Last year, an obviously rabid – but completely brainwashed animal rights supporter – protested, in a Los Angeles newspaper, that – if they really wanted meat to eat – it was not necessary for hunters to kill wild animals. All they had to do, he said, was to visit their local supermarkets where they could buy perfectly good meat in a plastic wrapper – meat that was clean and fresh and that can be procured without anybody having the need to kill an animal.
This little story may be hilarious to those who know where meat in the supermarket comes from, but it illustrates the complete lack understanding that many people who live in the inner cities of the Western World have, with regards to the realities of life. These are the kinds of people who fall ready victim to animal rights propaganda. Nevertheless, the question remains: why do people hunt?
People hunt for many different reasons: for the thrill of the chase; for the challenge that hunting affords them; to get out of the office and back into nature; in pursuit of trophies (not necessarily the biggest and the best); for the camaraderie that comes with sharing a camp and the great outdoors with like-minded friends; and to obtain meat to eat, or meat to turn into biltong. And there are many more such reasons.
Many hunters, on the other hand, cherish the opportunity to hunt alone – or alone with just one of their sons. They like the idea of pursuing an elusive wild quarry in its own territory and on its own terms. THIS is how many hunters like to commune with nature; collecting their own meat as man has done since time began; processing the carcass and cutting it up themselves; and taking it home to the family deep freeze. And they like the fact that the venison they procure is lean and pure: that is has matured in nature without supplementary grain-feeding; without hormone treatments; and with no expenditure of fossil fuels.
Hunters don’t like to fight the anti-hunters – all the time – because that action belittles their need for solitude in the open veld, and the enjoyment of their mystical hunting passion. That very fact, however, leaves them greatly exposed to censure in the public domain by the anti-hunters: who don’t understand the first thing about hunters or their sport; and who, anyway, have a totally different agenda. But the TGA does understand the hunter; it knows all about the anti-hunters; and it has pledged to fight them on every hunter’s behalf. All that the TGA would like in return is that hunters join the TGA so that their membership fees can be used to help do battle with the implacable enemy.
