Tag Archives: bowhunting

Hunting Is Not a Sport, It’s Sadism

Posted on by
10

I know I’ve said it many times before, but allow me to reiterate: hunting is not a sport, it’s sadism. Football, baseball, basketball and hockey are sports. Bicycle racing, marathon running, pole vaulting and shot putting are other examples.

I went skiing yesterday; skiing is both an outdoor activity and a sport. It tests one’s skill and promotes quick reactions and good balance. Skiers can challenge themselves by going faster, taking steeper runs or skiing heavier, untracked snow.

Boxing, karate, and tennis all qualify as sports; each one pits two people—perhaps not equally matched, but equally willing—in a friendly contest of skill or chance. Granted, the human hunter without weapons is not as equally suited for survival as any non-human animal. Every last squirrel, rabbit or mallard would laugh at the efforts of an un-armed human hunter.

To compensate for being the obvious underdog, sport hunters are the most ruthless, cunning, conniving and—especially in the case of bowhunters or trappers—the most barbaric and monstrous creatures to ever walk the earth. Today’s hunters who want a challenge can opt for lower-tech, less accurate equipment like bows and arrows or black powder rifles. But that just increases the chance that their living targets will get away only wounded, rather than killed outright. If they want to call it a sport, hunters should arm the animals to at least allow them a fighting chance.

The key element clearly lacking in the so-called “sport” of hunting is that both sides are certainly not equally willing. Serial killers may consider stalking and killing their victims a sport, but any sane member of society would have to disagree.

It’s high time we sane members of society take a firm stand for the non-human victims of hunting and demand an end to killing in the name of sport.

574922_10150775941916188_960382052_n

Misery-Makers Love Company

Posted on by
4

The old saying, “misery loves company” has gotten so shopworn it’s become a cliché. But there’s a new saying (I know it’s new because just I thought it up today), a variation on that old one, which goes: “Misery-makers love company.” The point being, those who cause suffering don’t like to think they’re the only ones doing it.

Hunters, for example, are emboldened and find affirmation by recruiting others to take up their “sport.” It’s the same thing motivating trappers to form associations or duck hunters to form clubs. It’s why bowhunters spend so much time in chat rooms, and it’s part of the reason coyote and/or wolf haters hold social events called “contest hunts.”

Meanwhile, meat eaters feel a stronger sense of entitlement when they see so many others blindly munching on corpses. The same holds true for rodeo fans who get confirmation every time ESPN airs yet another calf-tormenting event.

The list could go on and on. As good people everywhere start citing their own examples, the saying, “Misery-makers love company,” is destined to become an overused cliché itself.

Text and Wildlife Photography ©Jim Robertson

Text and Wildlife Photography ©Jim Robertson

Sun Tzu: the Art of War For the Wildlife

Posted on by
20

Like any other technological advancement, the internet is a tool that can be used for good or evil. Social media is a great venue for educating and rallying caring people and amassing an army of kind folks to work together for a positive change.

At the same time, it can also be a meeting place and breeding ground for sick minds sunk so deep in the gutter that hate oozes from every pore. The general public is now well aware of the problem of pedophiles and stalkers trolling the internet, but there’s another malevolence out there they don’t hear much about—mainly because the crimes committed by these psychopaths are legal.

I’m talking about the prideful trophy hunters showing off their kills on Facebook; the sneering wolf hunters and trappers who post their grotesque triumphs on webpages where they know they’ll be viewed by people who are already so distraught that one more image may push them over the edge. It’s part of the game to them, to see who snaps first. Don’t be their next victim.

My advice to those of you who, like me, can’t stand seeing another NRA leader gloating over a dead water buffalo, or country star hunched over a bear he murdered with a bow in a fenced in canned hunting compound, or a wolf-hunting website designed just to turn the stomachs of kindhearted wolf advocates: don’t go there—at least for a day or two. Take some time off if you need to. Hold on to the anger, but try to pace yourself. Wars are not won by those who are blinded by rage or lost in a pit of depression. There’s an art to war; it takes self-discipline and careful strategy to be victorious.

Rome wasn’t toppled by the first invading army; like the decadence of sport hunting, it had to crumble from within first.

