Getting to the heart ;° of the hunting season ! Every good hunter is uneasy in the depths of his conscience when faced with the death he is about to inflict an the enchanting animal — Jose Ortega Y Gassett. HUNTING SEASON is again upon us, te the almost limitiess joy of hundreds of thousands of men and dogs — and the anger and despair of some animal lovers, There will be the usual public shouting and the usual private doubts. Speaking as one who has loved the sport for more than half a centu- ry, [have never had much attention to spare for the hypocrites who wear leather shoes and enjoy cheap eggs and chicken meat which come from conditions too dismal for thought. Other critics of hunting have my respect — Buddhists and other veg- elurians who do not believe man should kill any animal and whe live by their code. But there are few people who question the ethics of hunting for sport more than the sportsmen themselves, and onc of the ques- tions never casy to answer is this one: Why kill? If one loves the out- doors, if hunting gives you a spe- cial joy, why not shoot wilh a cam- era and bring a photograph home for a trophy? Most of us come up with the response that everything has to dic sooner or later —- hunter and hunt- -ed — and if death is delivered properly, why not in the great out- doors instead of in a slaughter- house? Yet we wonder, with every bird we drop. { may hunt for days and kill nothing, | often do. But when there is a kill, there is a sense of satisfac- tion. It is not pleasure. A man who feels joy at a fellow creature's death may have a kink in his head. But there is satisfaction. There is a sense of completeness. The Spanish philosopher Jose Ortega y Gassett, (1883 to 1955), who is quoted at the top of this col- umn, devoted a book to the old conundrum of why men love hunt- ing. Clearly, Mr. Ortega did himself. Nightly 7:00 & 9:20 MATINEES SAT & SUN 2:00PM | Nightly at 9:30PM Paul St. Pierre PAULITICS & PERSPECTIVES Any sportsman understands instantly when he says, “The beau- ty of hunting Jies in the fact that it is always problematic.” This perception of beauty does not interfere with his search for the great trophy sought by all philoso- phers — truth. He recognizes that there is 2 difference between hunt- ing for need and hunting for sport, and notes that humans are not the only animals who hunt for sport. He suggests we shall always hunt for sport. “Choose at random any period in... history and you wil! find that both men of the middle class and poor men have usually made hunt- ing their happiest occupation.” {t was so treasured that aristo- crats traditionally tried to make it their monopoly and always failed. It would be presumptuous, as well as too damn difficult, to con- dense all Mr. Ortega’s Meditations into an 800-word newspaper col- umn. { confine this one to his usser- tion that hunting is not hunting unless there is death. He deals with photographic hunting and calls it ridiculous. It is a condemnation few of us would make, yet his reasoning is com- pelling. “One can refuse to hunt but if one hunts one has to uccept certain ultimate requirements without which the reality of “hunting” evaporates. The overpowering of game, the tactile drama of its actual capture Matinees 2:00PM At 7:00PM Beta San “A MAGICAL : een ceo Ye ont Jour loileling’s nthe Minnesota Tans Have A ~ofunerat , ; Friday, September 16, 1994 ~ North Shore News — 9 “OSTERSON’S FRAMING & ART! ’ ‘00 ° incoming cen " “otder min, $30 OFF . Explos Sept. 20/94 and usually even more the tragedy of its death nurture the hurtec’s interest through anticipation and give liveliness and authenticity to all the previous work ... all of hunt- ing becomes spectral when a photo- graphic image, which is an appari- lion, is substituted for the prey, “To the sportsman, the death of the gante is not what interests him: that ‘is not his purpose. What inter- ests him is everything that he had to do to achieve death -- that is, to hunt, “Death is essential because without it there is no authentic hunting ... To sum up, one does not hunt in order to kill, on the con- trary, one kills in order to have hunted. “fone were to present the sportsman with the death of the ani- nal as a gift he would refuse it. “What he is after is to have to win it, to conquer the surly brute through his own effort and skill with all the extras that this carries with it the immersion in the coun- tryside, the healthfulness of the exercise, the distraction from his job and so on and so forth.” When my gun cracks this open- ing day, I shall think of what Mr. Ortega says. 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