"For far too long, hunters have looked forward to the day when we would eventually get our own professional sports league. Well, that time has arrived and we are extremely excited."
---Brett Hankins, a WHA Tour hunter
It's hard to choose which target to shoot first. Call it a bass tourney with guns, or paint-ball with live animals, or maybe The Bachelor in Realtree (tm) cammo, but what we've got here is your basic competitive deer darting.
I kid you not. David Farbman, a Michigan real estate developer and "Commissioner and CEO of The World Hunting Association," announced on Monday the inaugural season of "a new professional competitive world tour designed by hunters, for hunters."
According to the website, here's what we can expect to see:
The WHA will feature a series of major tournament events, oversight on a series of smaller events, and a highly interactive and informative website for members. WHA events will be broadcast through many outlets including Internet, television, Pay-per-view, On Demand, and others. WHA plans to become the standard for professional hunting competition and to grow and enhance the industry's image and presence.
During WHA Tour events, highly skilled hunters from around the world will compete, utilizing the WHA's patent-pending, respectful non-fatal tranquilizing technique that will allow for a thrilling tournament experience. This technique will expand the hunting fan base beyond passionate hunters to a broad-based mainstream audience, which will resonate well with the country's leading companies and brands.
You have to see the website's introductory "trailer" to enjoy the full effect----complete with square-jawed, commando-esque hunters menaced by fat, farm-reared deer; the lure of shiny convertibles; NFL cheerleader-grade spokesmodels and plenty of product placement.
But what is "non-fatal" hunting? Details promised soon, but until then:
"...for purposes of broadening viewership, the competition will be based on 'non-fatal' hunting...The WHA competition will focus on many of the same skills required in harvest hunting, including scents, positioning, scent elimination, stand strategies, gauging and playing the wind, and many other practices...The scoring system will reward competitors for their hunting skill. While the animals will not die, the hunt itself will be challenging and intense....To preserve ecology, the animals will be given certain vaccinations and will have blood work completed immediately by a licensed veterinarian; animals will be marked and not shot twice in a competition."
Sporting! But lest you think this is merely an ill-conceived and value-free ploy to sell ads to "prestigious hunting industry inaugural sponsors" and canned hunts to industry execs, note that the WHA stands "committed to supporting hunting-related charitable organizations worldwide."
Farbman, with subtle irony, outlines the need for this innovative new program: "Let's face it: our sport could use a 'shot in the arm.' The number of licensed hunters has been declining for years and many people view hunters and hunting in an inaccurate and unflattering way. It's time to improve that image and show the world the complexity, skill, and strategy that is the core of hunting."
10 comments:
okay, I thought this whole thing was kinda funny...was it supposed to be funny or am I outta touch? Because I couldn't help but picture a Far Side comic!
I think it's great that the group's acronym is WHA as in Wha? The fuh???
Might just be funny (not "haha" but certainly weird and a little sad) if it did not represent everything hunting should not be: corporate sponsored, self-promoting, graded by points, awarded with money, relying on farmed animals, mass-marketed, "non-fatal"(!!), and having anything to do with attractive spokesmodels (Querencia staff excluded!) :-)
Tom McIntyre comments here.
aye! There likely are some who will be on this in a NY-minute and whilst I was happy to be adverse recently in Northern Californa when coursing came under fire and we prevailed against those forces and stalled AB 2110 -- this - this! - Wha? indeed.
-xmargory
Thanks Chas for posting McIntyre's typically good reaction! Enjoyed that and wish I'd written it. Naturally.
Did you happen to read his views on the short-lived "Real-Time Internet Hunting" fiasco? Perfect.
PS: I thought this passage from Mc.'s post was esp. good:
Perhaps the most bizarre claim made by the Commish is that he was inspired to create the WHA because whenever he spent time with other hunters, he noticed that they all seemed “to share a common desire: to transform hunting to a new level.” Like a televised competition with prize money and deer collapsing in drug-induced comas? It’s funny, I can’t think of a single hunter who’s ever mentioned to me that this was a new level he had a burning desire to see hunting transformed into. Almost every hunter I’ve known has wanted hunting to stay at the level where it is, or if it were possible, to return to an even earlier, simpler, and more genuine one.
There are a number of communities (not just the small ones, either) here in Montana who would love to have someone come have a deer-hunting competition up and down their alleys and parks. Can't shoot real guns with kids and oldsters around, so tranq guns might be just the ticket. BUT hunters must agree to take their deer with them. What they do with them is their business. Just don't bring them and their ticks back to town.
Prairie Mary
Catch and release bear season or counting coup?
"Against stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain."
Friedrich von Schiller
Rey
I decided to name it "Blunting for Dollars" after reading about it. The High Fences and Low Ethics mentality of Farbman's farce, make for a very damaging combination to the legacy of hunting.
US Sportsman's Alliance Position
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