Ethical Hunters UK

'Blood thirsty' trophy hunters

2010-08-02T10:05:00.003+01:00

From the Sun newspaper - a scathing article about two teenage girls whose father runs a gun shop and has taken them trophy hunting in the US, Canada and Africa.

In language similar to what the same paper regularly uses to describe mass-murderers and paedophiles, the article talks of "sick photos" and the family's "grisly trophy room", dubbing the girls "blood thirsty" and "angels of death".

It's easy to see what the paper and its readers find offensive about this one-sided view of trophy hunting, and when the protagonists are two teenage sisters, it's an absolute gift to the tabloids.

Naturally enough, there's no attempt to understand the circumstances of each kill, how the hunting fits (or doesn't) into any conservation programmes in the area, why the girls love hunting so, and what they get out of it. Much easier to write them off as sick perverts.

Trophy hunting is, for me, a tricky one to justify morally. It can cross the invisible line and become simply "killing for fun" - something that, like the general public, I instinctively feel is wrong.

It's not the sort of hunting I would choose to do (even if I could afford it - gunshops in the States must be a lot more profitable than in the UK!). But do I have any right to criticise? I'd want a lot more information before passing judgement on these two girls and their father.

Book: Hunting Philosophy for Everyone

2010-07-21T21:50:00.001+01:00

This isn't a book review as such, as I haven't read it yet, but I'm intrigued to dig deeper into the pages of Hunting: Philosophy for Everyone, edited by Nathan Kowalsky.

It promises a "thought provoking collection of new essays from across the academic and non-academic spectrum that move far beyond familiar arguments and debates about hunting".

The foreword, by David Petersen (the outdoor writer, not the cartoonist) is a masterpiece in itself. Here's a taster:

As hunters, much is revealed about us by the tools we choose to carry afield, the strategies we employ to bring game to bag, the ethics we embrace or ignore in seeking success, how we define hunting "success", and how we talk about it.

Once he gets into his stride, Petersen takes a powerful swipe at those who use modern technology as a substitute for patience and fieldcraft:

Finding such traditional values as woodmanship too slow and unreliable, too many of today's dilettante sportsmen are eagerly co-opted by advertising to take such ethically bankrupt shortcuts as motorized decoys, electronic game calls, map-friendly GPS units, cell and satellite telephones, night vision optics... To true hunters and the concerned non-hunting public, this stinky garbage - as grotesquely acted out on TV's "outdoor" channels - is embarrassingly pathetic, leaving us to ask: "What's the point? Why even bother to do a thing when there's so much cheating and self-delusion..."

Strong stuff, but a point that increasingly worries some of the people I most respect and look up to. I look forward to delving into the body of the book, in the hope of understanding better.

And as I prepare to set off for the CLA Game Fair, where Gunmakers Row will be alive with "motorized decoys, electronic game calls and night vision optics," it's a timely wake-up call. I shall view the stands and their wares in a different light.

And I shall certainly be looking for more writing by David Petersen.

Diana the huntress

2010-03-02T22:57:00.004Z

Here's an interesting perspective on women hunters, at the fascinating Ana the Imp's blog:

Daughters of Diana

I love hunting, I have since I rode to hounds for the fist time when I was twelve years old. I’ve also enjoyed a spot of rough shooting now and then, small game. It’s just a thrill; I offer no excuse or justification beyond that; I have absolutely no guilt or regrets. I like to think of myself as one of the daughters of Artemis, Diana, if you prefer, one of strigae, the wild women who followed the goddess in the hunt... [read more]

Also worth checking out is Ana's post The Devil Wears Fur.

Hunters in their own words

2009-11-24T21:08:00.001Z

That woodcock debate sparked off some discussion of hunting ethics on the Sporting Shooter forums. And I was pleased to see some readers explaining their own ethical code in their own words. These are down-to-earth country people, rather than professional word-manglers like myself, and their comments are all the stronger for it.