Text and Wildlife Photography ©Jim Robertson

Text and Wildlife Photography ©Jim Robertson

 

 

“I’d like to put an arrow in that.”

Posted on by
15

It’s bad enough to know that there are sadistic sociopaths by the thousands setting traps and snares for wolves out in Yellowstone’s tri-state area, or shooting arrows into deer throughout the Midwest and across the Mississippi; but some of these straightjacket escapees get an extra thrill, adding insult to injury, by taunting those of us who care.

Wolf advocates have been harassed, threatened and made to endure gut-wrenching photos of animals murdered in the most tweaked and twisted ways. Another favorite game the terrible-two-year-olds like to play is to post disparaging comments alongside photos of living animals they’d like to see stuffed and mounted on their trophy wall.

A recent example was a comment left under this bighorn ram photo on Exposing the Big Game’s Facebook page, “I’d like to put an arrow into that.”

Text and Wildlife Photography© Jim Robertson

Text and Wildlife Photography© Jim Robertson

Crazed killers such as these get off on knowing how much their glib comments upset the rest of us. But, as with any bully, cyber-bullies need someone to pick on. They feed on our reactions; take that away and it leaves them feeling as impotent as they obviously are.

The thing they fear the most is being ignored—a mouse hovering over the delete button is Godzilla to them. Therefore, whenever I get one of their comments, I send it straight to the trash can and banish the sender for good measure. In an instant their power is squashed. With that one quick click of the finger, we can get some small sense of satisfaction. They can’t get to us if we don’t let them in.

198333_531743856838438_1843100664_n

Great News! The “Sportsmen’s” Act is Dead…for Now

Posted on by
17

Great news—the “Sportsmen’s” Act of 2012 did not get past the Senate. Ironically, it was the Republicans that killed the bill. Not because of any great concern for wilderness or wildlife—quite the opposite; they just didn’t like how much of the budget the bill allocated for conservation projects.

What really doesn’t make sense is why every Democrat (except for Senator Barbara Boxer) voted to approve a bill with a main goal of opening up even more public lands for hunters. Why, for instance, did my two Senators from Washington State approve of a bill that would have allowed for the importation of “trophy” polar bear carcasses from Canada, undermining the ESA? And what did they stand to gain by giving a de facto federal thumbs-up to lead buckshot and other ammunition that have already poisoned so many birds, including endangered condors?

We dodged the bullet this time, but in the years to come there are sure to be other “sportsmen’s” acts rearing their hideously ugly heads (I was just going to say “ugly heads,” until I saw that one of my regular readers used the fitting adverb “hideously” before “ugly head” in reference to these contemptible acts). We can count on more puff about allowing bowhunting in parklands where wildlife is currently protected, more trophy hunters whining against regulations and most nauseating of all, politicians of both parties waxing poetic about hunting.

Hell, some people won’t be satisfied until Ted Nugent’s (hideously ugly) head is carved into Mt. Rushmore alongside Teddy Roosevelt’s.

Waiting with Bated Breath

Posted on by
13

He waits in silence—his scent masked, face painted, dressed in camouflage head to toe—alert for any sign of the enemy. Keyed up for the kill, he texts quietly to pass the time—eager to learn how much his investments have grown in the past hour.

Suddenly the enemy steps out from behind heavy cover and into range. The assassin tenses, every muscle in his body taut and ready for battle. He’s hoping to make a “clean” kill. Somewhere in the back of his mind is the vague, indistinct notion that a sloppy shot might cause his quarry to suffer; but of far greater import to him are the bragging rights among his comrades if his shot hits the mark, and the fact that an injured enemy could get away.

As his intended victim moves in closer, unaware of his presence (perched in a tree stand just overhead), the killer draws back the string of his compound bow and lets fly an aluminum arrow with a razor-sharp steel point (available tax-free in any sporting goods shop in his state, thanks to him). The arrow hits the target broadside, but as luck would have it the shot misses the heart, and sure enough the wounded enemy escapes…

But fear not, the “enemy” isn’t a dangerous terrorist out to destroy the American way of life. He’s a gentle, doe-eyed deer, peacefully minding his own business.  And the killer is not Rambo or some other heroic mercenary type, here to rid the world of bad guys. It’s just Paul Ryan, who, despite his cruel streak and his habit of bullying defenseless deer and wild turkeys, could wake up a week from now and find himself second in charge—only a heartbeat away from Commander in Chief—of the nation with the most destructive weapons on Earth.

