A Hunting We Will Go

I went to a sporting goods store the other day to pick up a nice sturdy tripod for my scope. Of course, the tripod selection was amongst the hunting stuff. I felt dirty-like I was in the midst of a killing field. I don't know why I had this feeling, as I have been going in these type of stores throughout my life for various items. I guess the salespeople figured me to be a hunter wanting to get a good shot lined up. I don't like to see dead animals posed in death for eternity and looking at me while instruments of death surround me. Seems to me like these animals would be better off in their natural poses-living and doing whatever they do. It takes a bigger person to see the beauty in living creatures without wanting to completely possess them by taking their lives and show them off as some "trophy" to be proud of.

It reminds me of John Audubon's distorted view of birds. He claims to have enjoyed and loved them so much that he had to kill them and take them home to pose them "naturally" for pictures?! This is sick and unnecessary. In my opinion, it is sadly ironic that he has a birding society named after him. Read some of his writings. A fine example is Delineations of American Scenery and Character, New York: G. A. Baker & Co., 1926, pp.181-187.

Photo: http://www.mrinfo.co.za/.../Crafts.htm