Ethical question hunting rams

[RoseAmy]

Okay so I get this email from someone wanting a mature ram with horns.

 

Now none of my sheep have horns so this is purely some random thoughts. My first thought was why horns. The man said to please email him back and gave an email..So I looked up at the email address it came from and it was different then the one I was to reply back to.

 

Well seems it was sent from a "hunt club". In fact turned out to be one in another part of the state near where a friend of mine lives. They charge a hugh price and they quarentee you a "trophy". Have even been past the place. In fact the few times I went by you can always see a variety of animals out there.

 

On their website they have goats, hogs, rams, deer, elk, turkey...The price for a ram is $750..

 

Now my sheep aren't "pets" but they sure as heck ain't going to run or hide or try to get away from you. So they would pretty much just stand there and let you target pactice on them.

 

Also I have been told by locals that this place has been know to "nick" tendons so the "hunters" are assured a catch.

 

Let me add that I'm not opposed to hunting. Alot of my sheep go for food. And I don't have a ram with horns..BUT don't think even if I did I could sell to this place. Something just doesn't seem right about it. Is is just me? What difference does it make if its going to get eaten anyway?

[urge to herd]

I've never hunted, but my dad hunted and we ate everything he killed. He used skills he'd learned through practice and a lot of patience when hunting.

 

MHO is that 'canned hunts' are a cheap thrill for people who think they can sell/buy a sense of achievement, pride and power. I wouldn't want to contribute to that.

 

Ruth

[geonni banner]

I agree with Ruth. The whole canned hunt thing is sick and disgusting. There are people who breed tigers so they can shove them out into a chain-link enclosure for some rich jerk to plug away at until it's dead. I'd rather shoot the ram in the head and bury him on the back 40 than sell to one of those people.

[juliepoudrier]

Let me add that I'm not opposed to hunting. Alot of my sheep go for food. And I don't have a ram with horns..BUT don't think even if I did I could sell to this place. Something just doesn't seem right about it. Is is just me? What difference does it make if its going to get eaten anyway?

To me the difference is an ethical one. My housemate hunts, but he actually goes out in the woods and pits his skills against a wild animal, and as often as not doesn't shoot but instead takes video. Taking domesticated animals and shoving them out on a preserve for someone to hunt is not the same thing. I don't think the term "hunt" could even be properly applied to such a scenario. That some people think it's okay doesn't make it okay. Frankly I think if a person is incapable of getting the appropriate tags, traveling to the appropriate place (where that trophy animal lives in the wild), and then managing to find and kill his/her prey without having it practically staked out for him/her, then one doesn't deserve to "hunt" in the first place. And really, if that's all your "hunt" is going to be, why not just buy the animal, have it sent to a butcher where its useable meat might be donated to needy people, and take the head and make up whatever story you want about how you got it....

 

Really, do these people brag to their friends about how they "hunted" their trophies? My housemate and his friends stopped by one such place on their trip to CO to hunt elk (real hunting) and brought back pictures of big bull elks sitting in paddocks. WTF?

 

J.

[Smalahundur]

Not much of a question for me, I think this is a disgusting practice.

[njnovice]

I have no problems with hunting and killing for food, but canned trophy hunts are disgusting. I used to work for a guy who did trophy hunting and I couldn't stand it. I guess it made him feel like a big man or something. He even had a habit of picking up roadkill just to get it mounted. The one that bothered me the most was how he had a mounted golden eagle, and he was like, "I can't even tell you how much I had to pay for this on the black market!"

[Bill Fosher]

Remember that guy? He used to be Vice President of the United States of America. What was his name? All I can think of is Dr. Evil. Oh, right. Dick "Oops, sorry about your face" Cheney. When he shot his friend, he was waiting for a canned hunt worker to open a cage of quail.

 

In many climates, hogs can go feral and can destroy vast swaths of forest. In some places, escaped hogs from canned hunt clubs are a real problem. Best not to do any business with them.

[WildFlower]

Remember that guy? He used to be Vice President of the United States of America. What was his name? All I can think of is Dr. Evil. Oh, right. Dick "Oops, sorry about your face" Cheney. When he shot his friend, he was waiting for a canned hunt worker to open a cage of quail.

 

 

I remember that.

 

Canned hunts are cruel and unnecessary.

[Little Bo Boop]

YOu think canned hunts are bad ;-( you should see what they were trying to get passed in Texas, "hunting" with your mouse ;-( Yeah, you don't even have to leave your office, can stay in the cozy confines of your air conditioned house. These two guy wanted to set up a deal where they had a camera set up near a feeder, and then somehow they were going to mount rifle and then rig it so you could activate the trigger with your mouse on your computer. They touted it as a way for handicapped people or housebound people, to be able to enjoy the wonderful 'sport' of hunting LOL thank god it didn't fly. Sheesh WTH is wrong with some people?