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Some musings on hunting

Posted by: Quincunx on December 04, 1999 at 17:30:18:

In Reply to: To all the hunters... posted by Kevin Dempsey on November 24, 1999 at 23:36:43:

K: Tell me why you need your tools of aggression?

Qx: It's really quite interesting to see how these men get all worked up. For myself , I've been in the deep bush of the Yukon, NWT, and northern BC for quite some time now. I've even trapped and quit due to ethical concerns and the sake of my soul (not to mention the low prices). I can play hockey and scrap like anybody else. I'm not white and I've had some insights into why these "hunters" do what they do. It has a lot to do with an alienation from nature that many men sense but can't quite articulate (kinda like the subject of love). When I've asked then I usually get a starry-eyed look and such things are said such as "I feel at one with myself" and other pithy thinngs. You'd think they were on their way to a sex ashram in southern India with the looks of wonderment they have on their faces.

What really seems to be the cause is being socialized into accepting the tradiional male role model as a guide to how to live one's life. this is a typically Western idea and not the attitude towrds hunting that was seen in tribal cultures in the past. Back then it was real survival and elaborate preparatons were made to have a successful hunt. Nowadays, I know of some Han Indians in Dawson City who have used automatic weapons on caribou just to saw off their antlers and to sell to China. In this case, it's greed but of the monetary kind. In the case of the white hunter who spends big bucks for lodging, guiding, and outfitting it seems to be more a greed that reveals a need to bring back a trophy which will somehow designate the killer as someone to be revered.

I mean some rich dude out of Alabama who goes to northern B.C. for trophy hunting isn't considered respectable by most folks in Canada but back home where most of the wilderness has been destroyed and turned into shopping malls and subdivisions he's a "hunter". Pretty lame huh? I remember a few years back when American hunters went to Vancouver Island to shoot black bears. All they did was shoot bears that were walking along the sides of logging roads. What a crock! And then these morons try to sing the "Star Spangled Banner" at the local pub. They were tossed out on their ears.

If they can't understand why they hunt then it's time to recommend some professional help such as a few therapy sessions. The hysterical male is for real and their attitudes are products of a twisted ideal of masculinity that in turn has twisted all of humanity and accomodates capitalism way too much.




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