However, if hunters truly looked at hunting JUST as a sport, then why would they care if other “hunters” participated in the sport using different rules? In other words, the just-a-sport explanation does not come close to explaining the outrage that hunters feel towards Internet hunting, nor would it explain why this issue is bubbling to the top of legislators’ priority lists.

For example, soccer can be played indoor or outdoor. If it’s played indoors, the venue can put into place walls that keep the ball inbounds. Does this significantly change the sport of soccer? Yes. Does Congress need to outlaw using walls around a soccer field? That question is silly.

So why the difference with Internet hunting? It may not have all of the attributes of the sport of hunting, but so what? Something else must be at the root of the outrage. So let me try a different question on you. If hunting is just a sport, why the hunter outrage and the derailment of legislative agendas?

Eric.

However, I found the “[h]unting is about…” statement to be problematic. For example, I grew up in a rural area and state where many people hunted. Although I did see some people hunt partially for a bravado/cajones/power/god reason, I do not believe that most people hunt with that purpose and/or state of mind. (Of course, I am ignoring subconscious thought and probably all the literature that states that hunting has to do with X).

Simply put, hunting to many of the people from my hometown and myself is a just another sport, like basketball, baseball or soccer. The “[h]unting is about…” statement seemed to say that the only reason people hunt is bravado, etc. My point is that there is bravado, etc. involved in all sports, including hunting, but those reasons are surely not the only reasons people play sports, including hunting.

Furthermore, this post pushed me to reevaluate my purpose to hunt. I thought about it for a long time (I had a long drive last weekend), and I do not think it has anything to do with bravado, etc. Maybe the subconscious seeds were planted a long time ago…

(i wish I knew how to create paragraph breaks)