The hunting of animals is not a “sport,” it is an act against nature.  A “sport” is usually defined as a match between two or more equally skilled opponents.  There is no “sport” in a game where an animal has no idea he is involved in a deadly contest.  There is no contest when one party is armed and the other party is literally defenseless, and is nothing more than a live, animated, target.

Every year, thousands of hunters take to America’s fields and forests in an attempt to bag a “trophy.”   Their unsuspecting quarry may be anything with feathers or fur.  Millions of deer, doves, ducks, bear and other animals are killed, and thousands more are crippled and maimed.  These animals are left to die slow, lingering deaths, as a result of their wounds.  And this is all done under the guise of sport and conservation.

In an attempt to sterilize their so called “sport,” hunters even gloss over their grisly kills with words they deem less offensive to the non-hunting public.  Hunters don’t kill animals…they “harvest” them.  They treat sentient creatures like they are corn, or a  type of crop to be harvested.   Inoffensive animals like groundhogs, squirrels, fox, prairie dogs and coyotes, are referred to simply as, “varmints,” or “pests.”

In nature, every animal has a specific niche or purpose.  None of these animals were created to simply be shot on sight for someone’s sick idea of recreation.  Contrary to the amount of non-sensical propaganda supplied by state Wildlife Agencies to support the hunting lobby, most wildlife populations are self sustaining and need little interference from man.

Can anyone explain to me how killing a 13 ounce squirrel with a 12 gauge shotgun be “sporting”?   Or for a grown man to conceal himself in a corn field and shoot mourning doves during the height of their nesting season?  And what effect does hunting exert on animals like doves, geese, ducks and others that mate for life?  These animals rarely, if ever, seek another mate once their original mate is killed.

In Alaska, hunters pay exorbitant rates to hire helicopter pilots who locate wolves and then run them to exhaustion.  The hunters either shoot them from the air, or land and kill the terrified animals as they lay exhausted on the ground.  Again, where is the “sport”?

In the western part of the country, hunters kill scores of mountain lions every year, and in the process leave hundreds of cubs orphaned.  These cubs still entirely dependent on their mother for survival, usually wander aimlessly and are eventually found dead from starvation or predation from other animals.  “Sporting”?

The hunting of black bears usually involves shooting these large, lumbering animals over baited sites.  Another more popular method is by chasing the animals with hunting dogs.  The dogs force the animal to seek safety in a tree.  The hunters arrive and claim their prize, by shooting the animal out of the tree.  If it is a sow with cubs, the list of orphaned animals grows larger.

Unfortunately, one of the most popular forms of hunting, is bowhunting.  This is by far, the most hideous, and cruelest type of hunting imaginable.  Rarely, if ever, an animal dies instantly, but rather slowly bleeds to death.  In fact by the hunters own admission, clearly written in one of their popular hunting magazines, is a dismal but interesting fact.  For every deer killed by a bow hunter, another escapes to die a slow, lingering, death as a result of its wounds.  This translates into a horrific 50% crippling and wounding rate!

When hunters shoot an animal with a bow, they have to track the animal by closely following its blood trail.  In most cases, if the razor sharp arrow passes completely through the animal, it will flee saturating vegetation on both sides of its trail in blood.  The animal eventually collapses and dies from massive loss of blood and the hunter claims his prize.  I could hardly find “sport” in watching an animal run itself to death, bleeding profusely every step of the way.

If we add all the animals wounded by firearms and muzzle loaded weapons, to the devastation caused by bow hunting alone, the pain and suffering inflicted on these animals is incomprehensible.  How can we as human beings find this type of activity ”sporting” or worse yet, acceptable.

In defense of their “sport,” hunters claim that by killing animals they prevent them from overpopulating and starving to death. Nothing could be further from the truth.  The millions of animals that are wounded by hunters each year become immobile, and are unable to forage for food. The secondary cause of their death is, “starvation,” the very thing the hunters claim to prevent!   In the end, hunting is nothing more than an act against nature, with nothing but devastating consequences for wildllife populations.

In a civilized society, we must learn to extend the circle of compassion to all living things.  So remember, when someone tells you about the benefits of hunting, kindly use some of their own ammunition against them.  You can start by reading this article.

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This entry was posted on Monday, September 22nd, 2008 at 5:18 am.