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Interesting thread.

It highlights the different opinions held by many, and the difficulty in nailing down even within the hunting world what is acceptable and what is even "hunting" at all.

MANY forms of "hunting" are condemned by other hunters and others in the non-hunting population. And views change. Years ago, many in the hunting world took a dim view of hunting on enclosed South African game farms and called it unsporting. Early on, many saw such activity as a joke but now it is a highly developed industry and accepted practice. Things change. My son thinks that anybody that shoots deer from a box {on the ground or in a tree} is a joke. Many Americans laugh at German-style hunts involving bait and Hochsitze and night-time shooting. One gander at the sleeping-bag-style coats and heaters in the Frankonia Jagd catalogue sends Americans into howls of moral indignation. Put-and-take pheasant shooting is now well-established, but was considered highly unethical by many. Hound hunting is condemned by many hunters as unethical. Bowhunting is criticized by rifle hunters. Muzzle-loaders condemn rifle shooters. Lots of folks hate trapping, and falconers think shotgunners lack skill and honor. Many condemn the leaving of animal carcasses in the bush as in much Aussie hunting, some trapping in the states and in the past the leaving of bear here in Idaho. Many consider any killing of game over bait to be completely unsporting, indecent and shameful.

I really do not have a strong opinion on canned lion hunts, because much of African hunting is so "industrialized" that it is hard for me to condemn one form without including many others and I do not want to condemn other forms. A difference in degree is really the only difference. Peter's tongue-in-cheek was hilarious and really makes the point!! But if he decides he wants to knock that harty down with a ball-peen hammer and put the steaks in the freezer, well, so be it.

But seriously, I do not see many hunting methods or practices as "right" or "wrong", but rather as needing to evolve out of the conditions and traditions of the local area. AND IF PRESENTED HONESTLY, any method is fine by me though I may laugh at some and I reserve the right to poke fun at certain expressions of hairy-chested bravado when I know it is bunk.

The biggest problem with the canned-lion thing is just that: where someone shoots a pinned, bolted and screwed together lion in a pen and then proclaims to the rest of us that his accomplishment rivals King David's slaying of the bear with a club.

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