Tag Archives: sport hunting

Stop the “Sportsmen’s Act”

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From HSUS.org

The dreaded so-called “Sportsmen’s Act” is back.

Yet again, a small faction of wealthy trophy hunters is pressuring your elected officials to allow the importation of threatened polar bear trophies from Canada. They also want to open millions of acres of public lands to10368479_10152532154104586_2706872192299860162_n sport hunting and commercial trapping, without evaluating possible implications on animals, habitat and Americans who enjoy our nation’s wild spaces. They are also fighting to keep pumping tons of toxic lead ammunition into the environment, poisoning the land and wildlife, even when non-lead ammo is readily available.

Please make a brief, polite phone call today to your Senators and urge them to OPPOSE S. 405, the Sportsmen’s Act, and protect our wildlife and wildlands.

Wildlife needs strong voices like yours to stand up for them. After you call, don’t forget to send a follow-up message»

A World that Never Was

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Revisionist history may seem like harmless, feel good child’s play, but the threat it poses (to all other animals at least) is that without hearing the real story, people will never learn from the past.

It’s tempting to want to believe that all that has gone wrong with the human race is the result of being led astray by our technology, and if we could just get back to our caveman roots, everything would be happy and harmonious like it surely was back then. But contrary to contemporary popular belief, that’s a world that never was.

Even the earliest human hunters drove countless species to extinction and exhausted their carrying capacities time and again, ever since plant-eating primates first climbed down from the trees and decided to take up big-game hunting.10418292_778659628825562_4081410081902108848_n

The notion of the peaceful savage has long since been disproven, but people want to cling to it rather than accept the truth about human nature. Just look at the dead-animal adornments any warrior or tribal chief wore, and it’s easy to see the roots of trophy hunting.

The thought that any spear-wielding species who took advantage of fire to herd animals toward a cliff or into a box canyon had an innate sense of ecological fairness goes against all that made us human—envy, lust, greed, gluttony, a lack of empathy and an over-blown ego are the kinds of things that ultimately define a hunter, whether the motive for their behavior is sport or subsistence.

Richard Wrangham and Dale Peterson summed up the chapter, “Paradise Imagined,” of their book, Demonic Males: Apes and the Origins of Human Violence, thusly, “There is no such thing as paradise, not in the South Seas, not in southern Greece, not anywhere. There never has been. To find a better world we must look not to a romanticized and dishonest dream forever receding into the primitive past, but to a future that rests on a proper understanding of ourselves.”

Humans have achieved an awful lot of success as a species over the years, but judging by our planet-crushing prowess, we may have finally breached our collective britches.

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Humans: Overall, Not Favorably Impressive So Far

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The human species is surely impressed with itself. Even the name they chose to classify themselves—Homo sapiens (Latin for “wise man”)—suggests it. Undoubtedly, there must have been some thought involved in the process of mushrooming from a simple tree-dwelling leaf eater in one small corner of the planet, to becoming the scariest big game hunter to rule the Earth.

 UGH

(Carrying a torch)

                               “I’ll use this fire stick to chase that group of peacefully grazing, gregarious gazelles toward that cliff over there, and you guys try to spear as many as you can”

THAG

(Carrying a spear)

                                           “Good thinking, Ugh.”

Scenes like this played themselves out over and over as the species spread out and burgeoned to 7.2 billion. Now the technology of the killingest of creatures has advanced to the point that a single hunter, dressed in camouflage and drenched in another animal’s urine to con his victim as much as possible, can bring down the mightiest moose or tallest giraffe with the slightest squeeze of a trigger.

And still the species grows exponentially and continues to claim every last habitat.

It was impressive when man built the first rocket and took a walk on the moon. However, the rockets they build to blow their enemies sky-high (while irradiating the land and sea) more clearly typify the species’ overall achievements to date. But lately it seems that nuclear annihilation won’t get to see its day; anthropogenic climate change and a man-made extinction spasm are now higher on the agenda.

Perhaps the human, the only creature capable of destroying the Earth, should have been named Homo horribilus mactabilis (Latin for “horrible, dreadful, fearful; deadly, lethal man”).

What would really be impressive is if people were to drop their steak knives (and other weapons of mass destruction) en masse and make peace with this amazing planet and all of its inhabitants. The potential is there, but do they still have the will to learn?

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Three 4-year-olds and a 99 y.o. woman reported killing deer in 2013

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w/poll: At what age do you think kids are old enough to hunt deer and turkeys?

Total Votes: 24

1-4 0 0%
5-7 1 4%
8-12 10 42%
13 and older

http://lancasteronline.com/news/local/hunting-stats-three–year-olds-reported-killing-deer-in/article_14cb8108-a6fa-11e4-895b-b7f384993d31.html

January 28, 2015 9:29 am | Updated: 10:37 am, Wed Jan 28, 2015.

