The Media Run: Hunting Suicide

Remember this: We are drowning in a narrative of non-sense.

The issue against and for trophy hunting has become the media blitz, much like Baby Jane, who was stuck in hole. Every couple of seconds, the public was updated, but Baby Jane just wasn't budging. Finally she was freed from her conundrum, much like my dream of the public being freed from the current narrative of lions, hunter-poachers, and how ultimately, Africa should step up.

On this same episode, Georgia Pellegrini was cooking lion meatballs. She stated Americans were becoming more adventurous in the exotic foods they eat. No one, as I can remember, likes to find out they are serving cat or dog at a local restaurant. From what I see, I would beg to differ to some extent. Pellegrini stated lion meat was a little chewy.

No girlfriend, I don't want the lion's meatballs. Someone, somewhere does because it has a market. Everything you can think to put in your mouth and digest has a market.

Georgia Pellegrini is one of the rare people I put on my anemically thin lists to be interested in enough to follow. She's a positive.

I am trying to feel out the trophy hunting scheme through questions based around its representatives, self-appointed or not.

Here I would like to shake my head and wag my finger at the false report of Jericho being killed by the media. Shame on you, my friend, shame on you.

I was watching an episode of a news broadcast with Bob Barker. Bob is supporting the stance of calling for a bounty on the head of the dentist alleged to have killed Cecil, the Lion. Come on Bob, don't stoop down to everyone else's level.

Grabs popcorn.

There was also this new face, to which I was never aware of, called the Italian Huntress, Sabrina Corgatelli. She desires to be famous, so now she is. She is infamous and represents herself as the Nelly Olson of Hunting. A very beautiful woman, with a mean spirit, who walks about town, rubbing her entitlements in the faces of people, while she could care less if she ruins other hunters privileges.

Come on girlfriend, stop making yourself and hunters look bad.

Add her to the list of female hunters, as poor representatives, and let us move on to the next person on the conveyor belt of mediocrity. Would someone please push the OFF button?

This storyline began to look like dirty, streaked underwear you pull from the spin cycle that never gets clean. Those underwear belong to someone else, but there they are in your hands for you to clean; a stain that will not come out.

I put my eye glasses down. I felt the area between my eyes, which was pinched with tension. Not another one......

What ever happened to hunting and just being happy with that?

I considered Sabrina Corgatelli. Yes, she has a lot of trophy animals. Her life seems to be awesome but....I wondered at the quality of how each one was garnered when considering what I had been told about African hunting. Add in the way the alleged hunting of Cecil ended with a lure on a truck hood. Now more people are speaking out about the routes to which foreign hunters actually get their tag fill in the way of trophy hunting.

I also considered the reality that Mrs. Corgatelli is just expending a lot of energy hitting back at strangers in the rouse of a fight.

Does it make sense to have a self-appointed defender of trophy hunting, when the attitude is derogatory to maintaining the benefits of trophy hunting itself?

How does a huntress go about defending poachers. Yes, the events started out as hunting, but ended as alleged poaching. Before speaking, should one make sure of the legalities of the accused parties before opening one's mouth in defense of them? Once again, how do you defend poachers? Where does the line between one's concept of the ethics and morals of hunting exist, as it is trickling down the leg, when it comes to defending the wrong priority?

Are hunters encouraging bad behavior by standing to the side, ignoring the damage it could eventually inflict to us all?

What exactly is Corgatelli trying to achieve? Is this the best way for her to achieve it for herself?

Right about now, I am not seeing this as a benefit for hunters-at-large. It reminds me of farting. It makes a big sound, smells really bad, but dissipates over time. In reflection, it is only considered a humorous joke to laugh at by spectators. The guilty party farting either giggles while flaunting their putrid smell, or shuffles away to ingest some Gas-X, much to their chagrin.

I asked myself, “Is everyone trying to be the Clint Eastwood of Hunting?” If the person is not trying to be Ernest Hemingway, Daniel Boone, or Fred Bear, who are they really?

Is not the cup brimming over with a magnified example of the worst human kind has to offer, in the way of behavior and actions on everyone's part?

I see the problem as this: the mental and verbal attitudes and actions of hunters posting commentary with photograph. This is what fuels the gap between non-hunters and hunters. It is no more than an elementary school yard fight.

How many people have you seen in the hunting community, hold the red fabric up so the bull will charge directly at them?

The matador is standing inside the ring with a Toro. In the reality of social media, you are not going against one lone animal in the tundra, with the advantage of a lethal weapon. You are pitting yourself against a million social vampires, who will swarm you, and bleed you dry. They need only smell one drop of blood to draw them.

