Knowlton and the Black Rhino: A Faustian Tale.

Remember this: A Fool and his money soon parts ways.

Disclaimer: This is a critique of humans acting badly and questionable deals that are made on the not so shady sly.

I recently read about the shenanigans of Corey Knowlton, the Dallas Safari Club Auction and the Namibia government. Out of general interest, I wanted to look at certain aspects of this controversy. As for the animal in question I have seen it stated as the western black rhinoceros.

In the beginning, there was a hunter who made a bid….then Hell broke loose. Down in Hell the devil was dancing a gig. The devil knew there was no chance of snow that day; or was there?

Corey Knowlton bid on a chance to hunt an extinct creature in South Africa. The devil’s minion was reporting on how well things were going. There was coveting, lust, dissension, and other things escaped from Pandora’s box and the week was not even out. There was more than one thing burning in Dallas and it wasn’t the death of JR Ewing, or the oil rigs.

Online sources are publishing Knowlton is saying his family and life are threatened because of his decision to pursue such an activity with his winning bid even though there are online sources that state he realized there were others bowing out of the bid as the auction proceeded. This should have been the moment when the smell of sulfur came to his nose but he was seduced by a dream, a longing, an illusion of grandeur with a promise of doing good when in fact it would only do harm. A man could sale his soul for a moment and the bid was up to $350,000. The devil was about to punch his ticket and yet there was still more to come.

I didn’t want to bore the general read with black rhinoceros extinction facts or other biological details. You can clearly Google that and find what you want in detail or better yet talk to a biologist that works with them or conservationist. I have hunted the internet for some kind of conservation plan for the remaining members in South Africa for details but there doesn’t seem to be any as of yet but I will look on.

The pinpoint light that I would like to inspect, as always, at closer inspection or from afar is the behavior of Knowlton and the people that are involved or even yet the groups that are participating in this fiasco.

At first read the declaration that Knowlton was ‘outed’ on social media appears. Use of that term almost harkens to misdeed or wrong doing but not to take it literally someone was sitting on the fence waiting for that moist would be buffalo chip to drop. Your best publicist is always your enemy or better yet someone from your own camp.

Corey Knowlton spent $350,000+ for the chance to hunt a black rhinoceros in the southern African nation of Namibia. I really would like to see the end ticket for this because I can’t imagine that this is an all-inclusive hunting vacation without the other travel particulars. I see the dollar signs stacking up. Something like this you know he’s going to tape it and it will most likely land somewhere for public viewing. Where do you get that much money anyway to drop paperback like that for an excursion that is truly and blatantly an excessive guilty pleasure. People with money (not all) can do whatever they want. Not that I would be one to tell him how to or what to do with his money but that is a lot of frequent flyer miles. If you have been poor before and have that kind of swag lying around you are not going to waste it only to end up in poverty again. Unless you have become drunk with power and excess to think it would go on forever and start to abuse the privilege of a cushioned financial pocket. Keeping up with the Jones will do that to you. I can’t even buy tampons and this blows my mind. I am lucky to get a new pair of shoes every year. Personally I don’t hate him or his money but sometimes having too much is trouble because you start to misuse the money instead of using it wisely. You lose your ability to be humble.

Knowlton is a co-host on the Outdoor Channel called Jim Shockey’s The Professionals” and he is an avid hunter. I am sure Shockey enjoys all that publicity. If Knowlton is a professional I would speculate that he has online dealings and knows very well what kind of dark things are attached to high profile hunting. For him to now sit inside of a hotel and whine about his life being threatened and the FBI helping him is truly ridiculous. Why would you do that to your kids and wife? Doesn’t sound like he thought this little mission to Mars through.

This guy has either knowingly or unwittingly become part of the Anti-hunting and Hunting’s establishment’s three ring circus as the pivot monkey. My mind toyed with the idea of the sacrificial lamb because this is going to draw lots of publicity for these high profile hunters and the Outdoor Channel. Oh wait. We have two sacrificial lambs: Knowlton and the Black Rhino. Sounds like a shady children’s book.

Its public knowledge there has been online fights and instigation between Anti-hunting and Hunting groups since social media was installed and before.

**This is actually another Melissa Bachman except the name has changed and the animal is denoted as extinct. **

On to the animal in question: The ??? rhinoceros.

Let’s look at the animal. If the auctioned animal is alive how can it be extinct? Namibia has one to spare. Looking back there was a paper in Pachyderm where the last member was poached and so in 2011 was considered extinct. Namibia, you’ve been holding out on us. What else are you hording there in those lands? Is this really even a black rhinoceros, a subspecies, zoo animal, or park animal? Did this animal come from a Rhino Trust Camp or a national park? Is the media misrepresenting the true animal…….what a debacle!

Red flags are going off all over the place.

Insert: It really pisses me off when the media rushes to expose a story with little or no details either than hearsay.

In all of this I have yet to see where the said black rhinoceros originated. Where does this auctioned off extinct black rhinoceros make birth for the American bidder to hunt? Who actually has this rhino? Why is that not being pursued? What was the deal with the South African government and the Dallas Safari Club? Someone had to slap old Horny up on the auction block but the media sensation is going completely to the hunter with the winning bid? Let’s blame it all on him. I smell camel shit; no way, bullshit.

There was the argument that this rhinoceros for trade (we give you shot at rhino-you give us big paycheck) was being done to help save the species or improve conservation in Namibia.  In brief what could this mean for the animal itself? Let us turn our eyes on why this one animal is no longer a breeding valuable past its bid fee. In a breeding program it would have to be old or something wrong about the animal to make it an undesirable breeder if it breeds at all.  There could also be a numbers of reasons to keep things at a certain herd number or standard. Either way this is pretty much a euthanasia mission at cost. If a man is paying $350,000 he better bring back something from that trip. I can’t see a breed-able animal in good health being sacrificed for someone’s fancy. I am sure there is something amiss here.

