a tranquilized animal stagger around the woods until it finally flops over.
The World Hunting Association Web site claims the tournament will take hunting to a new level.
I agree with that.
It will take hunting -- which is one of our great outdoor sports and a connection to our most distant past -- right down to a dark, dank basement.
Hunting competition degrades spirit of the sport
I've killed one deer in my life -- a forked-horn central Oregon buck in the early 1980s -- so I'm not much of a big-game hunter.
I haven't even hunted deer since I shot that buck -- I'm glad for the experience, but I learned that deer hunting isn't for me.
But I still cringed when a news release for a competitive hunting tour that offers "hundreds of thousands of dollars" in prizes appeared in my e-mail the other day.
The World Hunting Association claims that some of the world's finest hunters will stalk whitetail deer in a 1,000-acre fenced compound in Michigan this fall.
The hunters will use tranquilizing darts, and no deer will be killed during the competitions.
World Hunting Association founder David Farbman says on his Web site that he hopes the competitive tour will increase the popularity of hunting.
I think it will damage hunting and hunters.
This tournament tries to turn hunting into a game, and hunting is not a game.
Sure, you can find bass, walleye and crappie fishing tournaments where pro anglers catch -- and usually release -- fish for big bucks. Those fishing tournaments have sparked generations of new anglers.
I'm a rabid angler, but I've never fished in a tournament. At the risk of sounding like a misty-eyed geezer, I fish for fun, relaxation and to immerse myself in the outdoors.
So, competitive fishing is not for me. Some of my friends love fishing tournaments, and more power to them.
But hunting is different.
When you hunt, you're stalking animals with complex brains that care for their young, have big, beautiful eyes and feel pain just like humans.
Hunting, unlike angling, isn't a catch-and-release sport.
Hitting a deer with a tranquilizing dart and then posing next to it and tallying up points just seems crass to me.
It also taints hunting with the worst human traits, such as ego and greed.
And I don't think hunting is -- or should be -- a spectator sport. Hunters are solitary creatures for the most part, and they tend to have a very strong affection for the very animals they stalk, kill and eat.
At its best, hunting is about becoming so much a part of the natural landscape that a deer or elk doesn't even know you're there.
Taking the life of that animal is an intensely personal moment that comes at the end of months -- or years -- of training and preparation.
This may sound strange, but killing a deer with a bullet or an arrow and then posing next to it for a picture doesn't seem crass at all.
It's a celebration of a successful hunt, and keeping a record of a hunt is a tradition that goes back in time to when humans lived in caves. Prehistoric art from many parts of the planet show how hunters respected their kill.
So, hitting a big whitetail buck with a tranquilizing dart while a camera crew is working doesn't seem like hunting to me.
It seems even less like hunting when the deer are in a fenced, 1,000-acre compound. Now, 1,000 acres is a lot of land, but it's dinky compared to the Gifford Pinchot National Forest.
I think people who have never hunted will change the channel quickly if this tournament pops up when they're surfing the Internet or cable television.
It's not what hunting is about.
Now, if this program tried to show people how hunters learn about their prey, work to help deer and elk thrive and volunteer in habitat projects, I think it would attract more people to hunting.
A show that shows how hunters eat their kill -- and frown on waste -- may attract more people to hunting.
Real hunters respect the woods, their prey -- and themselves.
No one knows the woods like an experienced hunter.
No one is less likely to enjoy competing against another hunter than an experienced hunter.
No one is going to enjoy watching a tranquilized animal stagger around the woods until it finally flops over.
The World Hunting Association Web site claims the tournament will take hunting to a new level.
I agree with that.
It will take hunting -- which is one of our great outdoor sports and a connection to our most distant past -- right down to a dark, dank basement.
