“AS a generalization, most hunters love animals, most foresters love trees, most fishermen love fish, most miners love rocks and most farmers love the soil.
“Strong proponents of the intrinsic values of wildlife today tend to be intolerant of any uses of wildlife by people, particularly consumptive uses, because the uses clash with the moral and ethical positions they have adopted.
“It does not make intrinsic or use-values right or wrong, but does tend to confirm that intolerance of values held by other peoples and cultures is the root cause of a great deal of conflict in the world today.”
I’m quoting from page 6 of an interesting new book, part philosophy, part history of animal conservation, lots of quirky cartoons, and many case studies from turtles in Cuba to crocodiles in Australia.
Written by someone I much admire, Grahame Webb, entitled Wildlife Conservation: In the Belly of the Beast, it is a must read for anyone who wants to have an informed opinion on wildlife conservation.
More information and order form here… http://www.crocodyluspark.com.au/pages/Wildlife-Conservation-%252d-In-the-Belly-of-the-Beast.html
Jennifer Marohasy BSc PhD is a critical thinker with expertise in the scientific method.
Jen, it all gets back to the numbers; [“sustainability”].
With a million Minke whales, whaling is fine for trad whale eaters. Plenty of ducks? No harm in shooting a few. Kangaroo steaks? Good stuff!
“Victoria has a number of different types of game licences available. Various licences require that the applicant has passed a Hound Hunting Test and/or Waterfowl Identification Test in the case of deer and duck hunting.
In Victoria, the following species are generally classified as game and can be taken during a declared open season subject to seasonal variations.
•Stubble quail
•Pheasants and partridges
•European quail
•Californian quail
•Pacific Black duck
•Grey teal
•Hardhead (white-eyed duck)
•Mountain duck (Australian shelduck)
•Pink-eared duck
•Maned duck (wood duck)
•Chestnut teal
•Blue-winged shoveler
•Hog deer
•Red deer
•Sambar deer
•Fallow deer
Victoria’s Department of Sustainability and Environment has declared the following species to be pest and can be generally hunted any time.
•Rabbits
•Hares
•Foxes
•Feral dogs and dogs run wild
•Feral goats and goats run wild
•Feral pigs and pigs run wild”
In Qld some of those ducks are pretty rare but if the numbers down there are monitored and they are not threatened then it’s not too much of a problem.
I would prefer they stuck to the ferals though.
Hey Spangled,
So what is it legal to hunt in Queensland?
And following… as a generalization, most hunters love animals, most foresters love trees, most fishermen love fish, most miners love rocks and most farmers love the soil… I rather like one of the comments on my Facebook post… most politicians and lawyers love plunder…
Jennifer I beg to differ slightly , I think many lawyers and pollies like delusion and BS. And the more there is the better they like it. But GEEEEZZZZZ doesn’t it cost the poor bloody taxpayer a mint? And in some cases for a zip return and should be left in the taxpayer’s pockets.
Jen, as a licenced shooter who does very little these days [last time I did much was shooting brumbies by the thousand {and yes, I love horses} to improve grassland and counterline saddles with the horse hair], I think you can only shoot ferals and only with the landowner’s consent.
I don’t think you can shoot your own kangaroos, even if they’re in plague proportions, without special permission.
Are you saying, like Oscar, we always kill the one[s] we love?
Interesting.
The Ballad of Reading Gaol.
The ballad of the two Oscars…..Wilde and Pistorius:
He did not wear his scarlet coat, For blood and wine are red, And blood and wine were on his hands When they found him with the dead, The poor dead woman whom he loved, And murdered in her bed. – See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/19410#sthash.8rVUjb7h.dpuf
I recommend fast-browning the leg of a shot goat in a heavy pot then tossing a glass of white wine and some suitable herbs over it. Add some spuds and onions then cover your cast iron pot and wait for your pot roast. Italian way.
For any hare you shoot, don’t cook it like rabbit. Slow long cooking in some version of sweet-sour is best, eg Indian Vindaloo or Italian Agrodolce.
I’m all for shooting, but only by sober, experienced shots. Amateurism is cruel and doesn’t do the job. I could get hare because they often run then prop, offering an easy head shot. But I’m just not a good enough shot, so I leave it to guys like SD. We need accurate shooters with understanding of animals. Even a feral dog is entitled to a swift death.
Robert, I may have been OK once but these days the reason I don’t shoot much is because I don’t hit much ☺.