[ashooner]

A few years ago I went to a dinner party at an anthropology professor's home. He was a big game hunter, and an entire floor of his house was full of taxidermied animals of all types and sizes, from all over the world.

The idea of sport hunting (i.e. killing things for fun) still troubles me, but I have to admit it was fascinating to get to see those animals up close (much closer than I would at a zoo). Presumably those dead animals will still be providing that opportunity long after their zoo counterparts have been replaced by a new generation of captives.

[gaius]

I could respect hunters if they went out with only a knife or a spear, alone on foot, but killing an animal at a safe distance with a high powered rifle, a vehicle to make a quick getaway, a whole crew of guards and guides, is just base cowardice, those people are the scum of the earth.

And even then, no reason to hunt some animal unless you plan to eat them.