Why would Namibia take a known animal that is denoted as extinct and intentionally auction said animal out to a known safari club for money when the general consensus of the world at large is to rigorously conserve animals that are deemed extinct especially when its high profile on the internet?

Even though by standards extinct means when the last member of that species is dead; there are times when a species is considered extinct with living members. The numbers are extremely low and the hope the herd or species will recover is non-existent or extremely unlikely. There is also the possibility they are being hidden.

If you are going to conserve you have to have a plan.

I looked an only found, from the KOEDOE site, a proposed conservation plan for the black rhinoceros Diceros bicomis in South Africa. Surely if there is survivors that are hidden from poachers there has to be some kind of conservation plan. This should be part of their argument not just the mass believing in the words of a group of people that say, “Trust me I am a……..”.

Let us swing back over to Knowlton. There is a quote where Knowlton says per CNN’s post entitled Winner of Black Rhino Hunting Auction: My $350,000 Will Help Save Species, “I’m a hunter. I want to experience a black rhino. I want to be there and be part of it. I believe in the cycle of life. I don’t believe that meat, you know comes from the grocery store. I believe that animal died and I respect it,” Knowlton said Thursday night on CNN,’s Piers Morgan Live.”

Here I thought why drag meat into this. People knew immediately it had nothing to do with meat and here a hambone was being brought to a knife fight for protection. Come on?

The article states it is an “old rhino”. It does read that the money is not going specifically to rhinoceros conservation solely but to other species around the world.  Wait a minute? I thought this was the South African government. Since when do they take vital money and distribute it around the world? There is also the acknowledgement that it’s emotionally dire conversation so don’t cry foul when people threaten your life. He already knew what was coming. No virgin in the woods this one.

This is so Faustian. Knowlton is highly successful yet he makes a pact with the devil (aka the Dallas Safari Club and the South African government) to give a portion of his own soul in exchange for the worldly pleasure of killing a rare animal that is already considered extinct through money. To some degree his meditation could be suggested as surrendering moral integrity to achieve the power to do something other people do not get or want to do because he can. Also, how money corrupts even the best of souls that on later reflection realize that maybe they themselves were hoodwinked by selfish desires or corruption from within because you hung out with people that whispered in your ear.

After all, I have come to the conclusion for myself that this act was not one of hunting but more of a man trading in his hunting ethic, morals, and values momentarily to be the euthanasia guy while paying a hefty price tag out of his pocket to do someone else’s dirty work just so he could say he got to kill a black rhinoceros. On the other hand, let this be a cautionary tale of how an organization can woo you with the fulfillment of a dream when in reality they are only taking advantage of your desires and sucking you for your money like a leech or how a tick sucks the blood out of you while getting fat. Slow and steady.

Then again the reality of life is the animal can die a natural death. Someone has to be the bullet or ax man. I guess Knowlton acquiesced to the cheapness of being the bullet man and not a hunter. Overall, I suspect he was willingly taken advantage of.

As for anyone threatening to kill women and children, crazy is as crazy does. The FBI should finally arrest people for doing such. There is no need for it. I heard a quote from the movie "The Help": "All you do is scare and lie to try and get what you want.” People really should be ashamed of their behavior, but the opening to Hell is wide and deep. Just look inward. It’s right there inside your ugly heart. Trading one cruelty for another is hypocritical.

A prediction: After this little shit storm is over. There will be this lovely well written piece on all the efforts being made, where the money will go, and why there is validation for such a thing. Until then, let the media circus with its assorted clowns from both sides walk a tight rope of hoopla. There is no business like show business. Maybe this should be on E-Entertainment.

~Courtesy of the AOFH~

A Course In Adversity

Remember this: If a buck was a man going into a bar to pick up a woman, you can be certain he will not stay if there are no women to be had; especially during breeding season, twiddling his horns in the wood. This is a tale of dishonorable men.

What you are about to read is a real but terrible situation. 

The following story is a working example of how men do not want a female hunting especially if there is a buck lurking on the fringes. Hyper vigilant hunters can rob a mother from putting food on the table because after all it’s a competition. Right?

I will admit now that my hunting life when men are involved is a wretched nightmare. I beg the question: Is blood really thicker than water?

I recently took a walk and was stopped on a road by a registered sex offender that lives in the area. Nameless man inquired if I was still hunting in the same area. His next question as he looked away from my face down the road with a laugh was, “Or have you quit?”

Being suspicious that this wasn’t your average questionnaire by a jailbird I looked at him repugnantly but then decided to see where this interrogation leads. I told him I was not because I was having problems utilizing my arms. As far as my handicap, I was not able to hold up things which made me suspect I had injured my neck or had tennis elbow in both arms. I wasn’t sure so I went to a neurologist. Back to the Nameless Man.

The thought also crossed my mind that he might be trying to gauge my whereabouts for nefarious reasons. His relatives have been known to trespass with a four wheeler and steal bagged corn on a lie.  Nameless man spoke an informed me there was a mystery person living behind the hunting area that would shoot anything walking even the babies. This bird was singing if you get my drift. I told him I wondered about this because of the dead deer that where lying around. I guess he thought I was wantonly shooting them but I told him no I had an alibi. Not that the information stream couldn’t get worse but Nameless man informs me that I have a secret admirer hiding out in the woods near my deer stand. He never divulged who this culprit was. I said to Nameless man, “He’s not going to have much to admire.” Nameless man could have been joking but that would explain the Cigarette Smoking Apparition I have seen on two occasions.

