Ethical Hunters

I saw a video that really bothered me; men posing as compassionate heroes, and getting so many views and comments labeling them as such… but they’re in fact, murderers.

I won’t share the video, because I don’t want to do them the service of getting them more “views” which today is as good as getting many gold coins, right? But if you really wish to look it up, you can find it online. It will probably come up easily if you search, hunters save deer from fence… or ethical hunters save deer from fence. Because that’s what they’re labeled as… ethical hunters. Can you imagine? What a phrase. Right up there with “jumbo shrimp” and “60% of the time it works every time.”

So, this is what happens in the video. These hunters are out, with their gear, with their guns, ready to kill some deer. But they come across a deer who has his foot stuck in a fence. He’s trapped. So, the hunters being the “ethical hunters” that they are, go over to help the deer. Now, I do appreciate this… helping an animal in need. And they slowly approach, trying to keep the deer calm, and they remove his foot from the fence.

And you watch the video and they absolutely want you to feel as if your heart strings are being pulled on and they hope to make you go “aww, those kind men.” But these dudes just rolled out here with large guns strapped to their bodies ready to go murder animals. How does one overlook this? How does anyone say the phrase “ethical hunters” and not throw up from laughter immediately after?

The idea that they wouldn’t kill a defenseless animal… the animal was trapped… they’d never kill it. That wouldn’t be ethical of us. That wouldn’t be sportsmanlike of us. Okay, is it sportsmanlike to go shoot an animal in the woods that’s just out there living its life? Has the animal entered into an agreement with you and it knows its game to be shot? No. The animal likely doesn’t know what you’re doing with a gun. It is the equivalent to a sucker punch. You’re out there sucker punching deer. The “ethical hunting” makes it sound like they wouldn’t kill a wounded or defenseless animal but if the animal isn’t trapped then it’s fair game. It’s still not fair, or ethical, or sportsmanlike. What would be fair is if the hunters previously met up with the deer, gave them guns, trained them to use the guns, then set a date and time when they’d meet in the woods, and then go at it. You, ethical hunters with guns, and the deer with guns, and we see who makes it out alive.

That’s a fair fight.

I don’t understand that they won’t shoot a trapped deer but they’ll shoot one that isn’t trapped. It’s still defenseless. It’s worse than bringing a knife to a gun fight. It’s bringing a set of hooves to a long-distance gun fight.

Now, I am an animal lover, and I am glad the men saved the deer. Truly. And then there is a part of the video that occurs after they free the deer’s foot. It freaks out a little bit, and then it relaxes, and it just stands there. It looks at the men on the other side of the fence and it sort of leans over towards them. The man reaches over and the deer leans in and allows the man to scratch his head. He even asks for the man to scratch his head!

And that’s the tender moment they want you to see and go “aww, look at how sweet that is” because the deer thanked the man for saving him. And the deer did thank the man for saving him. The deer knew how to express gratitude. Deer, and all animals, are truly much more intelligent than humans at large give them credit for being. It is an astounding moment…

…from the side of the deer. Not of the man. I love the videos where someone just helps an animal out of the kindness of their heart and then the animal expresses gratitude. Not a video where a man was intent on killing an animal with his gun, but then saved a trapped animal, and the animal expressed gratitude, and then everyone acts like all is well and fine.

Had the deer not been trapped… had the deer just been standing in the woods… this man would have shot and killed it. We’re supposed to think of him as compassionate solely because the deer was so unfortunate to get his foot stuck in a fence? If the fence wasn’t there… this deer never would’ve gotten caught… and this man would’ve killed the deer. We should be thanking the fence!

And by the way, I can be swayed from my opinion… under one condition. And I do hope this is exactly what happened. I just don’t think it is what happened. But I hope that the men saved the deer from the fence, experienced that sweet moment where the deer showed gratitude and leaned in and asked for his head to be scratched, and then the man scratched the deer’s head… and then the men saw how intelligent and caring these animals are… and then they said, “You know what? These animals are magnificent. We shouldn’t be hunting them.” And then they sold their guns and vowed to never hunt again.

If that is not what happened… THEN I DON’T GIVE A SHIT ABOUT YOUR “HEARTWARMING” ETHICS.

Because if these men continued to hunt, then what happened? They had a heartwarming moment with the deer. And then a week later they came out hunting again and blasted bullets into another deer. Or… since I am sure they’re not able to distinguish this deer from any of the others… it’s very likely they come back out in a week’s time or two week’s time… and kill the very deer that they had that special moment with! Because they won’t know the difference between these deer.

So, why is this heartwarming? Why does anybody say “ethical hunting” with a serious face?

I do hope this video prompted these men to stop hunting. Or it prompted other people who watched it to stop hunting. That would be truly amazing if that happened. I just don’t believe it.

The human race, as a whole, is so close to coming to some very strong realizations… but they sometimes just CANNOT push themselves over that edge. Some of it is the fault of these people, but a lot of it is stuff that came long before us, and it isn’t our fault. We’re brainwashed into thinking certain things are okay, these things have been set in society for many, many years before we were even a thought. I used to have trouble comprehending some of that stuff. But videos like this… they’re so close to just opening our eyes as a whole. So close. We can just never make that necessary jump. Like, why do I say “aww that’s so sweet” at a HUNTER saving a deer from being stuck in a fence… but I then, don’t think… but he would’ve killed him had he not been trapped… and that should be considered the opposite, right? So, that should be considered bad?

Why do our insides melt as we watch a video of a dog being saved… while we justify hunting as “population control” and gnaw on a hamburger? Why is it not clicking? Why are we so happy to see the deer get saved? And why do we applaud the men who set out that day to kill deer? Why is it not clicking?

Because it’s all normal. It’s all always happened this way so it must all be normal. Right? Things just are a certain way before our birth so we must just accept them. Right? The way things were in America in the 1700’s and 1800’s… new people came along… were born into a certain world… and they just accepted the way things were, right? Nope. In the mid 1900’s… people were born, grew into young adults… and they accepted the United States as it was around them, with all its laws, right? Nope.

I guess it is hard to untrain yourself when you’ve been trained to be a certain way your whole life. When you’ve had influences around you your entire life. But hard doesn’t mean impossible. It is very possible.