From the Outdoor Wire for today (June 13th)...
Last week's announcement of a World Hunting Association, billed as the
"finest hunters competing for hundreds of thousands of dollars in prize
money" has generated more than its fair share of controversy.
Immediately after The Outdoor Wire's running a release concerning the WHA
and its plans to hold an inaugural event this fall at Gladwin, Michigan's
Lost Arrow Ranch, world-renowned hunting experts started checking in on the
idea. Not many have favored what some opponents call "catch-and-release
hunting".
A brief pass through the myriad of websites dedicated to bowhunting,
although non-scientific, does give something of an insight into the position
of the more vocal hunters. With very few exceptions (the exceptions are
being excoriated by their fellow archers), the idea is being pilloried as
being contrary to the best interests of hunters or deer.
The reasons are as varied as the writing styles, but seem to center on the
fact that tranquilizing the animals, although done on a regular basis by
wildlife managers, poses a significant risk to the deer being "darted".
Further, wildlife managers use air rifles for darting, not bows as is
apparently being proposed by the WHA. Other reasons include the argument
that tranquilizing animals "isn't hunting" and fears that the whole idea
would be seen as just one more indication of the "low-intelligence and moral
fiber" of all hunters.
Others, including a world-renowned hunter, big game guide and archery
expert, have reacted strongly to the idea. These experts point out that
"blunting" deer with archery equipment poses significant risks of delayed
injuries that would be serious enough to eventually kill "darted" animals.
In an open letter to the Michigan Veterinarian Medical Association and the
Michigan Deparment of Natural Resources, Dr. Thomas Caceci, Associate
Professor of Biomedical Sciences & Pathobiology and Director of the
Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine and the VMRCVM
Morphology Research Laboratory requests an investigation into the World
Hunting Association, and it's "bizarre plan to conduct a 'catch-and-release'
deer hunt using chemical restraint techniques."
"Any veterinarian is well aware that the anesthetics used in capture guns
are potentially lethal (even more so to humans than to the animals) and
should not be handled by unqualified individuals; that tranquilizing a wild
animal is by no means a trivial matter, but instead carries a significant
risk of injury and death from trauma or capture myopathy," Dr. Cacei writes,
"repeated tranquilization substantially raises the likelihood of the animal
being permanently injured or killed."
Further, he writes, " I ask that MVMA investigate this situation, to
determine if any licensed veterinarians are involved in the venture, and if
so, that MVMA intervene to prevent them from participating. There is no
possible way that this sort of activity can be consistent with the
Veterinarian's Oath and its promise to "alleviate animal suffering.
Furthermore, I ask that your organization inquire of the appropriate
Michigan authorities as to the legality of having untrained individuals
handling controlled substances; and whether or not what is proposed here
violates the Michigan law that prohibits the use of drugs as a means of
killing or capturing wild animals."
Conversations with whitetail organizations brings the hot-button topic of
high-fence hunting into the discussions. The inaugural event is scheduled
for Lost Arrow Ranch in Gladwin, Michigan. It is a high-fence operation.
Topic: Worst Idea Ever...HUNTING ALERT!!! READ & EMAIL! (Read 60042 times)
