The good, the bad, the ugly

Protesters from the Animal Rights Coalition and the Minnesota Animal Liberation organization gathered in front of Dr. Walter J. Palmer's dental practice in Bloomington, Minnesota, this week to display their outrage for the dentist's illegal killing of Cecil the lion in Zimbabwe. The photograph was taken by Glen Stubbe of the Star Tribune. As for the music, which I have used before, write it off to the best I could do given my mood.

 

I hope you comprehend the difference

 

I am certain many people would define me as a "gun nut."

 

By this, I mean I love firearms. I love to look at them, to hold them, to own them, to shoot them, to modify them. I caress them and I kiss them and I talk to them.

 

Being a "firearm aficionado" (I wonder if terminology makes a difference ??), does not mean I love hunting. I was a hunter when I was young and did not know any better. I grew up in a rural community where most men hunted. Although I have not hunted for years, I still do condone it, but only in the sense of this: If you shoot it, you eat it.

I probably would not endorse hunting even to that extent if it were not for the fact that hunters are the greatest force at stopping anti-gun nuts (the opposite of me) from gaining the majority and imposing more and more ridiculous anti-gun laws.

 

Going back to "if you shoot it, you eat it," almost certainly you have heard about or read about the idiot Minnesota dentist -- Walter J. Palmer of Eden Prairie, Minnesota -- who killed Cecil, a half-tame lion which has been the subject of scientific studies for the past thirteen years in Zimbabwe, and who cut off the lion's head for a trophy while leaving the rest of the body to rot beneath the African sun.

Apparently, this impotent ass began with a crossbow and needed a rifle to complete the act. Not only inept, but unqualified to claim the title of legitimate hunter -- as so many are these days. I would wager our root canal man does not have a military background where shooting goes in both directions. These types generally are cowards trying to prove to themselves that they are not.

Frankly, if the guy wants a real trophy hunt, I would be happy to offer him one .... but, I suppose that would be politically incorrect. Anyway .... he should be pitied as well as scorned ....

 

Hunters, men or women, who are pure and simple trophy hunters are among the scum of the earth in my opinion. Rude as it might be, I would spit in the face of any trophy hunter whose path might cross mine.

 

For those of you who have never hunted, let me tell you it is easy for anyone who devotes a bit of time to study and to practice. Ever hear the cliché, "Easy as shooting fish in a barrel?" Well, that is hunting in this day and age.

Rifles, for instance, often have telescopic sights with range finders or laser sights. Populations of wild game are at the highest levels they have been in decades. It is amazing how tame many wild animals have become because they live in such close proximity to "humankind."

 

Let me repeat: I think trophy hunters are among the scum of the earth. This does mean I consider a hunter who shoots a deer or an antelope, for instance, and who mounts the head to be a trophy hunter if he also eats the deer or the antelope. That is the key, the difference, from my perspective.

 

In fact, it would seem to me that hunters who actually shoot and butcher some of the meat they eat are more honest and less hypocritical than are those individuals who condemn all hunting, but who still enjoy their home-grilled steak and fast-food hamburger. It amazes me and mystifies me how and why so many people are capable of self-delusion.

Way beyond that, I can remember Thanksgiving dinners in the past where an assortment of wild game shot and dressed by me while still a boy was a thoroughly enjoyed part of the menu and appreciated just as much as the farm-bred turkey which was the centerpiece of the meal.

 

Simply my opinion ....