This has become a train wreck that will eventually end up in our homes, polluting up our lives, and eventually making it hard on people hunting, who are not standing on a dry hill, waving their hands for celebrity and attention.

What do we consider hunters as, when hunters intentionally make themselves targets?

Where did humanity's ability to think and assess problems to find solutions go? Why is there no diplomatic way to deal with the issue of trophy hunting asides from calling for murder? Why can people not act like intelligent human beings in times of crisis? Why do we attack each other as a first response to anything that would bring about conflict?

Why is Africa not stepping up to deal with their problem, that is happening on their soil, at the expense of American dollars?

Should the person, who is merely an instigator with a gun, be held up as the representative for all who hunt in asundry? If they self-appoint themselves, can we fire them from the job no one hired them for?

Does there come a point when hunters in mass say to the hunting participant doing us all damage, “Just stop talking. You are not doing us any favors by using your position in life to make hunters look like instigators, entitled spoiled brats, and people willing to do anything to put their face out in the media, in the most negative way possible.”

Could this be possible?

I saw a post that stated, “When you find yourself digging a hole, stop.” Someone out there is not just digging a hole, it is a crater. That crater is going to be just like the hunting pits of old, where all the hunters are being pressed over the edge, metaphorically speaking, just like the wild game hunted.

Then again, it could be where some thugs show up and dig your grave outside your house to scare you into backing off. In this case, some of the trophy hunters are outside their house digging their own hole.

This will come home to roost because legislation will change to fit the majorities belief that something is dreadfully wrong and something needs to be done about it. Think about the gun control issue.

I could also go into questioning the News media. Should not the News media be looking at individuals to ascertain if the person they are about to expose to the masses, is indeed a relevant narrative, or National Inquirer sensationalism.

I remember loving to watch the news because of Walter Cronkite, Dan Rather, Ted Koppel, and Connie Chung. Where did the great news anchors and journalist go? Did they jump on the boat with Bilbo and Frodo to go to the never-never place of Keebler Elves?

Has humanity come to the end of the road where journalism is concerned? There is no other story writ, or are we waiting on the next catastrophe?

Somewhere in my head, I hear Rita Skeeter speaking,

“As hunters, are we just as guilty for standing by and letting what will happen, happen? Concerned!”

Written by: W Harley Bloodworth, Concerned Citizen

The Hoo-Doo: Part One

Remember this: It is your responsibility, as a consumer-hunter, to question everything. If your senses tell you a given event could be detrimental to your life, limb and happiness, avoid it. Say, “Oh, Hell No!” then walk off from it.

It is easy to get hoo-doo'ed. Being hoo-doo'ed mean to be lied to and robbed under the guise of a truth; someone tricks you out of some belonging. It could also be a lie meant to mislead you in your choices. The liar may or may not benefit from the hoo doo. The liar is taking advantage of your desire for something or their desire for something you have.

Hoo-doos always come before events. Know how to identify the hoo-doo.

Here I want to illustrate how easy it is to be bamboozled by hunt brokers, shady professional hunter-guides, and those advertising through false representation via social media.

You have to love horsemanship and horse people. They come up with doo-zies. Pat Parelli says, “Prior planning prevents piss poor performance.” I proceeded.

A consumer comes along wanting to purchase a service. The consumer gets lead into all kinds of trouble by lack of knowledge, putting trust in someone's abilities without question, false representation on the part of the outfitter, and desire. There are other variables.

A consumer who hunts should be able to say, “No, this particular moment is not right” by observation.

It never is what it appears, for a selected few.

I was researching an elk hunt while I was under doctor's care. I didn't see the harm in looking around, and talking to people. There is a lot to it.

You have to figure a time, a place, an outfitter, pricing, state required tags and licenses, gun issues, knowing how to hunt one, etc. If you are an out-of-state hunter, there are more things you would need to know. It is less of a hassle for someone who lives in that state and can hunt right down the road.

I spoke to a hunt broker. I thought I would inquire. There is no law against inquiring. That is the first step.

I should have known when the broker confronted me with the fact that when he called I didn't immediately pick up the telephone there would be a problem. I brushed it aside. I was busy with life.

I talk to this broker. He seemed nice. He did state, “There are a lot of people judging hunters for what they do.” This is a true statement. Add to this hunters acting badly. This causes all events to be exaggerated out of proportion to the hunters detriment.

I asked for references. I called the references and found other people using the service.

