18 November, 2004
Point. Click. Kill.
Online hunting may be the dumbest/scariest idea I've heard of in a while.
Underwood ... has invested $10,000 to build a platform for a rifle and camera that can be remotely aimed on his 330-acre (133-hectare) southwest Texas ranch by anyone on the Internet anywhere in the world.
So hunting is all about the thrill of the chase? Except you're sitting on your ass. But it's healthy outdoor activity! Except you're indoors. And it's a contest between man and beast! Except man is clicking a mouse, and beast is wandering too close to a camoflaged gun-firing robot. So, basically, this is all about the fun of killing defenceless animals. A wonderful insight into the mind of this "hunter" comes in this quote:
"We were looking at a beautiful white-tail buck and my friend said 'If you just had a gun for that.' A little light bulb went off in my head," he said.The first thing that pops into your head when you see a beautiful deer is that you should kill it? What kind of crazed psychopath are you?
Further insane justifications follow:
Internet hunting could be popular with disabled hunters unable to get out in the woods or distant hunters who cannot afford a trip to Texas, Underwood said.Hey, I have nothing against disabled people taking an active role in society, in fact I fully support it and think it's wonderful how much effort first-world countries put into disabled access... but killing things? Is that really what you want to be doing? Really, I think if people are going to be hunting, they should be forced to do it with bows and spears. If you can't wrestle the animal to the ground, fuck you, you don't get to eat it.
And you know what? If you can't afford to come to Texas to shoot stuff, don't shoot stuff! How's about that for an idea!
This stuff just makes me really angry.