Your thoughts on hunting ethics.......

Ahsan Ahmed

Ahsan Ahmed

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I've recently come across a thread (different website Forum) where a Member narrated a trip to South America (Dove shoot). As I understand it, the party of 12 guns brought down 38,000 birds (yep, 38K) in 3 days of shooting.

Please understand that I've nothing against the individual(s) in the topic - they were within their right i.e. it was their personal preference including time and resources applied at their own discretion.

Despite the fact that Latin American destinations are attractive for highly abundant dove populations and promote such hunting opportunities with compliant regulations in order to boost tourism currency levels - nevertheless, there is this little thing called conscience that must vibrate perhaps even once inside many folks at the thought of so much deliberate reduction from nature in such an extremely narrow span of time.

I migrated from the sub-continent of India, where, at one point in time, the term over abundance - of both Flora and Fauna - was a gross understatement. Today, that very wild life resource almost borders on the verge of extinction, and one, if not the main reason was harvesting too far beyond common sense limits.

Bottom-line, the majority of us folks (during the loooong 8/9 months :) of every given year) pleasantly nurse the thought of being able to carry a Shotgun/Rifle after game for the very short hunting season we all have the privilege of enjoying here in NA. And all of us, with out question, look forward to witnessing those few months repeatedly as far and long as life may permit :)

Having said that, I would also like to think that most folks also sincerely look forward to and relish the thought of seeing their future generations (wherever on earth that may be) enjoy at the very least the same privileges of chasing after game (or fish) that we take for granted today.

My apology for the lengthy expression.......
 
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Good thoughts.I would hope that most of those hunts are well managed,but i wouldn't hold my breath.I don't really know anything about those hunts but wonder if they are comparible to our gophers in the praries.
 
I spoke to a guy who hunted doves in Cuba, he said you could shoot em as fast as you could reload your gun (and they had cuban kids handing them shells) But a hell of alot more birds didn't get shot.

I guess it all depends on what he population is like, and the doves were not wasted either, the same kids that helped them reload and retrieve the birds, then took the birds home to eat.
 
The gopher reply deserves a little thought. Know little about the dove hunt, but I guess it depends on how it is managed. Perhaps that number of doves isn't a whole lot.

I do woner what they do with them. If they are not a pest (don't know if they are) but indeed a sporting bird, what gets done with the ten's of thousands of them?

I would question ethics if the birds were not a pest and just being shot in the thousands and let to waste. I'd like to know now> does anyone else know?

if they are a pest, like the gophers, keep on nailin' em!
 
It is easy to offer an opinion when we live in a place where doves are not so plentiful or easily shot. Some places they do lots of crop damage and the numbers are huge. If the fall in the fields they are picked up and eaten, if they fall in the jungle....well then they belong to whatever is in the jungle waiting.

No different than any other pest.

Lots of people hoot gophers, but there aren't a lot of gophers making it to the dinner table.
 
Nothing, not even gophers should be shot to extinction. They are part of a and belong to a fragile eco-system. Man's encroachment upon the food chain often results in serious consequences. If the coyotes didn't have gophers to feed upon, then they have to find another food source. Same goes for birds of prey. Don't get me wrong, I shoot gophers too, but moderation is good practise.

As far as shooting 38,000 doves, is there any sport in that?
 
I read the Shooting Sportsman magazine. It's for rich folk, and wannabe's like me. They are always writing on these dove hunts. You gotta figure that their gonna start to dent the population numbers one of these days. Of course, shooters who go there pay handsomely. I guess that's one way of controling the amount of guests they have, as you nor i could afford such a trip. However, it brings me to question what gives the rich the right to slaughter so many birds, and possibly damage the population beyond repair? And it's not only that you should be concerned about. Imagine the amount of lead being used. If it makes it's way into a water source, that could be an issue. Also, in the magazines, they spread out the birds across fields for photo shoots. That's not going to be a good image for someone sitting on the hunting/anti hunting fence. I don't belive they are wasted, because the articles speak of the meat going to local villages by the garbage bags. But there should still be a certain limit to the amount that can be harvested by any given outfitter.
 
pharaoh2 said:
I It's for rich folk, and wannabe's like me. They are always writing on these dove hunts. You gotta figure that their gonna start to dent the population numbers one of these days. Of course, shooters who go there pay handsomely. I guess that's one way of controling the amount of guests they have, as you nor i could afford such a trip. .
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As of a few years ago a one week hunt in Cuba was $800 Quail, doves and ducks (ducks with lead... remember those days?)

Anyway they were shooting in the hundreds, not the thousands.

I too would question the management of such a hunt but if we are talking hundreds of thousads of birds out of hundreds of millions, I wouldn't worry.

If the birds were all used, I would very much support it.
 
a couple of thoughts:
-some of those pigeon and dove flocks number in excess of 5million birds
-the birds are collected and fed to locals
-the birds are feeding on crops that border the native forests/jungles usually a grain or sunflower seeds
-the reason the "subcontinent of India" became devoid of game/wildlife was the overpopulation of people needing to eat, that is unlikely to happen in Uruquay/Paraquay etc
-the passenger pigeon and waterfowl of the 1800s and early 1900s ran into problems because of commercial (read wholesale) hunting being applied to native species a lot like the bison and whale actually but with different reasons/outcomes/strategies
-i would compare them to gophers actually except no one is going to get 1000$ a day to guide gopher shoots (i wish)
 
38,000 birds??? jesus, my arm would be black from shooting the shotgun so much. Or did they have a Chain gun and just went to town on them?


I dont see the fun in shooting birds like that. Just point and shoot, no skill involved in really. I'd probably do it if they were a big pest problem, but to fly down there and pay a bunch of $$ to shoot doves?? no thx.
 
I wonder how accurate their numbers are? 12 guys, 3 days, 38,000 birds??? that's over 1000 birds per day per hunter, I don't know if that is even physically possible. You would truly have to be an athlete to do it.

By the way, search "dove hunt" on Youtube... looks like fun.
 
Those hunts are less expensive than many North American guided hunts, or African hunts for that matter.

The locals get the birds, the locals earn money from the hunts, the crops are protected from the pests, and the tourist gets a holiday. Yep that's a bad thing.

If the number of birds dropped, they would not be a pest. The hunts would not be popular. The tourist would no longer go there.

Hunters from Virginia, or some other eastern states can legally kill 50+ deer a year. Is that ethical?
 
well lets be real here thats 1088 birds per day per shooter ??? who the F@CK shoots 1088+ shotgun shells in a day? maybe over the whole season that many birds died but yea know I just hafta ask who would beleive you could hold up for 3 days straight of trap style shooting and walking and continously shooting? in a 10 hour day that would be 18 birds per minute for 3 days ????

nothing ethical here just BS IMHO
 
bone-collector said:
well lets be real here thats 1088 birds per day per shooter ??? who the F@CK shoots 1088+ shotgun shells in a day? maybe over the whole season that many birds died but yea know I just hafta ask who would beleive you could hold up for 3 days straight of trap style shooting and walking and continously shooting? in a 10 hour day that would be 18 birds per minute for 3 days ????

nothing ethical here just BS IMHO
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BS, I think not:
a1dove.jpg
 
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