All Game, No Sport

Hunting for pleasure is considered a sport by many. Somehow the idea never goes down well with me. I have heard people brag about their skills of killing for pleasure. I for one don’t hold any respect for these individuals. Here’s my two cents on this subject.

My idea of a sport is when both parties are equally equipped, aware, competitive and fair. Any game without these pre-conditions cannot be considered a sport. You hold a gun in your hand against an unsuspecting animal/bird, and credit yourself as ‘skilled’ when the poor soul is hit by your bullet. What’s the challenge about that? The real deal is when you fight someone equivalent, else it’s just a lop-sided venture that will leave you an inflated ego and a carcass to hang on your ‘wall of fame’ (I’d rather call it the ‘wall of shame’).

A sport can never be harmful for any of the competitors. The whole idea of calling it a ‘sport’ is that. ‘Sport’ is a positive word. It brings nations, races and cultures together. We are all one when we compete healthy. If there is loss of life then sport becomes ‘war’. It becomes negative, atleast in the way I see it. Taking a life, that too just for your personal pleasure, can never be justified, and much less categorized as a sport.

And now we come to the less-talked about issue. As long as it’s not a human life, it does not matter. If an American soldier dies in Iraq it makes the headlines. But what is the value for an animal’s life? Much less thought can be granted to a bird. There will be no uproar and more importantly, no consequences on meaninglessly taking these lives. And so they are of no value to us, right? Wrong. After so many species going extinct because of the human race, and still so many more on the brink of extinction, we still haven’t got the point. The convenient pretence of ignorance is just a cover-up for having fun at the expense of a life lost in vain. Sure, there are laws against the killing of endangered species. So what do we do now? We kill the un-endangered ones. We don’t stop the killing, we just switch the game. Almost as easy as switching brands.

The way the targets are caught cold in their moment of weakness and then shot at is inhumane. Most of the times, the animal is blinded by sharp headlights of a vehicle and then mercilessly shot down. A woodpecker is whistled at, so that he freezes in attention, is easily spotted, and gunned down. A flock of flying birds is an easy target, and one of them is brought down to the ground and separated from his flock by a gunshot. The bullet is bound to hit atleast one of them.

Just because someone gave you a license to possess a gun, does not mean you have a license to kill. Life is precious, no matter whose life it is. There are hundreds of other sports that you can hone your skills with. We have caused enough damage to the ecological system and the food chains. It’s time to let the animals run free in the wild, and the birds fly home every year with their flock. It’s their right to be, they are as alive as we are.