Mind you there is another drama playing itself out parallel to this with another man aka the Doe Killer, who is squatting the stand I was using. This is the man that likes to kill deer and pretend they are women but he is an awful shade tree mechanic that will tear up as much or more than he fixes. My dad offered it to him in lieu of friendship so now I am insulted not once but twice by three different people; my father included. This is the second year my father has put a man right on top of me to hunt without warning me or scheduling times so people do not get shot, injured, or insulted. I feel like I am being set up for a fight with a grown man. Who does that? My father always tried to treat me like a boy when it was convenient.

Not that this sordid story could get any worse as I thought of the Bachmann debacle  but Nameless man also informed me that there was two other men in stands across the woods. I have no problem with this because they have that right but one of them has a long standing hate for me circa one of my high school girlfriends because he thinks I kept them apart when the girl lied to him and placed the blame on me. He has carried this grudge. He doesn’t know this yet of all the places he is in the woods near where I am. It could be coincidence so I gave it the benefit of the doubt. Doubt being the key word here.

Someone else was driving by my house and looking to see where I park my vehicle. The men were doing the same thing when I was at my father’s working on my chicken pen. Unknown neighbor pulled the chainsaws out about time to stand-up.  If they thought I was in the woods these persons would go out and crank the red tractor then do doughnuts a stone’s throw under the stand where I was hunting. I have seen them do it. It was like the small area was converged with men all trying to shoot the same animal. With all the activity they had chased the doe up to the main road without realizing it. If I were a deer in those woods I would have fostered a form of Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome. The hyper vigilance alone wore the deer down and ran then off. It was also grating on my last raw nerve.

I golf carted the woods one evening and realized that there was a deep sense of abandonment. As a cohesive living thing the internal feeling made me angry and sad simultaneously. I could feel that the herd was either all dead or gone. These feeling were compounded by the sight every evening of buzzards flying over the place. It really made me sick and disappointed that people could act in such a dishonorable way.

One evening I crawled up in the deer stand and there was a snake staring me in my face. I removed it and then sat in the stand. The Great Cosmos sends you messages sometimes and the only thing I could think was there were snakes in the Garden of Eden. That is what popped in my mind. I then thought of the old hoodoo superstition that when you have a snake cross your path you have someone that is trying to do you harm in secret. I finally sat in that stand and came to the realization the culprit was none other than my own father.

This is a short conversation between a female, the Doe Killer, and male 2.

Doe Killer: I have shot four doe at my house.

Female: Good for you. I haven’t shot any.  I haven’t seen anything but little doe. (I guess killing everything over there made male 2's place right pickings for him because greed and spite will do that to you.)

Male 2 and Doe Killer: Just shoot them.

Female: How can I shoot a deer if they have all been mowed down by you two and there is nothing left?

Doe Killer: I shot one off your stand.

Female: That is not my stand.

Doe Killer to male 2: That isn’t her stand? (Realizes this asshole was doing it to spite me).

Male 2: Stares blankly at TV. (Knows he helped put this asshole up to spiting me.)

Female: If you killed something back there what did you do with the meat?

Male 2: I gave it to Doe Killer. He gave it to someone else.

Female: So you mean to tell me you two have killed all the deer off. I have a child to feed and you begrudge me just one. How am I supposed to feed my child? I know you (father) said you’d rather go out and buy steak but I don’t have that money lying around. It must be nice to do that. You’re willing to starve your daughter and grandchild?

~Sound of crickets~

Female: Male 2, if you two were going to a bar would you want to stay if it were only men?

Male 2 and Doe Killer: *Laughing* No.

Female: Why do you think a buck would stay if you shoot off all the doe? The rut starts this month.

Doe Killer and Male 2 were discussing building a stand with a heater but Doe Killer said, “Why would you do that because she’s just going to go get in it?” I took this as an affront because I shouldn’t have to ask to get in any stand onMale 2's property or begrudged using it. Yet here this stranger was inciting thoughts against me in Male 2's own house. Who does that? I was totally disgusted and felt it was highly disrespectful to me and Male 2. I felt he was thinking he was entitled. For that behavior I don’t know a man worth his salt that would let some person like that throw his weight around without checking him out at the door or the floor. He’d be the kind to try to steal your wife, your life, and then laugh at you.

I got up and walked outside. A few minutes later Doe Killer followed me but I cranked the truck and left. I was finished with that business. He had already sealed his fate with me as far as I was concerned.

I realized after this conversation how all my suspicions became a truth.  A truth I couldn’t deny anymore…….

My dad saw two buck walking over the place in September. I think this was when the evil bug of cut throating entered his heart. He coveted the bucks. You could argue that at this moment killing a buck became more important than the treatment of his offspring. I was a second rate citizen. Hunting is a cold mother fucker when you are faced with that reality. That doesn’t mean bucks will stay because a lot of them are transient deer. He wanted that deer for himself. Instead of saying something to me, he just dumped some dumb gook in my area to get the blame for messing up my hunting.

I also felt like they were trying to incite me to start some kind of deer killing war where the deer or meat didn’t matter only the argument; reminded me of the Hatfield and McCoys except my father was batting for the other team. I was feeling totally blackballed and betrayed all at the same time. I thought of all the online hunting propaganda about family and felt a deep sense of disillusion. Bad things rolled in my mind like thunderheads but I just got up and walked away to think about it. It was causing me too much stress and my health was suffering for it. This was an adversity I didn’t want to be faced with but there it was; right in my kisser.

Did I really want to go find the buck to shoot it out from under them because they were dishonorable men? What would that make me? Did that render the buck truly valueless?  Did I want to continue this mode of behavior and situations that could cause me to ultimately get hurt because of stupidity? What was I truly fighting for? Hunting? A place? Food? Myself?  Did nothing else matter but killing a creature for the wrong reasons?  Yes, this screamed “for all the wrong reasons”.

I was in crisis.

