Why I Hate Hunting (And No, This Has Nothing To Do With Killing Animals [Though I Do Hate It For That Reason Also])

So moving to Bend, OR has been a wonderful choice for Carrie and I. We love the new town, the new activities we get to do, the social environment Bend creates, and yes, we both even like our new jobs. But one thing that has become so annoying about this town is everyone’s obsession with hunting.

Now, I realize that all four of you who read this blog know that I am a vegetarian and over the past few years have become more and more of an animal activist. But I’ll spare you the animal rights discussion for now and simply highlight some of my observations that prove that hunting is lame.

First, (and I realize that this really only applies to teachers) but why the hell do dads think it is okay to take their sons on a nine day hunting trip during the school year? For real? Nine days? Is that really necessary? You want to take your kid on a hunting trip? Fine, but make it a three-day weekend and call it good. The message being sent to these students is that going out and shooting a defenseless Bambi look-a-like with a high-powered rifle and a Buschnell scope is more important than the knowledge being taught at school.

Second, hunting is simply unfair. A deer, whose best defense is running, up against a guy whose spent an entire day staking out a hiding spot in a tree with state of the art camouflaging, a gun that can shoot faster and more powerful than ever before, and a scope that magnifies by 1000%. Its just ridiculous.

The worst part about it though, is that these men (and now their boys) feel such a sense of empowerment by killing Bambi. A better model for their sons on how to be a TRUE MAN would be treating their wife with love, working on their homework with their sons, or showing compassion toward people (and maybe even animals!).