Hunters -- is it really fun to kill 1,000 doves a day?

The BBQ Pit
1

Regarding this thread concerning going to South America for a hunting trip to shoot one thousand doves a day.

I have a genuine question about the motivations behind this.

I understand why the farmers would want to eradicate the doves.

I don’t really understand what internal reward a foreigner (presumably American) would get by participating. The thread seems to have attracted enthuisastic posters, though.

I was going to post this in the thread, since it is a genuine question of opinions, and the thread is in the IMHO section. But it seems likely that Pit-quality heat could be generated, so I’m posting it here to save the hassle of moving it.

So, for people who are excited about doing this, I ask you, are you subsistence-hunting here? You eat 1,000 doves a day?

Or are you one of those sport hunters who is thrilled by the challenge of tracking an elusive animal whose habits you must understand in order to position yourself for the critical shot – one thousand times a day? Sounds exhausting.

Or are you one of those philosophically one-with-nature hunters who reverently thanks the animal for its death? I’m not sure anyone could be reverent at the rate of 1,000 a day.

Or are you a Theodore Roosevelt type, up for the manly challenge of a foe that fights back? Like say, a brawny dove?

Okay, I know those questions sound like flames. But seriously, what do you get out of this? It’s not like you’ll mount a few thousand tiny heads on your wall, is it? It’s not like you’ll remember each shot – not when you’re dealing with such numbers. Won’t it all be a bloody blur?

It stikes me that you’re being tricked into paying to do a kind of sweatshop manual processing of large volumes of small, fragile animals. Like slaughterhouse work, but you pay for the privilege. How can it be “hunting” when it’s on an industrial scale?

Surely the doves are relatively defenseless – otherwise you couldn’t get such large numbers so quickly. Given that knowledge – that it will be easy to rack up huge totals – how is this different from standing at an assembly line whacking each one with a mallet? Is it the fresh air? Getting to play with guns?

I recognize that I’m putting you on the defensive here. I’m personally a bit shocked to see anyone enthused about this, and I guess it shows. But please understand that I am asking a genuine question here, not merely flaming you, and I am interested in reading any rationale you care to offer.

Sailboat

2

What exactly is your problem? Hunting in general, or just this particular type of hunting?

Are you opposed to someone shooting one dove?

If you understand why it’s enjoyable to go hunting a shoot a single dove, then I can’t imagine why you couldn’t expand on that to understand why it would be even more enjoyable to go hunting and shoot 1,000 doves.

The ‘questions’ that you pose in the OP are both:

A. Deliberately insulting to hunters.

and

B. False.

It’s addressed in the other thread that the doves are eaten by locals so nothing goes to waste, for instance. There are ten whole posts in that thread, though, so I can imagine it might be too much work to read all of it. :rolleyes:

3

They should just shoot the farmers then, shouldn’t they?

4

Doves are evil. Therefore, killing them is not just morally defensible, but an imperative.

5

A chance to help farmers eradicate a pest and feed the local population all at once, and you have to pay to do it. Sounds like a worthy cause.

Oh, you’re using guns. Sounds terrible.

Hitting a dove on the wing isn’t as easy as it sounds. There is an element of skill involved.

You could kill 1K dove/day with a cropduster and some poison, I’d imagine. Might not do much to feed the locals, and it would cost money to do it as opposed to making money. And very little skill involved.

6

It’s certainly not my thing, but from what I understand, it’s remarkably like playing one of those side-scrolling shooters, except, you know, in real life. Like Gradius. Or Gunstar Heroes. The beaters beat, the doves fly, the shotgun roars, and you just try to get them all.

7

Does your dog laugh at you when you miss? That would really suck.

8

We can do that? Does it cost extra?

Sailboat, there’s a different kind of skill involved with hitting a fast moving, veering target than with punching holes in a piece of paper or even hitting a clay pigeon thrown in a straight line. It’s a sport, not easily mastered, and this is possibly one of the better places it can be performed. If locusts were of a similar size and speed, I’d venture to guess targeting them would be just as challenging and popular. Would that bother you?