The world waits with bated breath…

Text and Wildlife Photography ©Jim Robertson

For the Bragging Rights

Posted on by
6

Autumn in elk country would not be complete without the stirring sound of solicitous bulls bugling-in the season of brightly colored leaves, shorter days and cooler nights. Nothing, save for the clamor of great flocks of Canada geese, trumpeter swans or sandhill cranes announcing their southward migration, is more symbolic of the time of year. And just as any pond or river along their flyway devoid of the distinctive din of wandering waterfowl seems exceedingly still and empty, any forest or field bereft of the bugling of bull elk feels sadly deserted and lifeless.

Yet there are broad expanses of the continent, once familiar with these essential sounds of autumn, where now only the blare of gunfire resounds. By the end of the nineteenth century, the great wave of humanity blowing westward with the force of a category five hurricane—leveling nearly everything in its destructive path—had cut down the vast elk herds, leaving only remnants of their population in its wake.

Nowadays, a different kind of rite rings-in the coming of autumn across much of the land. Following in the ignoble footsteps of their predecessors who hunted to extinction two subspecies, the Mirriam’s and the Eastern elk, nimrods by the thousands run rampant on the woodlands and inundate the countryside, hoping to relive the gory glory days of the 1800s.

On the way back from a trip early last evening I saw one such nimrod as I turned at the local mini-market on the final stretch home. I have no doubt in my mind that he was parked there just to show off his kill; the antlers of a once proud, now degraded and deceased bull elk were intentionally draped over the tailgate of the assassin’s truck—clearly on display.

I can’t say that I see just what the hunter was so proud of. It’s not like he personally brought down the mighty animal with his bare hands. Elk follow a pretty predictable path this time of year, and the bulls are distracted and preoccupied with escorting their harems around. Taking advantage of them during their mating season is about as loathsome as anything a human can come up with (and that’s saying a lot).

All a deceitful sportsman has to do is blow an imitation elk bugle to lure a competitive bull within range of their tree stand or wait in hiding above the herd’s traditional trail to the evening feeding grounds. When the procession passes by (right below the camouflaged killer’s perch), the most challenging thing for the sniper is deciding which individual animal to shoot or impale with an arrow.

The fact that they let groups of cows and young spike bulls pass by and wait for the largest, “trophy” bull is proof positive that they’re not hunting for food, but rather for sport—and for bragging rights.

____________________________

The first portion of this post was excerpted from the chapter, “The Fall of Autumn’s Envoy,” in the book, Exposing the Big Game: Living Targets of a Dying Sport

Text and Wildlife Photography ©Jim Robertson

Give Paul Ryan the Grand Slam

Posted on by
6

Are you tired of hearing about Paul Ryan yet? I know I am. After learning that he is a ‘diehard’ bowhunter, I didn’t think anything else about him would surprise me. But during a recent interview in Deer and Deer Hunting magazine he let slip just how much of a trophy hunter he really is.

Though he seems to actually enjoy getting his hands all bloody butchering his victims himself, the killing is clearly not about procuring cost-effective food for him—in Ryan’s own words, his fantasy dream hunt would be costly: “…one of my goals is to get a ‘grand slam’ of sheep with a bow,” Ryan told the deer-snuff magazine. “It would be very tough and very expensive.” For those lucky readers who don’t know what a ‘grand slam’ of sheep is, it’s the brutal murder of one each of the four different North American wild sheep, which include Alaska’s Dall sheep, Stone sheep (found only in northern Canada), Rocky Mountain bighorn and the Mexican desert bighorn. It’s like a golf tour for psychopathic animal killers.

Text and Wildlife Photography ©Jim Robertson

Paul Ryan told Deer Hunting his idol is the first archer who shot and killed all 27 species of North American ‘big game’ during a despicable form of legal serial murder known as the ‘super slam.’ “I’m just pretty typical for a Wisconsin guy,” Ryan added, confessing: “I love hunting and fishing. Bowhunting is my passion…preparing food plots, the strategy of where a dominant buck is living or will be moving and then being in position to get a shot, that’s really exciting.” (Hmm, he and I have an altogether different idea on the definition of passion and excitement, although I suppose another one of his fellow serial killers could relate.)

