Palin hurts hunting

Sarah Palin hurts, not helps hunting

As if we hadn't already heard enough of Sarah Palin...  Honestly, I try hard not to talk about Palin because I think she gets way too much exposure in the media already.  In the interest of full disclosure, I must admit I despise her.  I think she hurts the causes of conservatives, women,  firearms ownership, and now hunting...




On her new TV show, Sarah Palin's Alaska, Palin attempts to shoot a caribou.  Now I don't have any information on the background of that animal or how that scene was shot, but as an experienced hunter, I have some real problems with it.

• - I've never seen an animal stand there and stare at you while to take six  shots at it (that's right, it took her six).  Judging from the behavior of the animal, I wouldn't be suprised if Palin violated some hunting ethics in harvesting that animal.  Specifically, I wonder if the hunt was a fair chase.
• - It was obvious she had never fired that weapon before and was not familiar with how it works or how to operate it.  "Hey Dad, does it kick?"   She didn't know if the rifle she was about to shoot would have a strong recoil, and she needed help operating the action of the weapon before she could fire it.

Now it's bad enough ignorant asshats like PETA attack hunting and hunters rights, but Palin causes douche bags like Aaron Sorkin to speak up and reveal they know absolutely nothing about hunting, or the disgusting nightmare that is our commercial food distribution complex.  Apparently Sorkin would prefer to eat a Big Mac made with meat from animals gorged on feed lots, pumped full of steroids and antibiotics, and then executed rather than wild game that lived a free life and died in a fair chase.

As far as I'm concerned, Sorkin can have his Big Mac, but he needs to shut up about hunting until he makes the effort to learn something about it, and Palin needs to take Barbra's advice and stay in Alaska...

Here are the facts Sorkin obviously hasn't discovered yet...

1.  Hunting is not animal cruelty.  It's actually just the opposite.  Just like humans, all animals die. Unlike humans, most wild animals don't have the benefit of modern medical services.  Wild animals will eventually die from one of the following causes:
     - Disease: like chronic wasting disease
     - Injury:  Deer frequently die from being hit by cars while trying to cross roads
     - Starvation: Many animals die of starvation every year because more animals are born in the spring than the land can support through the winter.  This ensures the survival of the species.
     - Predation: wolves, coyotes, big cats, predatory birds, domestic animals, poachers, and hunters are all examples of how animals are killed by predators.

If the hunter doesn't kill an animal, the animal will die as a result of one of those 4 causes.

2.  The ethical hunter strives to intimately know and practice with their equipment and weapons to ensure the animal receives a clean kill.  The animal doesn't always receive a clean kill, but that is the goal.

What manner of death would you prefer:  A bullet killing you cleanly and quickly, or a cackle of hyenas tearing you apart while you die slowly and painfully?

3.  Through natural selection, a hunter culling the herd results in stronger, faster, smarter animals that become harder to hunt every year.

4.  Hunters do more to conserve wild habitat than any other group through self imposed/support taxes on hunting supplies and equipment, as well as through charitable donations through organizations like Ducks Unlimited, California Waterfowl Association, and Quail Unlimited.  There are many more, but those three are my favorites.

When he has finished his Big Mac, Aaron Sorkin can suck it...