I think this illustrates that, as a society, our thinking about the difference between online and live activities is so inconsistent that it reflects a deep lack of serious thinking about what live/online differences are relevant or not.

Often, when I hear people, many of which are hunters, talk about internet hunting, I ask them why internet hunting is different than normal hunting. I never get any good distinctions.

The most laughable argument I got was a “slippery slope.” This person kept saying stuff like, “What’s next? Internet sniping in third world countries?! Gov’t making money of unmanned sentries/snipers!?”

Now, on to the post….

Most of the above quotes crack me up! However, I have a few comments about the quotes and your comments.

Environmental conservation: I not sure what Gov. Pataki is alluding to either. But, I imagine he could be alluding to population control. Anyways, I am not sure if population control actually works or is merely a red herring. I imagine that studies go either way (it looks like some of the studies linked through “empirical data” link seem to argue against the efficacy of population control through hunting).

Proud hunting traditions: C’mon now Professor!! Many Wisconsinites are proud of their dairy cows. I live in Wisconsin, and I am certainly not proud of Wisconsin’s dairy cows, but I think it is all right that people are proud of them. My home state is proud of its hunting tradition. In fact, the state bird, the ring-necked pheasant is the most hunted animal in the state! Fun fact: Sioux Falls’ airport’s (the largest airport in the state) busiest time of the year is pheasant season. Much of the South Dakota economy is based on hunting, and I think it is “ok” that they are proud of that. (Now that I re-read your comment, I think I mis-read your comment to be asking “who could be proud of hunting” instead of what I think you meant of “what could people be proud of in hunting.” Therefore, I think my comment is somewhat misplaced but I left it in because I think it is fairly interesting.)

Safety: I couldn’t agree with you more. Too many hunting accidents take place. I, too, am more worried when outdoors during hunting season.

Lastly, even though you preceded it with wiggle language, I don’t like anything that says that hunters “might” have poor hunting safety training and “may be” drunk while hunting. Even though I don’t think any harm was intended, I think it just feeds into negative stereotypes.