Sports Afield

The great transformation that marked the rise of conservationist thinking in North America was fashioned by individuals who cared deeply about the natural resources of their sovereign countries, Canada and the U.S. Their efforts, launched against improbable odds, led to the system of laws, policies and conventions and institutions we recognize today as the North American System (Model) of Wildlife Conservation. From the beginning it was joined by a much wider coalition of interests that included legions of non-hunters as well.

What if the first decision we make, even before the hunt begins, before we even rise to a new day, is to shoot our quarry only at long distances - very long distances? Where does this place the hunter and the hunted? The issue of long-range shooting has become an important one for all hunters. The question looms as to whether this new activity so alters our relationship with the hunted to demand some nomenclature of its own.

The hunting community often focuses upon its financial contributions towards conservation. However, in the author's view paying a tax established in 1937 on a rifle or ammunition today does not make anyone a conservationist, regardless of whether they hunt or not. So what does makes someone a conservationist and how would you know if you met one? If hunters want to be known as conservationists, shouldn't the community be able to articulate what it means by the term?