When you go to a driving range, do you just hit one ball? To a museum, just admire one painting? It’s what some enjoy doing and this is an opportunity to do it more than it’s prudent anywhere else while at the same time actually helping a number of people out.

I’m not offended by your tone, namely because I think you’ve simply got the wrong impression of why a fair number of people would enjoy this experience. There’s nothing bloodthirsty in this, it’s just a challenging adventure in a part of the world I’d love to visit.

9

What I’m opposed to isn’t relevant to what you are enthused about. I asked you to explain. Sure, it’s the Pit, you can choose not to explain and take a few shots at me instead, and not be banned.

It should be clear from my questions that in fact I do NOT equate stalking a single animal with asembly-line-style slaughter of 1,000. Want me to retype it? There are many things it’s enjoyable to do once or a few times that become drudgery in the thousands.

The ‘questions’ that I pose are not insulting to hunters unless hunters are generally pretty stupid people, since they are prescisely echoed defenses of hunting that hunters have offered to me in conversation.

Nor are they false – again, unless of course hunters have been lying.

Sailboat

10

Oh, and the local people can eat anything they want and it does not necessarily cause you to want to go down there and do it, does it? You don’t pay to travel to South America to hoe their fields, do you?

Myn question was what YOU get out of it.

Sailboat

11

I think this kind of “hunting” emphasizes the worst things about hunting, and not the best things.

12

Sorry, Sailboat. Different kinds of hunters. Some people like First Person Shooters. Some people like scrolling shooters. Some people like stalking games like Thief.
Some people like hunting deer, some like doves, some like arrowhunting.

13

I recently read Larry McMurtry’s Buffalo Bill book, “The Colonel and Little Missie,” wherein the author discusses the sport of endurance shooting. 100 years ago it was much more popular than today, so much so that people could make their living at it. But, like all jobs, it took its toll on all participants. One professional (Ned Butler? Doc Carver?) shot at over 2,000 birds one day, and then spent the next two days on his back with a wet cloth over his eyes.

As for the OP, would you be happier if they stayed home and played Doom?

14

They apparently like the doves. They can eat whatever they want, sure. I’m not sure what their basic diet consists of, but doves dropping from the sky seem to be a treat.

Not much skill involved in hoeing a field, is there. And the element of skill is, I think, what draws hunters there. That’s what they get out of it.

You may not think it’s much of a show of skill, but I bet every hunter does not hit 1K/day. The limit here (it’s been years since I hunted dove, I don’t care for them) is around 20/day IIRC. I’m a pretty good shot, and I never killed 20 doves with 20 shots. Probably 50 shots for 20 doves, I’d guess. By comparison, I could shoot 15 quail (which I do like) with not many more than 15 shells. Pheasant would be basically 1:1.

I also like to fish. I’ve never caught 1000 fish in a huge net, but that happens daily. Not any skill there. Like killing doves with a cropduster full of poison, I bet not many people would pay for that experience.

15

I just got an image of the Contra guys in a field somewhere. The Spray gun would make things easier, but the Fire gun would be awesome unless its’ the Contra 2 Fire gun which splits into 4 upon hitting a target. That’s gonna mess up your crops.

But can you shoot a partidge with a single cartidge?

16

I agree. Anyone who does go to shoot 1000 birds a day should at least take a couple home to be stuffed and mounted so that when the bird goes the way of the Passenger Pigeon they can look at them with fond memories.

17

Speed, these and other species of dove can fly as fast as 60 miles per hour.
Elusiveness, when the lead is flying these guys can juke and jive like bats after a bug.
Size, overall about the size of a softball.

Shooting, and hitting a softball sized shape flying at 50-60 miles an hour at ranges of twenty to fifty yards by flinging 180 pellets at it at 1400 ft per second requires damned good skill. If you shoot at 500 birds, you’re darned good if you bring down 250-300.

18

Actually, I prefer to hunt those in my underwear, late at night, with a long handled dip net.

(Do a search for “chuckar”, maybe my thread will pop up).

19

Sure. If it’s in a pear tree. :smiley:

20

I could shoot a sparrow with a bow and arrow!

(actually this is a lie, I am a terrible shot who likes showtunes)