While we’re exploring the similarities between serial killers and sport hunters, another thing they both have in common is, the time they feel most alive is when they’re out killing. A serial killer can’t be satisfied with a quiet walk in the night air any more than a hunter can take a hike on a trail without a weapon. 

That might explain why there’s no closed season on prairie dogs or coyotes in states that “manage” them for “recreational shooting opportunities.” “Game” managers must be able to relate to their hunter constituents well enough to know that killing just once a year isn’t enough for many of them. Like serial killers, sport hunters have a cooling off period between kills which doesn’t always last throughout the winter, spring and summer until the next hunting season. 

Prairie dogs and coyotes are two species that are heavily hunted, but never for food. Their killers can’t claim a need for sustenance; they’re just out for a bit of “fun.” One thrill-killer describes his sport this way: “Prairie dog hunting is a blast, on both private and public lands. I like to start by clearing everything within50 yardswith an AR-15, then switch to my .223 Remington for anything out to about 150 and finally trade up to the bull barrel .22-250 for the longer shots.” Clearly, it’s the act of killing that really gets their blood up.

Wildlife Photography Copyright Jim Robertson