Judge not and you will not be judged…
I consider myself to be a hunter of over 50 years. But what gives me or any human the right to kill other living things? If we hunt and kill for anything other than survival, is it morally and/or ethically right? Wow! This would be especially true of us sport hunters. Taking that up a step, hunting for a trophy is even more unethical. Killing any living thing so one can have it stuffed to hang it on their wall and pound their chests about how superior they were to the dead, stuffed creature. But were we superior at all?
Considering even more, the noble and majestic African lion seems to be more important than a mouse or cockroach in one’s house. Aren’t they all creatures from the creator (God) just as we were? We don’t think twice about exterminating vermin in or near our homes.
Another comparison is beef from cattle raised/fed on a feed lot. Add to them is the veal from calves. Not all calves and mature cows are raised in family-friendly environments. Personally I “killed” an American bison for meat. It wasn’t much of a hunt at all. Was it unethical? Not to me, my family is still enjoying the bison meat. Now, if I went to a ranch in Texas or New Mexico and paid for the privilege of hunting bison for a couple days, would that be hunting if it had a 95% or better chance of success? Is that unethical?
The lion is an apex predator as are humans. In a fair fight, the lion will win every time. But man uses his intelligence to develop weapons superior to the lion’s vision, claws, teeth, strength and speed. Modern humans stack the odds in their favor. Most wild lions are hunted from a blind with a scoped high powered rifle. I am not discounting the huge amount of work require to slay and hang bait in multiple locations. Nor do I think that when a shoot-able lion appears on the bait it is necessarily very easy to shoot accurately. But a lion on bait doesn’t know a hunter is pursuing it. If it did, it would not even come close to the bait. Is that fair? If it is not fair how can it be ethical? Isn’t that like shooting another man in the back?
And who is doing the hunting? The PH plans the strategy of the hunt. The trackers execute most of the tactical portion up until the PH tells the “hunter” which animal to shoot. Then the hunter shoots and hopefully makes a clean kill. So, who is really hunting and how is just killing?
Captive bread lions (CBL) are bread to be hunted and killed. So are cows, chickens, pigs, and gosh know what else that most people, most hunters regularly consume. We eat meat from creatures that only exist to feed us. Other than PETA, who cares? How are those creatures any different than CBL lions? We do however follow the trackers pursuing those lions. I found that to be a satisfying hunt even it my chances at success were very near 100%.
Are CBL lions hunted or just slaughtered like beef cattle? Well, personally I would not try to place a captive bolt pistol (
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captive_bolt_pistol ) against a lion’s head. Chances are it would be snacking on my arm!
Are CBL lions trophies? They are for some hunters (yes hunters) but certainly not for the record books. For others, CBL lions will always be a stain on other “real” hunters. The difference is a matter of one’s perception.
Some subjects are best for people to agree to disagree. Otherwise it is so easy to judge others, to disrespect them for believing and practicing something different. I think that is the route of tribalism, hate, and many of the problems in this world.
As hunters we have 98% of all in common. Let’s not that the 2% difference divide us which will eventually lead to all of us being conquered by those who truly hate us for what we are and do.
It’s almost as if human nature is pretty consistent across the board.
