Grizzly Bear Shooting Video Reignites B.C. Hunting Debate

[MikePal]

some interesting comments by Mr. Ellis, the executive director of the Guide Outfitters Association of B.C.

In an hour-long conversation, Mr. Ellis and I debated this subject. I told him I did not think the issue was whether the trophy hunting of grizzlies should be stopped because their numbers are dwindling, rather because it is simply wrong, period. How did his organization defend, on moral grounds, the practice of killing grizzlies for sport?


“We don’t,” Mr. Ellis told me. “We don’t try to morally defend someone’s personal decision. There are people who like it and some who don’t. We have a free country and we have choices. But I think people have this notion that if we stop the trophy hunting of grizzlies, there will be more grizzlies.”

And there might be. But again, I don’t think that is the issue. For most people, the issue revolves around the ethics of what is being done. We used to hang people in the town square; we don’t any more. We have ceased lots of barbaric activities as we have evolved into a civilized society. And when it comes to killing bears for sport, our revulsion was forged long before a video surfaced recently showing a grizzly being shot and tortured by a pair of sport hunters allegedly in B.C.

For what it’s worth, Mr. Ellis said he, too, was offended by what he saw on that video. He said the conduct of the hunters involved was reprehensible and he agreed the negative publicity the video generated likely hurt the reputation of guide outfitters everywhere.

All that said, Mr. Ellis knows political pressure is growing to end the trophy hunt in B.C. He can feel it. He can sense it. And he admits that Premier Christy Clark is likely asking herself whether the 300 grizzlies killed each year for trophy hunting is worth the hit she is taking politically for it.


Mr. Ellis even went as far as to say that people buying guide outfitting operations today should not include grizzly kills in their future profit-and-loss estimates because they likely will not be able to count on that income in the near future. “And that will be a sad day,” he said.

That is quite a shocking admission. Even the head of the province’s guide outfitting association can see the writing on the wall. Even he is preparing his members for the moment when they will no longer be able to rely on the income of wealthy foreigners and others who want to come into the province to kill one of our most iconic creatures just for the fun of it.

read more: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...ticle26552506/

[fratri]

Sounds like he is just going with the flow and giving up. Knowingly or unknowingly, his chosen words are helping to band the hunt.

[seabast]

Sounds like he is just going with the flow and giving up. Knowingly or unknowingly, his chosen words are helping to band the hunt.

Not defending him, but sometime you have to give a finger to save an arm.

[Frosty]

Sounds like he is just going with the flow and giving up. Knowingly or unknowingly, his chosen words are helping to band the hunt.

I agree 100% if he actually said those things in an interview with the media then he did a big **** up. Either you agree with the principle of the right to hunt or you don't, if you can't say anything good about a particular incident then don't say anything at all, conceding in any way that one day our sport could be ended is the flakiest, weakest and most dishonourable thing he could do in his position, he seems politically driven too, if he said those words quoted.

Some people will never understand our HONEST lifestyle as hunters, but conceding all of the time that this is unethical or that is inappropriate absolutely isn't the way to defend ourselves, hunting is the MOST HONEST way to feed your family, do I have to depend upon it to survive, NO, but I'd much rather eat what I do than some pumped up steroid filled beef that lived a crappy life in order to feed me! Oh yes but it's in a nice cellophane wrapper displayed under filtered lighting to make it look red!!!! Oh my god, give me a break, if you have to go through that rigmarole in order to come to terms with the fact that you like to eat meat that comes from a living creature then you really don't have a good platform for argument and ultimately how HONEST is that!

So feet in the air, or 200 yard tracking job, I'll take that any day over what's inside the cellophane and knowing how it lived and died.

[Gun Nut]

Not defending him, but sometime you have to give a finger to save an arm.

seabast, your comment reminded me of a park ranger's advise to some tourist about feeding bears. You can get your self in a mess of trouble he said, because the bear has a bigger appetite than you've got handouts, and when the last food scrape leave your fingers, the next thing that up for grabs is your hand.

You don't stop hunting because you get old. You get old because you stop hunting.
- Gun Nut