I went to the neurologist the next day and my blood pressure was 176 over something. I walked through the doctor’s office like a dazed zombie. I realized I was as stress as the deer in the woods because not only were the men antagonizing relentlessly these deer but they were doing the same thing to me in a mean despicable way. I had a serious come to God meeting on my hunting as far as my father’s landscape and the impending tests required the following month along with mind altering meds that would make it dangerous for me and others.

What could I do? I had to put my gun down. Oh the horror! This is not what you wish to face in the middle of a hunting season but there it was. There would be nothing to eat.

I reviewed the facts and it looked grim. The worse thing that bugged me was my father’s behavior. I knew I had to come to some resolution for my own sake. This is what I did. I went to my father’s house and told him I didn’t deserve someone talking to me in such a manner or be treated like a valueless dispensable piece of toilet paper. I told him I wasn’t going to hunt there for the rest of the season which ends in a month. I voiced my opinion and stood up for my own self.

As for the health issue I didn’t want to be stupid and dangerous. I knew I would be Rx prescription meds to ease my pain but alter my ability to react in a normal way to things. That would not be safe for me getting in and out of a stand, aiming a gun, or focusing on a target. After all I don’t desire to harm anyone. Yet there were some thoughts that crossed my mind that I wish to share with readers because I am sure I am not the only one that ever went through such a thing.

You’ll meet people that will call themselves friend but when they try to take advantage of you and insult your family when that is all you have left; it’s time for that so called friend to go. People that come into your life to cause strife are just there for the shits and giggles of troublemaking.

There was also another thought that came with this story. How the undercurrent of learning to live with the acceptance of deception to stay in good standing with people that otherwise you wouldn’t care for because they provide some kind of benefit. I wondered on my capacity to live an honest life in the face of other peoples domineering behavior and misdeeds. This is the same kind of ideal that drives abusive relationships where someone gets beat up, keeps quiet not to make the situation worse but it never stops the bullying.

Blood is thicker than water but water can cut through the mountains. Relatives will let you down, cut your throat, or attempt to drag you down to their level. Don’t go. Be the better person and your own man so to speak even if it causes more of a dissension. At least the offending relative will learn not to pressure you with a bad behavior you don’t need to pick up. It’s your life and you have to live with yourself and your deeds. After another person has ruined you they get to walk away and be Mr. So and So. There will also come a time when that same offending relative will be face down in mud or in a hospital bed and that good old friend getting the freebies will not be there standing over the bed holding their hand or showing concern. Those rat bastards will be over in their house pretending no to know you.

There is a big difference in giving something up temporarily. If you are unwell; stop, drop and roll. Don’t make your problem worse by getting some crazy idea in your head that you are going to do it anyway. You are not gifted with psychic powers and you can’t see future outcomes. Wait things out and take care of yourself. No one is asking you to be a self-sacrificing Moses while putting yourself on the altar to take the shank. The goal is to live another day.

Reflect on this story for there are more things within it. I was reading in my notes about the Law of Self Knowledge that lingers on the topic of Evil for Evil’s Sake where it is difficult to do harm to others when you understand fully what that kind of harm would do to you. Know Thyself. If I would have done anything in retaliation that would have fueled a terrible back and forth chain of event not worth the effort. I choose not to be that kind of person.

What about the mysterious cigarette smoking apparition? Or secret woodland admirer?

I was picking up Catalpa wood logs when I got this weird feeling. I stared across the field that lead to the horse gate. I could see something in the tree line of the woods. It was the small orangish glow of light under the oaks. I thought at first it was my mind but as I walked up my Mustang was moving in the same direction. The other horses were following. Just as I got to the fence she bolted in the other direction with the herd behind her. I investigated the next day but couldn’t find anything.

Someone was out there.

~Courtesy of the AOFH~

Copyright © 2012 All Rights Reserved.

A Sad Tale of Woe.

For those that know me, this is not behind my house. I caught it while out walking. Why? Because my truck always breaks down and I have my camera with me. I am good friends with Pat and Turner.

Remember this: For every story with photos of some great hunting experience there is a sad Tale of Woe.

Hunting season with guns did not start until Sep. 15. On the 14th, I stood by a white plastic chemical silo with a .308 scoping some deer that popped out the woods. I knew the law so I couldn't shoot them. I just wanted to get a better look at them. The gun was empty. The next day the herd was back but the neighbor going to church ran them back into the woods. Enter today.....

I used a shower curtain and two bottles of spray paint to make a hunting stand blind. I crawled up and put it in the tree. I later went to work on this effigy mask you see which is only the frame because I have yet to finish it. I worked on it most of the evening because I really wasn't doing it out of a plan I just started playing with materials constructing it. I sat under the car port weaving away on this thing, unconsciously. The light was just lovely outside because it had rained earlier and a blue butterfly landed by me and moved its wings. I was just so peaceful and thought positively. I know what the mask is for. My dad came and went. I worked on a green house we were constructing. My dad left again. I went out into the field and made this makeshift blind out of tobacco burlap, a metal grate and two aluminum tobacco barn rods. I put a chair there too. I figured they wouldn't be walking that way but I was up wind. There had been shooting all day in the woods, forestry work of some kind, nosy and noisy neighbors. The fact I would later be sitting in a combined corn field breathing God knows what didn't help either. I sat down behind the blind with a book and waited.

I heard my dad come up. I always realize that when I am hunting the general direction of where I project the deer will walk out goes contrary to the place I am actually watching. I had told my father earlier that the deer were using my horses as a cover or shield to get across the field without taking a bullet. My dad said, "You have to give them credit for being smart." 

