Thursday, June 15, 2006
World "Hunting" Association?
Not your father's version of fair chase
Last week saw the announcement of a new organization billing itself as the "World Hunting Association". The WHA has aspirations of becoming the hunter's version of the Bassmasters tour, with a competitive hunting tour and prize money in the $600,000 range offered to "hunters" that can shoot the biggest deer with tranquilizer darts. The WHA has five of their ten contestants signed on for the show and is currently "looking all over the country for professional hunters who are strategic, intelligent and adaptive, and who ideally have been in front of the camera before", according to David Farbman, a Michigan real estate developer and commissioner of the league.
This non-fatal hunting "tour" will initially be held at the Lost Arrow Ranch in Gladwin, Michigan and will consist of a number of "major tournament events" in which contestants will earn points for darting the biggest deer, which will then be given a thorough examination by a veterinarian before being revived and sent on its way. Viewers will be able to learn more about the hunters and the animals they shoot by visiting the WHA's website. Farbman, founder of the WHA and also billed as its CEO, states that negotiations are under way with television networks for broadcast and Pay-per-View rights to the competition.
The WHA is imagining itself as a professional sports league of sorts, with sponsors, branded advertising and major prize money. Are they kidding? Do they really believe that today's hunter would have any interest in this program? Do I want to utilize my precious time to watch so-called "hunters" shoot deer with tranquilizer darts behind high fences? Heck no. And I am not the only one. Archery and hunting sites on the internet have been abuzz with negative comments about the WHA since the first press release came out last week, leading some of the WHA's initial sponsors, including G5 Outdoors, Eastman Outdoors and Gorilla Treestands to rethink their sponsorship of the WHA in a "Uh-oh, better do it now before its too late" type of damage control.
Hunting is not a spectator sport, nor is it catch and release. To make an attempt at applying these philosophies to deer hunting just shows how out of touch with reality some people in the hunting community have become. The pressure to produce quality footage of large bucks for the outdoors television and video markets has caused many an ethical hunter to prostitute him or herself for the almighty dollar by passing off high-fence captive deer hunts as real-world fair chase events. The WHA smacks of pomposity and indifference to today's ethical, conservation-minded hunter.
While the organization insists that "The WHA will enhance the image and experience of hunting today and for the generations of tomorrow", nothing could be further from the truth. Enhancement of a positive hunting image will come from ethical, thoughtful programming and ideals that remind the viewer of the true motivations behind hunting- conservation, ethics, fair chase and the common-bond fellowship that all true hunters share.
Last week saw the announcement of a new organization billing itself as the "World Hunting Association". The WHA has aspirations of becoming the hunter's version of the Bassmasters tour, with a competitive hunting tour and prize money in the $600,000 range offered to "hunters" that can shoot the biggest deer with tranquilizer darts. The WHA has five of their ten contestants signed on for the show and is currently "looking all over the country for professional hunters who are strategic, intelligent and adaptive, and who ideally have been in front of the camera before", according to David Farbman, a Michigan real estate developer and commissioner of the league.
This non-fatal hunting "tour" will initially be held at the Lost Arrow Ranch in Gladwin, Michigan and will consist of a number of "major tournament events" in which contestants will earn points for darting the biggest deer, which will then be given a thorough examination by a veterinarian before being revived and sent on its way. Viewers will be able to learn more about the hunters and the animals they shoot by visiting the WHA's website. Farbman, founder of the WHA and also billed as its CEO, states that negotiations are under way with television networks for broadcast and Pay-per-View rights to the competition.
The WHA is imagining itself as a professional sports league of sorts, with sponsors, branded advertising and major prize money. Are they kidding? Do they really believe that today's hunter would have any interest in this program? Do I want to utilize my precious time to watch so-called "hunters" shoot deer with tranquilizer darts behind high fences? Heck no. And I am not the only one. Archery and hunting sites on the internet have been abuzz with negative comments about the WHA since the first press release came out last week, leading some of the WHA's initial sponsors, including G5 Outdoors, Eastman Outdoors and Gorilla Treestands to rethink their sponsorship of the WHA in a "Uh-oh, better do it now before its too late" type of damage control.
Hunting is not a spectator sport, nor is it catch and release. To make an attempt at applying these philosophies to deer hunting just shows how out of touch with reality some people in the hunting community have become. The pressure to produce quality footage of large bucks for the outdoors television and video markets has caused many an ethical hunter to prostitute him or herself for the almighty dollar by passing off high-fence captive deer hunts as real-world fair chase events. The WHA smacks of pomposity and indifference to today's ethical, conservation-minded hunter.
While the organization insists that "The WHA will enhance the image and experience of hunting today and for the generations of tomorrow", nothing could be further from the truth. Enhancement of a positive hunting image will come from ethical, thoughtful programming and ideals that remind the viewer of the true motivations behind hunting- conservation, ethics, fair chase and the common-bond fellowship that all true hunters share.