The actual outfitters were talking back and forth with the broker about what I was discussing with them. I knew they would. I had questions, I will not lie. One particular outfitter told the broker I asked to many questions. I decided that if an outfitter could not suffer my questions, then I didn't need to use that particular outfitter, especially when that outfitter was just starting out per the broker.

The outfitter stated whatever the hunter did at camp was not his problem. If they wanted to get drunk, so be it. I decided that if the outfitter didn't care about the safety of others in his care, or how it would affect people from differing groups, I didn't need to get involved with his guide service. I didn't want to go somewhere with a bunch of drunks while worrying someone was going to get hurt. I am not going to pay money for that thrill.

One reference was an outfitter. I had a long conversation with him. He was knowledgeable but the wildlife was nothing more than an item on a tick list. It is not unheard of when you get into a business like veterinary medicine or outfitting to be emotionally removed from the animal. When you get attached to every animal coming through, you just turn into a sad pool of emotion that can't really function in the job. I didn't hold his ideology against him. He would have been a great outfitter to go with. This guy would talk to you. He wasn't afraid of any question you had. I considered him a professional. I went back later and realized he fell into that hunting/anti-hunting trap of a dialogue. Still, he would have been an option.

I went outside the references. After all, these are people used by the person referenced. What if they only speak highly of them?

One person I spoke to said he wasn't going to lie to me. He told me I would be put in a blind by a watering hole. The outfitters misrepresent themselves to some degree. It's not like what you see on television where you walk and hunt the animal. Also, the person was very put off by the lack of covering the details. It was to laid back and issues arose with paperwork after landing in Africa. Those details should have been worked out with the broker-hunter-outfitter before they set foot out to hunt the intended animal. This person was also put off by the fact the broker avoided talking to him. The broker wanted to talk to another person setting up the actual hunt. The person said he would never use them again.

Given the present state of hunting, brokers, outfitters, and hunters are concerned with people approaching them for services as legitimate. I would assume the same would be suspicious of me. I didn't have any thing posted online in the way of trophy photos or run around online proclaiming my privileges as entitlements. I didn't want to look like a braggart. There is something to be said in being sensitive to other people as long as they understand where you are coming from and reciprocate.

There again, people of mischief will stalk you online in hopes they can find a target to expose to make them famous. People just sit an wait for the next online sensation to get involved with, even if it destroys.

I would suggest that if you approach someone running an outfitter service or brokering for hunts, question them. If they can't stand your questions, maybe they have something to hide. It may not be what it seems. Anyone can build a professional looking page to sell a service, that doesn't mean it is what it appears to be. There again, in tight knit communities, someone might be passing a lie on you in order to protect themselves. If the person is capable of breaking a law during hunting and you are not privy to their actions, you could pay someone a job and find yourself arrested. Bad mentality doesn't change often. It just waits for the next victim.

You don't want to be in foreign country hunting, then kill an animal only to find out you have fu-barred the experience. The outfitter didn't intervene on your behalf to save you from a bad decision. A decision that leads to public infamy. Save yourself. Don't wait for someone else, who might be encouraging you to do a selfish act, to stop you.

It does appear a lot of American hunters are prostrated out in media for hunting acts these days, willing or no. Are foreign entities luring American hunters to Africa to hunt only to set them up and feed the information to the media? Is this a way to prostrate American hunters out as rich, entitled people willing to go to lengths to be famous? Or, make Americans in general look overly entitled through the appearance of wanton destruction of wildlife. On top of that, take loads of American money in trade to make a person look bad for nefarious reasons to a world-wide audience.  

Again, don't do something stupid in a foreign country to make your homeland look bad.

One can ramble....

The hunt broker offered an African hunting experience, I explained there were two professional hunters I didn't want to associate with in Africa. He came back later with an e-mail and told me his hunt brokerage was not the one for me. I was to look elsewhere. He must have fished around on the situation. I took this as his business being associated with the two professional hunters. If not, at least I was enlightened by some of the references and people I talk to that diverted me from a bad experience. I saved myself the trouble right there. Bad people, bad experience. Maybe they just didn't like questions from a female hunter? Be no one's fool.

I put the elk hunting scheme away for another day. If I do go I want to go with a responsible professional that is knowledgeable in their craft. If the outfitter, hunt broker, or guide treats you like you are shifty and doesn't want to answer specific questions related to the details of a hunting expedition YOU are Paying for, Move on. Find someone else. It might be an accident waiting to happen.

You are responsible for yourself and actions. Save yourself.

Written by: Angelia Y Larrimore