Here's 'Ian':

To me ethical shooting means eating what i shoot, or shooting other species that are harmful to the local biodiversity of the area , i eat all that i shoot and never shoot more than i need with one exception wood pigeons i eat and freeze what i can the rest goes into the food chain via the game dealer as to waste them to me would be unethical. shoot fox at times when theres too many and rabbits all year round to keep the numdber managable, i shoot alone and just being in the countryside in places others never see is a big plus i don't brag about bag sizes i never think of big bags even pigeons when i have have good days it's about crop protection and my ability too help the local farmers keep them under control. you can check all my posts on this forum and you will see i never once tell of big bags. i like to think myself a bit of a conservationist only shooting when the need arrises either for food or for the good of the other species of wildlife.others might have a differenet way of seeing the ethics of shooting for me this is what it means.

...and 'Verminater':

I'm not sure what you mean but as Ian states i too shoot pigeons rabbits crows fox as pest control and crop protection and if shooting game that's because it will be in season and it is good too eat and if i have shot it i then now were this has come from but like Ian don't ever brag about large bag's i will only shoot a large bag of pigeons if they are doing that much damage and will go shooting as much as i can but will only shoot what i need or want like shooting or ferreting rabbits i will do a hole warren if the farmer wants them thinned right out and i eat them i have two large freezers that are used so is nothing waisted game shooting is different most of the game we shoot is reared to be shot and 90% goes into the food chain and the rest eating by those who take part in the shooting as for the woodcock this is different in different parts of the country most of us only see them inn the winter as most of only come here too over winter here and you have too give them respect for that. The little bird has flown thousands of miles and should not be massacred when we have hard frost's or when you first start too see them especially near the east coast they are a mythical bird that will carry it's young between it legs too get away from danger so i think that deserves a lot of respect.

Respect to those guys, too.
James.

Book review: Hunting in Britain, Barry Lewis

2009-11-23T22:36:00.004Z

I ordered a copy of this book from Amazon some time back, but it seems publication was delayed and it only arrived today.

Hunting in Britain, From the Ice Age to the Present, by Barry Lewis, is a refreshingly objective, historical look at the nature and role of hunting (in its broadest sense, ie all types of catching animals and birds for food) throughout the past 700,000 years and more - an unbroken tradition that we continue today.

Lewis, a professional archaeologist at the University of Nottingham, takes a dispassionate, scholarly view of the subject, gently chiding the academic establishment for overlooking this vital and central theme in human development: "There are whole areas, even in prehistoric archaeology, which have been affected by a reluctance to research the topic of hunting, possibly because there is simply a general distaste by researchers, and more significantly within academia generally, for the topic of hunting, its attendant symbolism and the socio-political issues it gives rise to," he writes.

The book examines topics such as the relationships between humans and horses and dogs, the evolution of hunting weapons and techniques, and goes on to look at the Hunting Act 2004 and ask "Where to Now?"

So far I have only skimmed the book, but already I have marked many sections that I want to go back and read in detail.

I was particularly inspired by Lewis's closing remarks: "...hunting has been a crucial and inescapable thread running throughout the full length of human occupation of the British Isles, it is our longest continuous tradition, it has shaped land tenure as we understand it today and it has been hugely influential in shaping the British countryside and its landscapes. It has shaped rural traditions, and links us insescapably to the very food we eat in ways that we are scarcely aware of."

In my view, understanding that background is vital to understanding our place as hunters in modern Britain, and taking that tradition forward into the future.

Respect for the quarry

2009-11-17T21:28:00.001Z

In my view, respect for the quarry doesn't end when it dies. This sort of photograph, or events like the New Zealand bunny throwing contest

are just plain wrong. Clearly organisations like the League Against Cruel Sports believe that pictures of people messing with dead animals helps their cause, too.

There is no logic in this; the animal is long past caring what's done with its redundant body. And natural decomposition is equally repulsive to view. But as hunters we feel a natural revulsion at people toying with dead animals. Hard to put into words, we just know what's right and what's wrong.