I thought I saw a shadow moving slowly through the grass. I looked again because it was some ways from me. I figured it to be a smaller deer. I took the scope and followed along the grass around it because I had seen some dark shadows at the edge of the woods. I scoped it out some more. I then finally landed on a grey shadow slowly moving. Once it stood up straight with the long neck. The only thing I could see was the front half of it. It looked like a person standing there with a tight crown on its head. This buck filled up the scope cross hairs. If I shot immediately that would be the only time I would see the buck alive. The buck was just so beautiful and stupidly reminded me of Thrainduil, the Elven King. For a brief moment I wanted to see him alive. Blame it on the Spyglass. 

I wasn't sure if he was the one I had been stalking since 2009 but he always shoves his horns up in the bushes so you can't tell if he is a buck or a doe. I then thought let me consider the location of my horses. They were to the left of him which he was walking up on them slowly. Right when I thought he would come out for me to get a shot in the right place (because I abhor gut shots) he stops in the grass.  My finger is on the trigger and then I hear a shot ring out. I am surprised that I didn't flinch and tap the trigger firing my own gun.  I worry my horses will bolt into the line of travel of my bullet. I am thinking to my self....no...no...no...don't shoot again. (Okay maybe I was cursing like a sailor inwardly at the stupidity that my ears were hearing.) 

Then a second shot rings out. I watched the buck in the scope which is really a small circle of area as it stood in the grass looking in the direction of the gun play. I thought, "Saint Hooks Magoric, am I going to have to rush a shot?"  I didn't see the deer hit as if by projectile force but then turned its rabbit tail towards me and I had to watch it walk off into the woods. I was enjoying a full on anxiety attack which is brought on by feeling cornered for time, rushed, or pressured. Pitifully repeating no..no...no...no. I am a strong woman that is not afraid to say....hell yes...I was about to cry. (Okay I admit I am crying now as I write this.)

Situations like this remind me of a dam with one little pivotal pebble that plugs all that raw energy at bay. Some douche comes along and knocks that rock loose and yonder she blows. Every poisonous issue you have will come to the surface and having a therapist there dressed in camo besides you probably will not help you through your emotional ordeal. I argue a couch to lay on as you spill your guts or soul in a corn field.

I also thought I have healed more than I have killed. I thought at one point that if I kill this deer I kill myself. I have a conscience. Given that I have to do something distasteful because last year I didn't have deer meat and I felt it. People do not care if you are without food. If I have to go contrary to my nature and kill something to eat as supplemental food you can imagine what I have to battle with when I hunt. I also pondered the idea that if I had longer moments of seeing them alive I would not want to kill the animals but then I would be upset with the fact or resentful that I have to do something in order to survive. Sometimes you really have to look at the reasons people are doing things. The options in your mind may not be an option to them.

In retrospect for two shots fired.....no deer at all.

I felt one of two ways. Someone had died and I couldn't get the moments back. I was holding someone's hand and they were slipping to their death as I watched their exit. This was a horrible feeling. Probably not as bad as a deer laying on the ground dying bleeding out though so why am I complaining....self centeredness I would presume.

After I got up I seriously wanted to take the gun and my hunting license and put them on the truck; vowing never to pick up a gun or hunt a deer. Maybe stomp them in the dust? I was just disgusted that my experiences that should have been good were ruined by men. On the other hand I know the golden rule of deer hunting:

if you disrespect the deer family your hunting will be cursed for unnumbered days.

After this episode I vaguely remember profanity and the speaking in tongues of gypsy curses.
At one point I couldn't talk I just used hand signals.

Now I have relapsed and do not want the company of men right now. Should I blame all men for the actions of one? Like Joan Wilder, I am all out of Kleenexes.

My mother says to me, "Just go hunting tomorrow."

Courtesy of the AOFH

ps....if I really put down all the particulars you might have to get some movie popcorn and a chair.

Hunting: The Stigma of Serial Killer.

Image still from Hannibal, episode entitled: "Potage".

Remember this: Imagery influences the mind. The unspoken interpretation can either infect your thoughts as acceptably rational or make you question everything.

Staying with the theme of imagery, I was lucky to surf the channels to land on this gem of an example. I was already thinking in terms of this topic because of a previous read or something I had typed in a passage. I was watching a television show called “Hannibal”. This television show is based on the famous character from the movie “Silence of the Lambs”. I am not lobbying for anyone reading this to boycott this particular show. It’s just a good working example. The episode I watched was entitled, ‘Potage’.

The first opening scenes you find a novice brunette teenage girl with her father in the woods hunting a deer or elk with no horns. The girl lifts the rifle dubiously then I would assume due to editing the cross hairs show a doe’s head. She then takes a shot. The deer wonders through the bush then the girl takes another shot. The father and daughter later are seen unloading the deer from the hood of a truck. Next the pair standing over the deer’s carcass inside the family hunting lodge having a conversation. The girl named Abigail is telling her father how beautiful the deer was as she pets its hair and the father agrees. Abigail seems to be remorseful at the killing. Her father hands her the knife to have her field dress the deer inside the family hunting lodge. Abigail says something to the effect it seems such a shame to kill the deer. Her father replies that they will honor the deer by not wasting any part of the deer. The skin would make an item such as a bag, the bones a knife handle, etc. The father stated that they were honoring the deer by not wasting any part of her otherwise it would be murder. The daughter’s uncertainty at what her father is directing her to do along with her father’s lead of dressing out the deer and the mentality of dealing with the whole scenario is evident. Abigail begins to dress the deer from the sternum and he tells her abruptly not to damage the organs.

Abigail wakes up in the hospital. In the course of the show you see the lead character Will Graham showing an overhead photo of a woman impaled on a stag’s horns in a college class. Will contends that this is not the work of Abigail’s father but someone much more evolved. Hannibal replies, ““He would honor every part of them”.

