The Kill
I keep running across stupid photos such as the one above where some asshole hunter is posing with the corpse of an animal while wearing a shit eating grin. It seems that high powered weaponry and long range scopes has totally removed any negative emotion from the kill. I don't think they should be smiling. It wasn't like the hunter was ever in any danger and they are smiling because they faced death and came out victorious. No, they squatted in the brush and when they saw movement hundreds of feet away they pointed a metal stick in the direction and pulled a trigger.
I think that a segment of all hunter safety courses should be that the student has to spend one day working at a slaughter house. Animal killing of any sort should be a solemn event that calls for reverence and respect for the life that is taken. I've culled and have been present for culling of several animals and it is something that is pretty unpleasant. I always ask myself what gives me the right to do this sort of thing to another creature.
So if you are a hunter, please show some respect. Don't have photos taken with the animal you just killed, but if you have to have a photo at least wipe the shit eating grin off your face. You just ended a life.
posted by The Guy Who Writes This at 4:00 AM
10 Comments:
And don't parade all over town that day with the body in the back of your rig or park in various parking lots to get attention for yourself.
I'll have to say, one thing I don't miss about Oregon is the hunter mentality and draping the carcass over the hood of the truck on the way home from the kill...Yes, cities have their problems--maybe from the same hunter mentality? I never thought of it that way but...
thank you.
where has the reverence gone.
Agh. I have issues about that too. In my opinion, if you want to kill something you should have to do it with only a knife and a long stick by muscle power and sheer craft alone. Shooting something a hundred yards away is for wimps.
LOL ... I'm reminded of the "Far Side" cartoon of the hunter killing the bear as it's drinking from the stream - then having it stuffed to appear he shot it while it was attacking. LOL
I still say we should have hunting licenses for certain criminals. Or if they're released early from prison due to political reasons (overcrowding, budget), you can buy a tag for 'em.
I think as humans we are hard wired to hunt and gather-doesnt matter if it's big game hunting, fishing, clamming, crabbing, rock hunting, beach combing, prowling junk stores for treasures at a bargain, used bookstore browsing, stamp collecting, berry picking, etc., serve to satisfy the primal human need/urge to aquire things we think sustain us or are of use/value to us. When the effort to aquire becomes a shared experience amongst humans then the satisfaction of success also is shared. To preserve the memory stories get concocted and told and perhaps a photo, a visual captured moment in time, to represent it all. The dead elk in the the photo really isn't what that photo is about. It's about two guys, probably related, who set out to do something difficult and succeeded. That is a bigger reward than some tough old frozen elk steak or a big set of antlers over the barn door.
Nice rack.
I can think of other pictures that I could be saying the same thing. One that I would be smiling in.
I've hunted and killed both elk and deer, but I've never been more than 10 yards away. My rifles weren't that good, no expensive scopes or sites, and I wasn't that good of a shot. Plus the people I hunted with would never have let me live it down if I'd let a wounded animal get away. We used every bit of the animals, meat, hide, horns, innards, nothing was wasted. The last animal I killed was a nice fat elk cow who jumped in front of my truck. I had no guilt about eating a critter that took out a fender, headlight, grill, and the the hood of my truck.
I'm not against hunting, though I think it is often an unnecessary ritual for most...like Christmas, but the lack of reverence makes it all like a Weekend At Bernies. Rather than a necessity, hunting is now fun and the food it provides is only a by-product.
I have heard of too damn many guys who just take the horns and a few choice cuts of meat then leave the rest to rot. I was taught that the only thing you leave behind is the blood stain. The very wealthy surgeon my mother worked for was an avid hunter and he never wasted anything. I had great respect for him since he mostly bow hunted. He was a patient and skilled hunter who several times took pronghorn antelope with a bow. That takes real skill.
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