Creswell Crags - 'home of the ice age hunter'

2009-11-10T16:36:00.002Z

Creswell Crags in Nottinghamshire is 'a limestone gorge honeycombed with caves and smaller fissures. Stone tools and remains of animals found in the caves by archaeologists provide evidence for a fascinating story of life during the last Ice Age between 50,000 and 10,000 years ago'. The Creswell Crags museum and visitor centre looks well worth a visit. More info here.

Ethnobiology

2009-11-10T15:55:00.002Z

I was surprised to discover that there's a whole branch of science that deals with the way humans interact with their environment, including the plants and animals that they eat. It's called ethnobiology - see the Wikipedia page here. And there's a sub-branch of ethnobiology called ethnozoology - more info here.

On woodcock and ethics

2009-11-10T15:29:00.001Z

If you want to get into a heated debate about the ethics of shooting, just mention the woodcock.

In the Dec 09 issue of Sporting Shooter, we published an article by Mark Gilchrist entitled 'Woodcock myths busted'. In essence, it suggests flighting the birds as they leave the woods at dusk, on their way to feed in the fields. Mark mentions his preference for a 3-shot semi-auto shotgun, and is pictured posing with a bag of what might be 15 woodcock (although clearly not after an evening flight, as the sun is shining brightly).

No surprise then, when the usual suspects (who shall be nameless) write in to berate me. One declares himself 'angry', and calls the piece 'crass, loutish and ignorant'. Another says the article causes him 'great concern' and is 'exactly the sort of thing to get woodcock taken off the quarry list'. He continues: 'the article says nothing about restraint or a measured approach because of this. The whole tenor of the piece seems to be about how to shoot as many woodcock as possible and get yourself tatooed to record the 'achievement' [a reference to a comment by Mark that if he ever manages to shoot 3 woodcock in a row, he will get a tattoo showing same].

If we'd published an article on how to shoot more woodpigeons, even ducks, no-one would have turned a hair. So what is it about the woodcock that causes the self-appointed moral guardians of shooting to start beating their breasts? Well, it's a wild, migratory bird, and our understanding of it is incomplete. But it's generally agreed that around 750,000 arrive in the UK each year, topping up our resident breeding population, and that the species is not threatened in any way, certainly not by shooting.

No, it's more esoteric than that. The woodcock is somehow symbolic of a type of wild sport that is special precisely because the quarry is mysterious and elusive; become too good at it, and it is no longer 'fair' or 'sporting'.

Here are some thoughts from my reply to one of the readers who wrote in:

Shooting is full of contradictions, and it's the woodcock, more than any other quarry, that seems to highlight our illogical approach, with 'success' being seen as the antithesis of 'sportsmanship'. Additionally, here in the UK, the use of a semi-auto seems to be synonymous with 'loutish' - but I have shot with Italians whose respect for the woodcock was an inspiration, and they used semi-autos as a matter of course.

Personally, I like to 'earn' my grouse by walking them up, with a full day's walking well rewarded if I finish with a brace tied to my belt. By contrast, a driven grouse day looks like senseless slaughter, and something that really does have those who oppose us rubbing their hands in glee. But I don't feel entitled to sit on the moral high ground casting aspersions on driven grouse shooting - and if I did, it would be that division that really gave the antis something to work with.

One of the great strengths of country sports generally is the broad range of people who partake in them, from foxhunting to ferreting to pigeon shooting to driven game. But this is also one of its greatest weaknesses - we are far too inclined to split into sub-groups that criticise one another as being somehow less sportsmanlike, less worthy, or more liable to attract criticism from the wider public (it never ceases to amaze me how shooters fail to grasp what it really is about shooting that the non-shooting public find offensive).

Your thoughts? I'd be interested to hear them - email or in the comments, as usual.

James

Hunters are 'greener than you think'

2009-11-09T09:36:00.001Z

An interesting article in the Calgary Herald here.