Hunting stats: Three 4-year-olds reported killing deer in 2013

By P.J. REILLY | Staff Writer TownNews.com

When the Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners on Tuesday proposed setting 7 as the minimum age for kids to get tags for hunting deer and turkeys, some people asked the obvious question:

“How many kids that young are actually killing deer and turkeys?”

We wondered the same thing.

The state’s mentored youth hunting program since 2006 has allowed kids of any age under the age of 12 – the minimum age for buying a hunting license – to hunt certain game, while under direct supervision of a licensed adult.

In most cases, we’re talking about parents or grandparents.

The board of Game Commissioners on Tuesday voted to tweak the program so that kids of any age under 12 still can hunt turkey and deer, but the state will only issue tags to kids age 7 and older.

If kids under 7 want to shoot turkeys or deer, their mentors have to transfer their own tags to the kids.

Many hunters and hunting organizations, such as the Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs, want the program to remain as is, with no minimum age placed on the program.

They call such limits “barriers” to hunting.

For example, they said, what if a parent has more than one kid under 7 who wants to go buck hunting?

In Pennsylvania, the parent can only have one buck tag, so only one kid would be able to shoot a buck.

While those who oppose any minimum age have been getting all the media attention, the commissioners said they’ve heard from plenty of hunters who agree with their proposal.

They said some even sent them comments stating they believe no kids under 12 should be allowed to hunt deer.

For those of you out there, like us, who have been wondering how many kids under the age of 7 have been out hunting deer and turkeys, here’s a table showing, by age of the hunters, the number of those animals reported to the Game Commission during the 2013-14 hunting season.

The numbers reported here don’t indicate the number of kids – or adults – of a particular age who were out hunting.

The list only shows how many animals were reported as being shot by hunters of a particular age.

Given historical data, more animals likely were shot, because Pennsylvania hunters are notorious for not reporting their kills to the Game Commission.

(By the way, even though we’re focused on kids, it’s interesting to note there was one buck last season reportedly shot by a 99-year-old woman.)

why

‘Prince William HAS to stop being a hypocrite – especially when it comes to animal cruelty’

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http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/prince-william-stop-being-hypocrite-4796300

Prince William has attacked the Chinese for their animal cruelty, but has he got any right to criticise, asks Mirror columnist Brian Reade  ….

Speaking at the World Bank on Monday, Prince William attacked them for their role in wildlife crime, accusing them of being major players in “one of the most insidious forms of corruption in the world” which is done to satisfy man’s “craving for trinkets.”

Words that leave the future monarch wide open to accusations of hypocrisy (and I’m not merely talking about having a dad who parades more trinkets on his chest than the worst tin-pot dictator.)

Because this is someone who, in February, went with his brother to the Duke of Westminster’s 37,000-acre hunting estate in Spain to shoot wild boar and stag.

On a previous visit to his godfather’s Spanish killing fields, the princes were said to have bagged 740 partridge in a day.

His defenders argue William was speaking for endangered species, not the plentiful ones.

But is he so thick he can’t grasp that species tend to become endangered after man has killed so many few are left?

I’ll answer that for you. Yes he is thick. He also comes from a family of animal-slayers.

In 2004 his brother was photographed grinning widely, in Argentina, over the body of a one-tonne water buffalo moments after he’d killed it.

Harry loves big game hunting, just like grandfather Philip, who, despite being a former World Wildlife Fund president, has been known to shoot tigers and crocodiles in India/

And closer to home, in a couple of weeks, the whole clan will walk off their sprouts around the Sandringham estate, blowing birds out of the sky, for no other reason than they can.

If I were the China Daily cartoonist, after I’d finished with the CIA, I’d have sketched a chinless wonder pointing a smoking gun at a wild boar with blood running from its guts spelling out the words “Do as I say not as I do…”

If I were a photo-journalist on that paper I’d be asking my editor to send me to Sandringham to film the hypocrites in all their blood-lusting glory, and then ask: “Is it OK to sadistically kill wild beasts if it’s on one’s own land, or one’s rich friend’s land? And if it’s for fun?”

I know the Royals are led to believe they rule us by divine decree, but who toldthem they also have the right to decide which creatures get to exist and which ones don’t.

As an endangered species themselves, you think they’d be more careful.

Should shooting animals for sport be banned?

 

Just Because It’s Legal…

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…Doesn’t make it right.

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Tolerance has it limits. Laws change and evolve with the times. Things have gotten a little better for human rights and a whole lot worse for animals and their rights. It depends on who’s making the laws. Today’s Nazi party is run by sport hunters and their game department lackeys. The victims have no say in the matter. We must be their voice.

Abolish Atrocities Against Animals Today!

Safari Club–Center of Rhino Hunting Controversy–To Auction Off More Rare Animal Hunts

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http://theirturn.net/rare-animal-hunt-auction/

The 6,000 member Dallas Safari Club will auction off rare animals hunts this weekend during the banquet at its annual convention, which is a “showcase of hunting, sporting and outdoor adventure,” according to the Club’s website. During the auction, “bidders of any age or gender” will have the chance to bid on “amazing items,” including “youth hunts in New Zealand and Texas, a challenging Mid-Asian ibex hunt in Russia, and a bongo hunt in Cameroon.”

