Bullfrog, please reread Strietwise and Gerry52’s to name just two thoughtful posts, to think that somehow because they have their own sense of what constitutes ethical hunting implies that they’ve been fooled by the “antis” is foolish. I am thankful that hunters are not required to be lockstep into some group think on hunting ethics. I do disagree with some definitions of trophy hunting and frankly some forms of it, if defended unilaterally by hunters would make us all look bad.
As for your bushmeat hunting comparison by modern Africans to North America Indians subsistence hunting thousands of years ago, it’s simply not comparable. The bushmeat trade refers to the non-traditional hunting of non-game animals for meat. Wild chimpanzees and other forest animals are systematically hunted and sold as meat through markets across Africa and cities across the world. What once was a form of subsistence hunting in rural villages, has now evolved into a commercial trade that has grown in scale over recent decades.People, not necessarily anti hunters, are worried that the bush meat trade could help drive some animals to extinction. That is hardly subsistence hunting comparable to the North American hunters of thousands of years ago or even of Africans a century ago
It is healthy for all of us to have our own definitions of what constitutes ethical hunting. To try and tamp down the discussion is not.
You’re being intellectually dishonest by accusing me trying to “tamp down the discussion” and throwing around buzz worlds like “group think” just because I disagree with you. The only person who has posted a negatively emotional response aimed at anyone in this thread is you. That’s a heck of a thing for you to do, especially considering you’ve only been a member of this forum a few days. That actually makes you the person who’s trying to stifle disagreement.
As for “bush meat”, antis define the term broadly to include any hunting of wild animals “over there” for food. Here is the definition:
“Bushmeat, wildmeat, or game
meat is
meat from non-domesticated mammals, reptiles, amphibians and birds hunted for food in tropical forests.”
That’s the wikipedia definition
See, they define it as the hunting of any animals for food, with the only distinguishing characteristic being that it comes from tropical areas.
The only reason the hunting of a whitetail deer for food isn’t called “bush meat” is because it isn’t happening in Africa.
Now my point has been proven. You had a negatively emotional reaction when I mentioned bush meat because you’ve been conditioned to believe the term is only referring to the illegal commercial trade in certain odd animal meats, when if fact it means any wild meat harvesting “over there.” You reacted just like the antis have conditioned you to thru propaganda campaigns
Its actually pretty racist for us to criticize Africans for doing the same thing we do here with our own wild animals. Its also arrogant for us to dictate to an African what is and isn’t “traditional” for them to hunt. Anyone who knows what sustenance hunting is like in the real world knows that all edible animals are on the menu for people that are hunting for their supper and have been for generations.
