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I recently read about an ethical recreational hunter who doesn’t support the recreational hunting of predators. I’ve been told there are many hunters of this ilk. I was surprised by the implied contrast between, on the one hand, ethically killing common animals such as deer and other ungulates who aren’t predators for sport and, on the other, killing predators as trophies for various reasons, including bragging rights.1,2,3<\/sup> I talked with a number of people who also were surprised and dismayed. Based on these discussions, I decided it would be useful to delve deeper into the distinction between, for example, ethically killing deer for sport and killing large, dangerous predators, also for sport, by focusing on the words that are used to describe these voluntary recreational activities and the psychological musings of people who engage in them. <\/p>\n The phrase “ethical hunting” is an oxymoron because regardless of how rapidly an animal dies, there is psychological harm from the get-go of being followed, stalked, and chased<\/a> before being killed. It\u2019s a given that an animal’s emotional lives are put to the test and they don\u2019t like it.4<\/span><\/sup> Even heavily hunted wild wolves<\/a> experience higher stress<\/a> than wolves under lower hunting pressure. Being killed instantaneously or near-instantaneously may be more “ethical” or “humane” than slowly pursuing, hunting, and killing them, but nonetheless, the brute reality is the same in either case<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>\u2014a life has been taken<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Humans are especially good at coming up with reasons to make it okay or fair to go out and kill animals, but for animals whose lives are lost, euphemisms don’t matter. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>For example, people often use the phrase \u201cethical hunter\u201d to refer to people who don\u2019t engage in trophy hunting but who feel it\u2019s perfectly okay to kill other animals as long as it\u2019s done “ethically.”<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n I\u2019m sure that there are numerous books that can be written about questions such as, \u201cWhat is ‘ethical hunting’?\u201d and \u201cWho is an ‘ethical hunter’?\u201d but let’s be clear<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>\u2014\u201cethical hunting\u201d is adopting a mindset allowing someone to rationalize<\/a> killing other animals and sanitizing it by claiming they are doing it ethically or humanely. What this means is that, for example, they go out and stalk an animal as silently as possible, kill them, and they hope the animal dies instantly, rather than after a long and painful death. Many animals who are killed to become wall hangings are also killed instantaneously. For people who don\u2019t hunt for food\u2014and I realize this raises a number of questions about whether ethically hunting for food that is needed is okay\u2014the ethical hunters are, in fact, killing another being, usually a sentient being.2<\/sup> So, the mindset that it\u2019s okay to take another life so long as it’s done cleanly begs the question of what right we have to kill another animal in the first place.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Another phrase that sneaks into discussions of our relationship with wild animals is \u201cmutualist hunter.<\/a>\u201d However, there is nothing beneficial for the animals who are killed. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n When all is said and done, the mindset of people who choose to kill other animals is one of domination, not <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>mutualism, which would result in peaceful, non-lethal coexistence. <\/p>\n Another phrase used to justify \u201cethical hunting\u201d is \u201cfair chase.\u201d Originally coined by the Boone and Crockett Club, \u201cfair chase<\/a>\u201d refers to \u201cthe ethical, sportsmanlike, and lawful pursuit and taking of any free-ranging wild game animal in a manner that does not give the hunter an improper or unfair advantage over the game animals.\u201d <\/span>Some of their fundamentals of hunter ethics<\/a> include: \u201cAttain and maintain the skills necessary to make the kill as certain and quick as possible; Behave in a way that will bring no dishonor to either the hunter, the hunted, or the environment<\/a>; and Recognize that these tenets are intended to enhance the hunter’s experience of the relationship between predator and prey, which is one of the most fundamental relationships of humans and their environment.\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n We’re also told that \u201cfair chase rules make sure hunters have no unfair advantage over wild animals by balancing the skills and equipment of the hunter with the abilities of the animal to escape. The rules of fair chase are defined by law, regional preferences, and personal choice.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n What\u2019s fair about a human with a high-powered rifle going after a deer who hasn\u2019t evolved anti-predatory skills against such a weapon? Fair chase clearly favors humans who choose to go out and kill other animals who can\u2019t possibly defend themselves against these unnatural human predators. In the real world, prey animals have evolved a wide variety of different behaviors to counter being attacked and taken as a meal by would-be natural predators. But they haven\u2019t evolved strategies to counter humans with guns who go out to kill them, so it\u2019s a far stretch to use words and terms such as “ethical hunter,” \u201cmutualist hunter,\u201d and \u201cfair chase\u201d to justify killing other animals for sport.5<\/span> <\/sup><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n If some people choose to hunt and kill other animals when they don’t need the food, it’s important for them to face up to the decision and not sugarcoat what they’re doing. Some people enjoy killing other animals<\/a>\u2014their “pleasure smiles”<\/a> tell it all\u2014<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>and that’s why they do it, but at least they’re not sanitizing what they’re doing. Some people claim they love the animals they kill<\/a>. Some people hunt because of the feeling of achievement<\/a>. Still others choose to kill more dangerous animals which bring status<\/a>, such as larger-bodied carnivores.<\/p>\n A lot would be gained and little would be lost if people used the correct words to describe the one-sided emotional relationships they have with the animals they choose to stalk and kill, who suffer before their lives are needlessly ended.<\/p>\nPsychological stress and the emotional lives of hunted animals<\/h3>\n
What does the phrase “ethical hunter” mean?<\/h3>\n
What’s fair about “fair chase?”<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n
What’s the mindset of an ethical hunter?<\/h3>\n