The reason this scenario came about was Hannibal Lector called Abigail’s father to warn him that he was found out thereby causing Abigail’s father to rush kill his wife and daughter. The daughter’s attempted murder was a fail.  Abigail tells you that her father makes plumbing putty which is where they think the father may have disposed of the remains. Abigail’s brunette friend that is standing outside the house with her before the random angry stranger appears says the reason that there might be a belief that Abigail and her father killed girls was indicative by the statement made, “you or he both hunted so that should have been a clue’.

Will Graham is dreaming; standing behind Abigail as he looks to see a computer generated stag in the road. Will slices Abigail’s throat then gets up from the sleeping nightmare. The storyline moves to the hunting lodge.

“No parts go to waste otherwise it was murder” then Abigail states in disbelief that her father was feeding the dead girls to them.  As Will goes upstairs in the hunting lodge there is a dead girl mounted on the dried horns of ruminants in the upper level of the hunting lodge. Abigail comes in and screams.

Will tells Hannibal it’s a copycat killer not Abigail’s father. Hannibal says, “I know. He would have honors every part of her.” Now with these things being said the main character Will Graham seems to have issues himself, plus the girl Abigail being questionable and we really don’t need to go there with Hannibal Lector. 

Lector is about the evolution of serial killers he shrinks out and his own creepy requirements. We know his character from feature film. Abigail’s dead father was killing girls that look like his daughter, eating their organs, and use parts to stuff handbags. After that manipulation, murder, and mayhem ensue with Abigail killing random guy in the living room. Of course Hannibal being the Good Samaritan steps in to ‘hide the evidence’. With this I leave you to watch if you please. Here one could assume that Abigail is being nurtured into a ritualistic killer on the sly.

I had wondered about this evolution or maybe I should say deviation of the concept of the serial killer to the current day hunter. Anytime you have an influencing factor such as a serial killer it can easily be mistakenly interchanged with the activity of hunting with negative connotations. This is erroneous because anyone can participate in the hunting sport if they have a license or are unknowingly-knowingly insane. It happens. One could argue that a serial killer can dress up like a cop or be a cop and do his evil magic just the same. A serial killer can work in a oriental restaurant cooking or waiting tables. A serial killer can be a anti-hunter that believes blonde women holding poodles should die because they are Satan revisited while kissing the Mother Mary. Of course you have to ask how many of these mental images are from feature films, television shows or magazine ads?

Let us consider a model hunter mentality.

People who hunt have a clear governmental-approved license and description of what species of animals can be culled, at what times, in certain numbers. These activities are monitored by governmental officers who enforce law so there is not usurping those laws for negative benefit.

Serial killers do not have this. They are people walking around that seem normal but no one knows what they are up to until a body is found; if one is found. Law is applied at the moment the suspected serial killer is booked and processed for the judicial system.

We have no idea what early man did in his regime of hunting for food and killing it. Based on data from historical diets of early man it was assured humans ate plant and animal life. There have been times of note where cannibalism was evident. I am sure it wasn’t censored. Over time hunting became the sport of kings and subject of tales of bravery. Now hunting is a personal endeavor of society either rich or poor for food or sport. At some point hunting began to change negatively in non-hunters minds as an outlet to exercise ‘sociopathic’ or ‘psychotic’ tendencies because of the nature of killing animals for food or sport. We can thank a lot of anti-hunting regimes for this but it can be applied to anyone that does not see hunting as a normal activity of a select few in society that gather their own foodstuffs instead of purchasing them from a store. Another suspicious beginning for this negative thought toward hunting is the allotment with commercial ‘hunting’ of animals in bulk where the gruesomeness of lots of blood and dead animals in piles that could allude to over-exploitation for financial gain. A great example of this is seal hunting. When groups or people see large numbers of animals killed it brings about questions of greed and lack of responsible usage. I contend this could be the thoughts behind the flood of ‘trophy photos’ of animals hunters have killed then posted on social media. People that do not hunt see this barrage of photos as over-exploitation and lack of reverence for life. One man’s pride could turn into another man’s raised eyebrow. This is something to consider. It is easy to see how the crux of the ‘argument’ to hunt or not begins.  

I wanted to make sure my definition of what different labels that could be applied to a hunter psychology through manipulation or just compare and contrast. I wanted to know, as I have seen hunters called these things in conversations, the difference between a sociopath, psychopath, a serial killer, an a hunter were as defined by shrinks, the law, and the dictionary.

A sociopath is a person whose behavior is antisocial and at times criminal. Sociopaths lack a sense of moral responsibility or social conscience.

A psychopath is a person who is amoral or antisocial and lacks the ability to love, establish meaningful personal relationships, extreme egocentricity, or failure to learn from experiences.

A serial killer is a person that has serially killed two or more people separately by one offender (but do not exclude a second person helping) in a ritualistic fashion. Victims share a common attribute throughout the victims. Serial killers seek psychological gratification. Motives vary depending on the type of display the killer exhibits in the murder act. One indicator of how a serial killer evolves is psychological distortions learned or not properly learned as children who as exacerbated by mistreatment, abuse, trauma or rejection of society. A serial killer can exhibit social or psychopathic tendencies. Serial killers pick their victims based on some idea or opportunity but their victims start out to be animals because killing a domesticate cat or dog is easy to do with very little retribution. This experimentation on animals leads them to explore a human victim.

A hunter is any person without concern for his/her psychological state who goes into the outdoors to hunt wild game (excluding humans) for food or sport. This person uses a license distributed by the state to satisfy the laws of that state before activities are entered into.

To define murder in brief is the killing of another human being under conditions specifically covered by law. This act can be committed with malice aforethought, characterized by deliberation or premeditation or occurring during the commission of another serious crimes and murder by intent but without deliberation or premeditation.

With these definitions being noted there is a clear difference.

