...I have a question. First, let me say I understand how some people become convinced that hunting is a cheap and efficient way to put food on the table. I disagree, but I understand how people come to such conclusions, I think. (Why do I disagree? It requires far less labour/calory to maintain a decent garden or green house. Such labour would also be increasingly less labour intensive and more productive in subsequent years. Furthermore, the nutrition obtained from a diversity of garden vegetables is far superior than what might be obtained from repeated "game" hunting.)My question, then, is for those hunters who hunt exclusively for sport, or who use their "kills" to supplement otherwise adequate food availability. WHAT ON EARTH IS IT ABOUT HUNTING THAT GETS YOU SO JAZZED? While I could (and will) hypothesize on this, but I would prefer some anecdotal comments.
My suspicions about the answer are based partly on the choice of terminology, partly on hunting's more recent history, and partly on what I've witnessed of hunting culture. Firstly, the term "game" seems to give it away. I know men are raised to be overly aggressive, and this does not bode well for anyone. They need "games". These games include hockey, boxing, football, and many other highly competitive, aggressive, violent sports. They also include violent video games. It always seems to be the violent ones that sell. They also include war games. (I know most of this from first hand experience. I was once a boy, and I played guns, I played hockey, I played violent video and role playing games. Somehow, despite being socialized into wanting to play these games, I grew less and less interested, to the point that I now see them as pointless, destructive pass-times.) The violent "games" also seem to include taking the lives away from "game" animals.
I have heard hunters talk about the rush of having a deer in their sights, I have heard these MEN brag about their ability (or rather, their gun's ability, with guidance) to "pick a deer off of that hill way over there." All I can think of is some little boy wondering why the god he hears about in church every week seems to be picking on him. I think of that boy growing up feeling powerless, resentful, and angry. I think of that boy wanting to be able to exert control, and more importantly, power over another living being. I think of how that boy looks around for some violent way to do so without breaking the law. I see that boy, now a man, buying a gun and making a HOBBY of killing beautiful living beings who have made no transgression against him and who have no choice in the matter. I think of how likely it is that in a different world, with different laws, a boy such as this might be making a hobby of killing humans. There were times when some humans were considered to be "less human", and killing them was not a crime, or when it was a crime, it was often not treated as such.
Tell me why you need your tools of aggression?