One of dozens of animal hunts at Dallas Safari Club Auction

The 2014 convention made international headlines when one attendee, Corey Knowlton, paid $350,000 to shoot an endangered black rhino in Namibia. Mr. Knowlton, who has purportedly received death threats, tells critics that he is motivated by “conservation.” Specifically, he claims that his substantial contribution will be allocated to rhino conservation efforts and that killing the rhino in question would actually benefit other rhinos in the area who he has been attacking.

But, if conservation is really Mr. Knowlton’s motivation, then why doesn’t he allocate a small part of his winning bid to relocate him?  And, if he’s concerned that the menacing rhino is harming the others, then why hasn’t he  shot him down hasn’t he done it in the 12 months since he won the bid?  Could it be because the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has not yet issued a permit to import the rhino’s body and that Mr. Knowlton has no intention of returning from Africa without his “trophy.”

In an interview with Jane Velez-Mitchell on JaneUnchained.com, Christopher Gervais, the director of the Wildlife Conservation Film Festival & Biodiversity Conference, says that killing animals is not the way to preserve them: “You do not hunt a vulnerable species in the name of conservation. Other organizations are conserving without hunting and killing.” Conservation funds. he says, can be raised through photography safaris during which animals are shot with cameras instead of guns.

Shooting rhinos with cameras

Your Turn

Please sign the petition to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to deny a permit that would allow 2014 Dallas Safari Club auction winner Corey Knowlton to import a black rhinoceros trophy from Namibia.

How the Grinch Stole Hunting Season, Redux

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….It’s that time of year again….

Every hunter

Down in Hunt-ville

Liked hunting season a lot…

But the Grinch,

Who lives just North of Hunt-ville,

Did NOT!

The Grinch hated hunting! The whole hunting season!

Now, please don’t ask why. There are many good reasons.

It could be because hunter’s heads aren’t screwed on quite right.

It could be, perhaps, that their belts are too tight.

But I think that the most likely reason of all

May be that their hearts (and other parts) are two sizes too small.

“They’re cleaning their guns!” the Grinch snarled with a sneer.grinch

“Tomorrow is hunting season! It’s practically here!”

Then he growled, with his Grinch fingers nervously drumming,

“I MUST find a way to keep hunting season from coming!”

For, tomorrow, he knew…

…All the Hunt-girls and boys

Would wake up bright and early. They’d rush for their toys!

Their rifles, their shotguns—all things that destroy!

And then! Oh, the noise! Oh, the noise! Noise! Noise! Noise!

That’s one thing he hated! The NOISE! NOISE! NOISE! NOISE!

Then they’d carve up the body of some unfortunate beast,

Which was something the Grinch couldn’t stand in the least!

And they’d feast! And they’d feast!

And they’d FEAST! FEAST! FEAST! FEAST!

I MUST stop hunting season from coming!

…But HOW?”

Then he got an idea!

A brilliant idea!

THE GRINCH

GOT A WONDERFUL, BRILLIANT IDEA!

“I know just what to do!” The Grinch laughed in his throat.

And he made a quick Santy Claus hat and a coat.

And he chuckled, and clucked, “What a great Grinchy trick!

With this coat and this hat, I’ll look just like Saint Nick

And I’ll slide down their chimneys, empty bags in my fist,

AND I’LL STEAL ALL THEIR FUCKIN’ AMMO!”

Albania hunting ban takes aim at depopulation

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 http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2014/11/albania-hunting-ban-takes-aim-at-depopulation-2014111812148301986.html

Wildlife numbers falling rapidly, but a controversial new ban on hunting seeks to protect Albania’s animals.

and Last updated: 22 Nov 2014

Tirana, Albania – Bujar Hyka and his friends headed out in their jeep west of Albania’s capital on a recent Sunday morning. Dressed in camouflage, the men navigated the vehicle through rough terrain with three restless English Setters eagerly waiting to jump out.

A year ago, this would have been a hunting trip. But under Albania’s new anti-hunting law, Hyka and his friends have been forbidden to kill animals and now simply hike weaponless through the country’s pristine wilderness.

“The government doesn’t understand that hunting is a sport; they are1907320_10152809923380861_1562740061849294556_n ruining our sport,” said Hyka, 59, head of one of Albania’s hunters and fishermen’s organisations. “It’s like someone taking a football away from footballers.”

Earlier this year, the Albanian government imposed a two-year moratorium on all hunting to save its endangered animal population. Reports suggest 30-50 percent of Albania’s wildlife species have seen a steep decline in the past decade. Hunting is one of the main reasons for the loss.

Among the endangered species in the country are the Balkan lynx, the Egyptian vulture, the Dalmatian pelican, the European eel, and the Albanian water frog.

More Here

Thanks to C.A.S.H.: The Committee to Abolish Sport Hunting