It's a matter of perspective: in Argentina & Uruguay, hunters slaughtering thousands of doves are considered ecotourists. "If we don't shoot them, they are poisoned," explains a shooter.

Hunting in Medieval times

2009-11-02T11:12:00.002Z

The picture above appears in an interesting overview of Medieval 'royal' hunting by Richard Rutherford-Moore here.

This is part of a the website of a group called St Hubert's Rangers, who study medieval hunting - to the extent of recreating medieval clothing and hunting equipment, and actually hunting in the medieval way. See the website here.

The Code: a work in progress

2009-11-01T23:12:00.001Z

This post contains the latest draft of the Ethical Hunters' code. If you wish to contribute to or comment on the text, please comment on this post (by clicking on the 'comments' link at the foot of the post), or send an email to: info@ethicalhunters.org.uk

1. A statement about respect for wildlife and the environment, now and in the future

2. A statement about respect for the law, and for property rights

3. Respect for others in the countryside, all hunters may be judged by how I conduct myself in public

3. Gun safety
4. Respect for the quarry - understand it, know which individuals you are setting out to kill, and why
5. Respect for the quarry - striving for clean kills
6. Respect for quarry - treat dead quarry with dignity
7. Respect for quarry - make full use of meat etc
8. Honour the hunting tradition - strive to live up to the highest standards
9. Pass on your knowledge and standards to others, particularly to younger generations

Pictish hunter depicted on the Eassie stone

2009-11-01T21:21:00.001Z

Hunting is a common theme in ancient Pictish carvings - this is the Eassie stone, in Angus, which depicts a hunter on one side, and his hounds and his quarry the deer on the other. More info about this at the Pictart website here.

Georgia Pellegrini on hunting and food

2009-11-01T21:04:00.001Z

US-based chef Georgia Pellegrini sets out some thoughts on hunting in a blog post here. It includes the following extract:

"Hunting... is about understanding how to participate in nature, how to hunt for food, take only what you can eat, use every part of the animal and treat it with respect all the way to the plate. It is how you pay the full karmic price of a meal, and avoid an anonymous relationship with your food. Face your food head on and appreciate it more fully."

BASC Code of Good Shooting Practice

2009-10-31T23:14:00.000Z

The UK's British Association for Shooting & Conservation has produced a Code of Good Shooting Practice here.

The code is largely aimed at driven game shoots, but contains much good advice on such topics as respect for quarry and other wildlife, care of shot game, and respect for landowners, farmers and other users of the countryside.

Other BASC codes of practice can be found here.

Rich Gefferts on Hunting Ethics

2009-10-31T23:01:00.002Z

Rich Gefferts has an interesting essay on 'Hunting Ethics and the Ethical Hunter' on his Whitetail Deer Hunting website:

Hunting has two kinds of laws. One is the written law that is enforced by the game warden. The other is unwritten. It is an ethical code or code of honor that the true sportsman places on himself or herself. Most hunters obey the game laws, but that alone is not enough. Read more

NSSF 'The Ethical Hunter'

2009-10-31T22:48:00.001Z

The National Shooting Sports Foundation in the US has produced a leaflet 'The Ethical Hunter'. It can be downloaded in pdf format from their publications page here.

NRA Hunter's Code of Ethics

2009-10-31T22:38:00.005Z

Here's the text of the US NRA's code:

I will consider myself an invited guest of the landowner, seeking his permission, and so conducting myself that I may be welcome in the future.
I will obey the rules of safe gun handling and will courteously but firmly insist that others who hunt with me do the same.
I will obey all game laws and regulations, and will insist that my companions do likewise.
I will do my best to acquire those marksmanship and hunting skills, which insure clean, sportsmanlike kills.
I will support conservation efforts, which can assure good hunting for the future generations of Americans.
I will pass along to younger hunters the attitudes and skills essential to a true outdoor sportsman.