really good article discussing canned hunts

[double lung]

well worth the read

http://www.indystar.com/longform/new...intro/6865031/

[MikePal]

While I do take some of the articles (chapters) with a grain of salt (as they're written with obvious bias) for the most part it rings true of an aspect of hunting that sickens me.

Mr Cook losses all credibility with his claims it's all about bringing home the meat....he is offered FREE does but yet still spends $13K on a buck with a Rack he's picked out of a catalogue prior to the hunt.

Sad little man.

Light was fading on a mild October evening on the edge of the Ozark Mountains, and a hunter and his guide waited inside a box-shaped blind perched on metal legs above a soybean field.


Eight bucks meandered out of the woods.

"Which one am I trying to shoot?" asked Ronnie Cook, the 66-year-old hunter.

"You see him? He's got his head down," hunting guide James Smith whispered as one of the bucks began to nibble on soybeans.

Cook wasn't hunting for just any buck. He wanted a specific animal, one he had selected before the hunt from a collection of photographs at the Oak Creek Whitetail Ranch. It was as if he had selected the perfect trophy from a catalog, each buck with a price tag based on the size of its antlers. Cook's price: $12,900.

For two days, the retired trucker from Benton, Ark., had been looking for his deer on the 1,000-acre fenced preserve. Finally, Cook's trophy turned sideways, presenting its flank — and the vital organs just behind its right shoulder.

Cook's .300 Winchester Magnum rifle roared.

The deer crumpled, heart-shot.

[JMatthews]

Not much sport in that. To each his own I guess.

[jlmorgan]

I like to leave it to lady luck for the trophy and hopefully get a bit of venison for the freezer from whatever else comes along.

[TheBrianX]

I believe at that point it's called shooting, not hunting

[trimmer21]

I believe at that point it's called shooting, not hunting

I call it "shopping". It's bullshyte and gives the anti hunters all the ammo they need. Being in the good ol' USofA,though,if you've got money,you can do whatever the he** you want. The almighty dollar is all that seems to matter.
Oh,BTW,welcome to the forum.

[MikePal]

To each his own I guess.

'
That is however the underlying story, the demand to accommodate the whims of the Mr Cooks of the hunting community is putting the 'wild' population at risk. By transporting Trophy racks/breeding stock back and forth across state lines, the potential to spread disease is increased dramatically. It's no longer "to each his own".....it has the potential to effect everyone.

[GoldenLakePete]

I don't believe that "Canned hunts" have anything to do with actual hunting. TheBrianX (welcome to the Forum) has it right. It's like the English/European style of driven shoots - you have to be a good shot but it's not "hunting"!

[Gamedog]

Yeah it's definitely not hunting in my personal opinion and it certainly does aid in the anti's views of hunting being purely for sport, but that's $13,000 that goes into supporting conservation, just something to think about even if we don't agree with it.

[MikePal]

but that's $13,000 that goes into supporting conservation,.

Well this will be interesting....How do you figure that ?