by Richard Serra

Created on: June 17, 2008   Last Updated: June 23, 2011

Hunting can be best defined as an activity rather than a sport, and perhaps sport would apply only in the minds of those who don't think twice about taking the lives of innocent animals. Sporting events do not give one opponent better odds over the other, and in my opinion, an innocent prey is on the losing end almost the whole time.

If they want to call it a sport, then hunt in a way that there are no advantages for the hunter, and by that I mean the hunter needs to match his skills against the animals defenses without using a weapon. There is no sport in sporting a target and pulling a trigger or releasing an arrow. It's nothing more than finding something to kill for the thrill of it.

Hunting for dinner is another thing altogether, but why do so when you can buy other meats fresh packed at a supermarket? A life is something of a miracle, and yet some discard that miracle as though it was nothing more than a living target. There is nothing at all sporting about taking an innocent life no matter how small or large that life form may be.

Those who do hunt for the "sport" of it are in denial if they think they are engaging in an activity that is clearly void of any conscience and calling it a sport. Call it anything else but a sport, because in some way or another if it is called for what it really is, then perhaps some may think of what they do a little differently, and perhaps retool their thoughts about taking an innocent life unnecessarily.

We all know why true hunters of the past had to hunt for food as a means of survival, but at that time, it was for a real reason to kill instead of, and I hate saying it, "for the sport of it," and only for that reason. Competition comes to mind when it comes to a sporting event, and the only competition a hunter is the prey's ability to sense his presence.

I could never figure why anyone would label this kind of activity a sport in the first place. I guess it goes to show us that no matter how ridiculous a label may seem, such as hunting is a sport, there are always those who don't think of how it may be nothing further from the truth. But they buy all their weapons from our local sporting stores, and I guess that is enough to be able to call it a sport, so I guess we are stuck with the term, and unless someone wants to lobby for a change as to what it should be called, life goes on a usual.

In thinking it over, I wonder if it really matters after all as we can at least say, it is not a prime time event that millions view on the major networks

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