Boy: O Wise Hunter, how can I learn to respect animals and
to respect life?
Hunter: Buy a rifle and get a hunting license. Then hunt
the animals down and kill them.
Boy: And that will help me attain a respect for animals
and for life?
Hunter: Yes, of course it will, boy. Plus, if you go
hunting with your father or your grandfather, then you can really bond
with them.
Boy: But couldn't I bond with them at a baseball game or
at an amusement park?
Hunter: I guess so. But then you couldn't kill anything.
Boy: O Wise Hunter, what happens to some of the deer
during the winter?
Hunter: Well, some of the weak ones starve to death. And
that's a very cruel way to die. So - instead - hunters shoot some deer,
cut off their heads for trophies, dismember their bodies and eat their
flesh in order to save them from the cruelties.
Boy: But, uh, uh, how come hunters never shoot starving
deer - only big, healthy ones?
Hunter: Uh, uh, uh, boy. Now you just keep quiet about
that.
Boy: And another thing, Wise One, if hunters were really
concerned about starving animals, wouldn't they feed them?
Hunter: Let me get this right, boy. You're saying that we
should be feeding starving deer - instead of killing them? But�
Boy: Is it true, Wise Hunter, that deer-car accidents have
more than tripled over the past 30 years?
Hunter: Well, uh, yeah.
Boy: But I thought hunters killed deer in order to reduce
the herd so deer-car accidents would decrease.
Hunter: Well, uh, you sure ask a lot of questions, boy.
Boy: O Wise Hunter, how come the Department of Natural
Resources always promotes the killing of animals?
Hunter: Well, just between you and me, the hunting
community and the DNR are allies. You know, real good buddies.
Boy: You mean most of the people who work for the DNR -
hunt?
Hunter: Yes, of course, boy. And those fees from the
hunting licenses - around 90 percent of that money goes toward the hiring
of DNR officers and the marketing of programs to recruit young people,
like yourself, into the hunting community.
Boy: What about the commission that oversees the DNR in
Michigan?
Hunter: You mean, the Natural Resources Commission?
Boy: Yes, Wise Hunter.
Hunter: Well, uh, eight of the nine commissioners 'live to
hunt and hunt to live!'
Boy: Ohhh. You mean, people who hunt make decisions about
the fate of wild animals?
Hunter: Now, now, boy. You just keep that bit of
information to yourself.
Boy: Would hunters ever try to conserve some of the land
if they couldn't hunt on it?
Hunter: Let me get this right, boy. You mean, we should
just conserve some of the land and some of the animals that live on that
land for the heck of it - with no killing. Uh, that would be a pretty kind
gesture of humanity.
Boy: I know, Wise Hunter, I know.
Hunter: Well, uhhh�
Boy: O Wise Hunter, how can I help advance the, uh, sport
of hunting?
Hunter: Tell people to have compassion for hunters.
Boy: You mean, tell people to have compassion for those
who have no compassion?
Hunter: Yes, boy.
Boy: But, uh, wise hunter, these things you say make no
sense.
Hunter: I know, boy, I know. But if we say these things
enough, the public will eventually believe us and then they will make
sense.
Boy: Ohhh!
Source: Gary Yourofsky -
[email protected]
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