What follows are comments from a reader on Guy’s previous blog, ‘World Record Imposter’. Special thanks to Clay Beard for this submission. See previous post for Guy’s original comments.

I just saw your internet column posting on the “double-fake” elk being sent around cyberspace as a supposed new world record.While interesting,what really caught my eye were your strong and unashamed comments against “game-farms” and in support of fair chase hunting. It reminded me of why myself and so many other hunters support Eastman’s in every way we can. You guys have carried the banner high for fair chase hunting for as long as I can remember and this hunter is very grateful to you for it.

While other magazines and TV shows have succumbed to the temptation of getting quick kills and big animals by hunting genetically engineered penned-up animals,you guys not only don’t engage in those practices but make fair chase hunting the centerpiece of the Eastman’s philosophy.(And,thankfully, you and those of us who feel the same way appear to be having an impact,as I notice more and more magazines and TV shows are touting their adherance to free-range,fair chase hunting.)

Anyway, I feel so strongly about this issue which is having a profound effect on hunting in my home state of Texas that I wrote the article below that I thought I would share with you.I edited it to remove its direct application only to Texas in case you wanted to share it with your readers.I hope you find it a good read.

“HUNTING AT THE CROSSROADS”

Hunters face a crisis that threatens to destroy hunting. It is 8 feet tall, made of posts and hog wire.It is the high, game-proof fence.

Where We Are.

Millions of acres of wildlife habitat are already enclosed by high fences. In my native state of Texas alone, over 16 million acres are already high fenced.On one section of road in central Texas high fences stretch for over 70 miles! High fenced game farms and ranches dot the landscape all across the country.Advertisements with unbelievable group photos of multiple Boone and Crockett scoring bucks and bulls fill hunting magazines and the animals taken on some hunting shows with stunning regularity defy belief, all the result of hunting genetically engineered animals behind game-proof fences.

How Did We Get Here?

High fences are not new.They began going up in Texas nearly 50 years ago.But the past 20 years have seen an unprecedented boom in high fenced game farms.In many states(like Texas) this process has been aided by state leaders and legislatures at the behest of a few financially and politically powerful individuals.

High fences are directly contrary to the view that wildlife cannot be privately owned but is everyone’s resource. This concept is uniquely American and was a central reason our forefathers came to these shores.In most states this concept is codified into law, yet it is simply being ignored.

The proliferation of game farms has taken place over the protest of the average hunter. Surveys show hunters rate high fences as one of their top concerns for the future of hunting.

We are at the crossroads.

Why The Fences?

The reasons for the increased number of game farms are as straightforward as they are powerful. On the one hand, a growing number of time-crunched “trophy hunters” want to kill a bull or buck with a high Boone and Crockett score to put on the wall, and they are willing to pay for the privilege.On the other, an also-growing number of landowners are more than willing to accommodate them.This is done by “managing” their land for big animals beyond its normal carrying capacity and breeding big-antlered animals in pens, which are either released onto their property or sold to another game breeder.

For the landowners, there is money to be made both ways.On many ranches, animals to be taken are “sold” by their size, with prices ranging up to $20,000 and beyond for a so-called “world class” animal. Some ranches even let the “hunters” see videos to pick out their prospective quarry before they go afield. The deragatory term “cull” animal is used to describe a less desirable animal that needs to be removed from the herd.(As an aside, one “guide” on a well known elk ranch told me that the “hunters” needed to sneak up on the elk not to avoid spooking them,but so the animals would not see them and approach the unsuspecting “hunter” looking for food since they had been pen-raised and had no fear of humans.I was so disgusted I was rendered speechless.)

Also, pen-kept “breeder” animals with good antler genetics routinely sell for tens of thousands of dollars. One breeder buck here in Texas sold in August of 2004 for $450,000! Even the semen of these animals brings a hefty price. It is the high fence that makes all this possible.

In short, dollars are greasing the skids of high-fenced game farming. Why Should Hunters Care?

A crisis for hunters exists because what goes on behind these fences is not hunting. In fact, it threatens to destroy the future of hunting.

Hunting is the pursuit of free-ranging, wild animals. Fair chase. Aldo Leupold recognized this. So did Theodore Roosevelt,perhaps our nation’s greatest conservationist and an avid hunter. So should anyone who will get quiet within themselves and reflect on the essence of hunting.Roosevelt even wrote it in the requirements for trophy recognition by the prestigious Boone and Crockett Club.(This creates the ironic situation that a high-fenced animal with a high B & C score is ineligible for that organization’s record book May it ever be so.)

For hunting, there must exist the knowledge that the animal can escape and that the hunter’s and quarry’s path intersected because nature intended it, and for no other reason. Anything else is not hunting. Shooting? Yes. Harvesting? OK. Killing? Certainly. But not hunting. It is artificial. It is a facsimile. It is big business. But it is NOT hunting.

This trend mirrors others in society at large which increasingly seeks cheap thrills, instant gratification, and rewards without work. That high-fenced animal on the wall is like a trophy bought at a store rather than one earned by skill, perseverance, and,yes, a little luck. No honest argument can be made otherwise.

It is amazing how many have been lured by the siren’s song of the high fence. Perhaps most notably, high-profile TV sportsmen film many of their shows behind them,enticed by the necessity to film and kill a big animal within certain time constraints. This, in turn, makes it seem acceptable to others who watch them and the media who promote them(both television and print).It is a never-ending cycle, with the players in the drama unwilling to face the hard question (Is this really hunting?) because to do so would hurt their egos,their pocketbooks, or both.

Where Do We Go From Here?

High-fence “hunters” should pause to recognize their folly and stop hunting behind them. The rest of us must publicly oppose the practice,as Eastman’s has been doing for all these years.(I am pleased to note that recently more and more TV shows are following Eastman’s lead and proudly stating their commitment to fair chase hunting.)

Why? Because nothing less than the future of hunting lies in the balance. We are losing habitat and ,even worse, true hunters. While I normally share the sentiment that all hunters must stick together to promote hunting in a postive light and defend it at any cost,this particular issue must be the exception.Why? Because the continuation and growth of high-fence hunting can end up in only two possible scenarios. Either:

1) The end of all hunting, swept away in the tide of public opinion because the nonhunters who make up 60% of the public will join the 20% of anti-hunters, armed with the proof provided by game farms that we are more interested in killing than anything else; or

2) “Hunting” will become the playground of only the wealthy and sterilized to the point that little real hunting exists.

Either way, all real hunters lose. Please think about it. Please act by sharing your views and promoting fair chase hunting. Patronize only those who (like Eastman’s) also support fair chase.Contact your government representatives.Encourage groups who support game farms and recognize animals taken behind high fences to stop. Do all you can to end this practice. The future of hunting is at stake.

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