There’s malevolence in the act of bowhunting and Ryan is admittedly obsessed with doing it. (The same issue of Deer and Deer Hunting that features his interview includes an article titled, “How to Recover a Bow-Shot Deer.” Obviously it’s pretty much impossible to make a ‘clean,’ instantaneous kill with an arrow.) He may never be inducted into the ‘Bowhunters Hall of Fame,’ but there’s a very real, very frightening possibility of him eventually becoming President of the United States.

The thought of a trophy bowhunter, among the most sadistic of ‘sportsmen,’ being just a heartbeat away from the presidency of the country with the most nuclear weaponry at its disposal is cause for concern, to say the least. Who’s to say he won’t get a wild hair and decide to take out a small country or two just for the sport of it? So much for compassionate leaders—half our registered voters are considering making a conscious-less animal killer our next commander-in-chief-in-waiting.

And we thought having Ronald Reagan in control of the red button was scary.

Earth to Ryan: ALL Life is Life

Posted on by
11

I was going to lay off Paul Ryan for a while, until I read his statement in an interview with a Pennsylvania news station: “I stand by my pro-life record in Congress. It’s something I’m proud of.” I just find it anomalous that a diehard bowhunter claims to be “pro-life.” Either he’s lying about championing life, or he doesn’t understand that humans aren’t the only animals imbued with it.

Since his congressional record leaves no doubt about his militantly “pro-life,” right-wing, anti-abortion stance (he opposes the procedure even in cases of rape or incest), it must be that he considers only human life worthy of the L-word. Apparently all others don’t measure up to the status of having life, in his opinion. It may come as a shock to someone so used to depersonalizing and objectifying certain beings while pursuing their favorite lethal hobby, but whether human or non-human, all life is life.

When I think of the term “pro-life,” I think of pro-wildlife (and therefore, anti-hunting); pro-animal life (humans being animals, they’re included here); pro-animate life; pro-the-living. But I fail to see how a human ovum fertilized through an act of incest or violence rates higher than a fully aware, fully functioning adult deer, elk or turkey.

Text and Wildlife Photography ©Jim Robertson

America Needs Compassionate Leaders, Not Bowhunters

Posted on by
11

Not one to miss an opportunity to weigh in whenever his favorite hobby—killing animals—is mentioned in the news, terrible Ted Nugent made this statement to Newsmax about Paul Ryan yesterday: “He’s an addicted bowhunter…just what America needs in leadership…”

Funny, that’s just the opposite of what I was about to say. The last thing any country needs is someone in a leadership position whose pastime is the “primal pursuit of game with a self-limiting weapon,” as Nugent put it. Anyone whose idea of entertainment is impaling animals with arrows has some serious issues.

While testing one’s skill at archery against a backdrop of straw bales can be meditative and rewarding, using an animal as your living target is nothing short of sadism. Bowhunters cripple just as many animals as they kill outright and victims who escape with an arrow stuck in them are bound to die a slow death from infection.

“Bowhunting is one of the most vicious and inaccurate ways to kill an animal,” according to a petition seeking to Abolish Bowhunting and end the brutality!!! Glenn Helgeland unwittingly backs this up, telling his “Fins and Feathers” readers: “The rule of thumb has long been that we should wait 30 to 45 minutes on heart and lung hits, an hour or more on a suspected liver hit, eight to 12 hours on paunch hits, and that we should follow up immediately on hindquarter and other muscle hits, ‘to keep the wound open and bleeding’.”

Neither Ryan nor Nugent are impoverished (at least monetarily), so any claims they might make of needing to hunt for the sake of sustenance border on the absurd. Instead, their acts are inspired purely by selfishness (a “virtue” according to Ryan’s idol, Ayn Rand).

Compassion, humaneness and altruism are the kind of characteristics we should expect from this country’s leaders, not cruelty, violence and self-centeredness.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/abolish-bowhunting-and-end-the-brutality/

Text and Wildlife Photography Copyright Jim Robertson