I pondered on the stigma of the label “serial killer” that is tagged onto the people who hunt. This label is taken out of context if one references to what a serial killer is defined. When this label is used it is from the perspective that animals are human or have human tendencies. If it is an anti-hunter, one could suppose the same kind of misinterpretation of the definition and use of the words/meaning being used as personal tools for manipulation or erroneous thinking as the father who is a serial killer in “Potage”. The use of how these meaning are acted upon is a point of interest on how a ‘normal’ belief, thought, or idea can be misinterpreted and then applied.

The reality of hunting is that anyone can take part because there is not a requirement for a psychological test to decide whether a person is emotionally fit to hunt. There are already parameters on buying guns that should intercept people that are emotionally compromised. If a serial killer has not been caught by the law there is no way to say to the serial killer, “you can’t hunt”. The same thing could be said for an animal hoarder that no one knows the depth of their problem going into a store to buy another animal or adopt one from the pound.

Referencing back to the episode of “Potage”, the activity of going hunting, taking the animal home, or dressing it out is not untrue. The interpretation by the person doing the activity and their defining beliefs on the hunting ritual could be the turning point where it translates over to the decision to kill a human being. This mental pivot is where the stigma of serial killer is applied without foundation to the hunter/huntress.

It’s a form of manipulation and fear on the part of the label maker. The confusion comes from the idea that hunters are killing humans which they are not. I can see the argument of killing animals in wanton unchecked ways to the point of cruelty but this is not always the case with hunters. We can’t argue that all hunters hold this idea of ‘not for sport’. Hunters in truth do hunt for sport given the individuals.

The hunter eats game meat versus the random serial killer eating human meat. There is a big difference there. Unless a hunter got the taste of raw meat in his mouth then decides he wants to see what human meat would taste like is questionable. I would say anyone dancing around with this idea should go see a psychiatrist before he gets himself in trouble.

People to some degree in different locations have ‘banned’ the consumption of human meat and certain species of animals. A good example is horse meat. I personally do not want to eat this particular kind of meat due to the use of drugs and the fact I don’t perceive horse meat as food. This could be a different case with a person living in another country where horse meat is on the menu. This is another stigma for particular foods we eat or the idea. This eating of people is a theme in the Hannibal television show because the main character of Hannibal is a cannibal. 

The most notable story of cannibalism is the Donner Party. Society frowns on cannibalism but it happens. Cannibalism happens in all species from bugs to other animals eating their young. I am not promoting cannibalism and not all serial killers are cannibals.

I also noted the teacher and pupil theme where Abigail is being taught what to do and the mentality behind the lesson of reverence of the deer’s death. It was interesting the writer used a female. Females are considered much more emotional but can be just as cruel. You see the father slowly molesting or raping the mind of his daughter toward his ulterior motive of killing girls. As the story evolves you witness Abigail agreeing with ‘hiding the body’. Whether or not her father turned her into a split personality by the inability to process traumatic images but seem like a normal girl is another possibility to take into consideration. The different ideas one can scrutinize from this episode is not finite. There is the concept that impressionable adolescent teenagers and children can be influenced through what they are shown or taught by dysfunctional parents or adults into activities that society deems abnormal or against nature. Use of threats or a false sense of threat or trust can lead these types of children into deviated psychological behavior during their adult lives.

Here you can see how an idea or imagery can be balled up like a piece of paper, contorted and applied in ways that have nothing to do with the original meaning or belief. This manipulation can be used in derogatory ways to discredit an activity like hunting.

The comment on the episode “Potage” made by Abigail’s friend, “you or he both hunted so that should have been a clue’ is an example of the misconception that is being inserted into dialogue widely signaled to audiences watching the show. This insertion is an unchecked influence on culture’s definition or consideration of the difference between the motives of a serial killer and a hunter. The motives are completely different by definition. Just because anyone hunts does not imply this is a workable clue that a hunter is a serial killer. This is misconception, lack of education and very judgmental.

The reference of the father stating if any part of the deer is wasted then this is murder made me think that the father doesn’t have a clear sense of the definition of murder. People do at times deviate from the path and write their own script with or without society’s help. Did the father see the murdered girls as wild animals instead of people? Where this ideology comes from is unknown. There is the reference by the father that deer are like people in their attributes but not physically the same.

The fact of life is not all people receive or understand information in the same way. There can be distorted processing of information due to previously taught behaviors, ideas, misinterpretation or trauma that distorts learning in the ‘correct way’. There is always the question of sanity. One culprit to any of these psychological distortions is extremism. To what lengths does a particular person take a behavioral extreme or train of thought? It is then the application of that extreme into actions and the subsequent outcome.

The idea that hunters are serial killers, sociopaths, or psychotics should be left up to a profession once the hunter breaks a law ending in a human death. Hunting is a lawful physical activity of participation not a behavioral condition defined in terms as a symptom to a psychological disease, disturbance, or psychosis. Anyone using this should educate themselves for it is a manipulative and false use of terms, meanings, and applications.

Always be aware of what you are viewing but don’t be afraid to question it in a healthy sense or investigate through knowledge to make a more concise clear interpretation. There is always another ‘truth’ but that ‘truth’ can be the reality or the lie. Don’t be afraid to investigate.

The full episode of "Potage" here:
http://www.nbc.com/hannibal/video/potage/n35685/

~Courtesy of the AOFH~

Sources Cited:

"Potage". Hannibal. NBC network. Developed by Brian Fuller. 2013. Television Series.

A Closer Inspection of Non-Hunters and Hunters.

Remember this: Throughout the  years of hunting, social media as we know it today did not exist in the same form.

In the good old days people came together for social functions be it hunting, dancing or celebrating some special occasion on a regular basis. Neighbors interacted and depended on others in their community while relying on hunting as a resource to provide food in good times and bad. Hunting was a social function and people physically spoke and interacted face to face. That is not done anymore.

