[Search for users] [Overall Top Noters] [List of all Conferences] [Download this site]

Conference vmsnet::hunting$note:hunting

Title:	The Hunting Notesfile
Notice:	Registry #7, For Sale #15, Success #270
Moderator:	SALEM::PAPPALARDO

Created:	Wed Sep 02 1987
Last Modified:	Tue Jun 03 1997
Last Successful Update:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:	1561
Total number of notes:	17784

594.0. "'60 Minutes' 1-21-90" by SA1794::CHARBONND (Mail SPWACY::CHARBONND) Mon Jan 22 1990 07:15

    Did anyone catch '60 Minutes' last night on CBS ?
    
    There was a segment on zoos selling excess animals,
    and many of these animals winding up on 'game ranches'
    instead of other zoos. They has a shot of some guy with
    a gun about to shoot some sort of antelope (oryx, maybe)
    for which privilege he payed $4000. This 'hunting' took
    place on some fenced-in land in Texas. (It took this clown
    four shots to down the damn thing.)
    
    A lot of stuff apalled me. 
    
    1. That somebody would pay $4000 to shoot some goofy looking 
       critter.
    2. That anybody would want a 'trophy' not taken by fair-chase
       methods.
    3. That these 'game ranches' are willing to cater to these
       people. 
    4. That such people call themselves hunters.
    5. The picture of 'hunters' that the public gets from this
       sort of thing.
    6. The implication in the show that *zoos* are morally
       proper, but 'hunting' was not. 
    
    I don't call any person with a gun and a license a hunter.
    That is, to me, a badge of honor, implying the willingness
    to learn all about one's quarry, and pursue it fairly, in
    it's native habitat, with no guarantee of success. Calling
    this guy shooting a penned animal a 'hunter' is am insult
    to me, one that would get you a bloody nose. If this guy
    called *himself* a hunter, I'd bloody *his* nose. 
    
    As for these fenced-in, no-game-no-pay operations, I think
    they are a disgrace. But I feel the same way about zoos,
    where animals are allowed to breed to excess, gawked at
    by people too lazy to get out in the woods, killed or
    sold to these game ranches, and generally treated with
    none of the respect we hunters show for our quarry.
    
        Dana

T.R	Title	User	Personal Name	Date	Lines
594.1	Another CBS head game for the public?	SKIVT::WENER		`Mon Jan 22 1990 12:22`	15
	Yeah I saw it Dana, and like you, I was severly disimpressed. I had mixed feelings about it though and as much as I didn't like to hear what happened to the animals, I also didn't like what CBS did to slap hunting! They are certainly using a situation like this to warp the puplic's mind against hunting. I feel like writing them a letter asking them what their point was... As unethical as it may seem, I almost think the animals have a better life while they live on the game farm. At least they're not all cooped up in a cage and can roam a bit. I agree, too, that paying 4000.00 for a head in this instance is killing, not hunting, and I certainly would want no part of it, whether I could afford it or not! - Rob
594.2	it's all a $$ game	INDEV2::GSMITH	I need two of everything	`Mon Jan 22 1990 12:25`	15
	Dana.. I feel, for the most part, the same way you do about those so-called hunters. Keep an open mind on zoos, however. There is a lot of good work being done today at many zoos. Endangered species are being bread and some released to the wild, natural (as possible) settings are being built, rather than 'cages', etc. We still have a ways to go, but we are learning a lot. Of course, there are zoos that are still a 100 years behind also. Smitty
594.3	TELL THEM.	JUPITR::MILLS		`Mon Jan 22 1990 13:03`	1
	IF YOU HURRY WE CAN HEAR YOUR LETTER BEING READ ON NEXT WEEKS SHOW.
594.4	WRITE 'EM BACK, NOW!!!	CSCOA5::HUFFSTETLER	Reckless Abandoner	`Mon Jan 22 1990 15:51`	16
	Dana, -1 was right on! Send your comments to the CBS to straighten them out! It seems like everyone in the press these days is so far to the right (or left, whichever is the most "liberal") that the only thing ever presented about hunting or gun ownership is negative. ABC is running a series in the near future (maybe starting tonite) called "Guns." In their ad to plug the show, they would show a picture of someone with a caption like "Killed on his doorstep" or "Died after being shot in the street." The whole ad had a "gun ownership is wrong" flavor to it, and seemed to imply that if no one could own guns that these people would still be alive. I guess I'll wait to see the show before I flame a letter to ABC, though. Scott
594.5		BOMBE::BONIN		`Tue Jan 23 1990 14:01`	11
	I'm sensitive to antigun and antihunting propaganda in the media, and I fail to see how last Sunday's 60 Minutes segment was antihunting. It's the zookeepers who looked bad. They tell the public that surplus animals are sent to good homes. But in turns out that giraffes end up in people's back yards and exotic game animals get shot on Texas game farms. The San Diego zoo was even accused of deliberately overbreeding so that they could have lots of cute little baby animals to draw in the paying visitors. Doug
594.6	I saw no antigun/antihunting....	RIPPLE::CORBETTKE	KENNY CHINOOK	`Tue Jan 23 1990 19:10`	9
	I have to agree with .5. It appears as though the zookeepers were allowing the dealers full control over what was done and the game farms provided the most profit. I used to live in San Diego, and the zoo is highly thought of. It will be interesting to see what falls out due to this report. Ken
594.7	A Set-up?	SKIVT::WENER		`Wed Jan 24 1990 07:25`	15
	re: last two, To me, I guess, it seemed that they added subtle comments like "and it took the hunter 4 shots to kill it" that really didn't relate to their base story. Also, I just thought that any anti or non-hunters might see this as more 'fuel for the fire' so to speak. Many anti-hunters I'm sure don't know the difference between real hunting and what was broadcast. It seemed like a set-up in that the story got everyone's emotions going over the animals' treatment and then they throw hunting in there to confuse matters. Then people may associate the improper treatment of animals with Hunting! - Maybe I'm being too picky? - Rob
594.8	paranoid? Who me?	DECWET::HELSEL	Legitimate sporting purpose	`Wed Jan 24 1990 12:32`	11
	I may just be paranoid, but I too perceived a hidden anti-hunting agenda, although it was subtle. The thing about the 4 shot's, as .7 pointed out, had nothing to do with the story. Also, why did we have to see the hunter stalking (?) the animal......to drum up sympathy? If it were greenpeace, we'd have seen the hunt drive 4 rounds into it with blood spurting in every direction, I'm sure. I was surprised they didn't show the kill (?) and give the "please remove children from the room" message beforehand. /brett