If a hunter did claim wild game for food there was the option of tanning a hide or in later years mounting a trophy head. If someone came over to your house that is where you displayed your mount to others that you most likely were very close to. There would be no judgments except for the appreciation of the endeavors based on your time spent afield.

In the current age of media, photo sharing has become very present on social media. Anyone can post or present a photo of any subject no matter how pristine or vulgar the image may be. Depending on the individual psychological make-up or de-sensitivity of a person, how that image or subject matter therein contained will be ingested or processed is left to be seen. 

In the past there was not an extreme pinpoint attack on hunting whereas now the evidence of such an attack is rampant. This has been increased by the availability of the internet and sharing sites. There are many arguments from both sides of the duck blind which requires close scrutiny. Before those arguments can be approached who are the players and why do they hunt? Why do they not?

For a moment let's take a closer inspection of people that do hunt. People hunt for many reasons. What prompts people to hunt? For all intents and purposes, the reason people hunt is for food. That is a pretty basic fundamental human need. There are several scenarios that could lead to this. Let's imagine a few for a moment.

• There is an unemployed single parent that has a child or children but for reasons are denied the ever hated EBT food assistance program on the part of working people. Most people do not believe life is lived as a commune where one person does work while the other does nothing but eat off their back. They do not take into consideration the person in question may have a hard time getting back on their feet or even feel they are entitled to help these people. This is because most people think the charity case should be achieving in their timeline and considerations. Other than stealing out of peoples gardens, shop lifting, or taking the ornamental cabbage at the local bank that has been so nicely landscaped: hunting is an option to explore. This parent would probably forego the problem of what other people think at learning to hunt. In order to feed their children, hunting solves starvation. The dilemma here in their psyche would be: I have to kill something to feed my children. Who is more important? My children or the animal in question. If there is no other workable option to supplement nourishment what one believes could be over-ridden to provide for the family.
• Due to an abundance of farmed livestock, processed meats are readily available at the grocery stores. Unfortunately there are many reports that processed livestock that are not free range might be providing questionable health problems due to antibiotics, feeding habits, and processing techniques. The discerning health nut may turn to eating just vegetables while excluding meat. Then again the option of hunting wild game and solely living off of the food you hunt brings a wider health benefit while supplementing with free ranged livestock that are only farm raised.
• A person may decide to take a vacation on a planned hunting excursion. The goal is to hunt a specimen that is worthy to be food, a trophy for appreciation and nostalgia, and memories. Even when a person is hunting the idea of food is at the front of his/her unconscious. You do not want to kill a diseased animal because what would you do with the meat? You can't really eat the meat. You would only be doing a mercy kill and keeping others of that species from becoming infected unless the problems are based on old age.  The problem herein would be the treatment of the body.
• A person is employed with a conservation agency. The employee has been directed to hunt and terminate X amount of a species for the delicate balance on a plot of land.
• A farm owner has a herd of cows that have been menaced by pack animals or the individual varmint. He decides to protect his herd of cows by trapping, tracking or hunting.

Even though each situation is not covering all the reasons or ideas on why people decide to hunt, it can set the stage for a discussion for each situation. This kind of conversation is more appropriate because it is not single or feeble minded. People at times live their lives like mules with blinders on. They only think and go one way. Why would a person decide not to hunt? Given that not all non-hunters are vegans should be taken into consideration.

• There is an abundance of meat and vegetables available at the grocer. The individual does not want to know how food is processed but only wants the food to be readily available while no questions are asked. As long as they don't see what they consider  is a murder scene decide not to dwell on the details only the outcome: food on the plate.
• The individual decides personally eating meat is not for them but doesn't condemn hunting.
• Due to some previous trauma an individual decides that they do not believe in the slaughter of animals but eats plant material only. Even though the vegan has more reverence for animal life because the mentality is that animals are equal to humans. Plants are like objects without a life force yet feeds animals/people to help them maintain life. In this situation it seems the individual doesn't have a full grasp on the necessity for sustenance to maintain an optimum level of life.
• People who are detached emotionally from human relationships for psychological reasons. They maintain animals are basically pure because animals are instinctual and simple. Animals give love freely and unconditionally without making demands on them. They believe animals are helpless and oblivious to the fact that animals kill one another or people. The person that has no reverence for human life or their own because they exhibit self hate. Animals are elevated above human life and would be willing to take part in terrorist like activities to satisfy their open ended agendas. This kind of person would kill all humans and let animals take the world regardless of real life animal behavior.
• Persons that only eat plant material but holds the belief that all life on planet Earth can eat the same kind of uniformed food regardless of nutritional requirements, there will be no fighting or killing within or outside of species, no living thing shall eat another, and basic universal harmony through non violence from birth until death.

The main goal into this inquiry is to take a look at a particular vantage point from the differing sides. Given these simple examples non-hunters are driven more by emotional and psychological reason but reject biological instincts to hunt for their food in the wild. Hunting is rejected as a part of the self or the identity.

Hunters are driven by instinctual needs for food but vary in concept based on emotional and psychological reasoning. Basic biological instinct is not rejected but accepted as a part of the self and the hunter identity.

The crisis lies in the suggestion by both sides that the perspectives of the other are flawed and how this perspective is addressed or handled.

Could it be that non-hunters are trying to make up for a guilt where the human population has exploded hence strangling out wildlife and their lands? Is it so that hunter's are stewards of that ever decreasing space trying to manage the wildlife on it? Does there lay a possibility of compromise on each groups' behalf to come to a civil agreement without a winner. These are reasonable questions. Could there be better questions: yes.

If the argument is more important than finding a solution then the cause is just an illusion to help perpetrate a pointless never-ending war.

It is worth a closer inspection but there are other topics to explore.

~Courtesy of the AOFH~

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