Mind you, the pursuit of big animals is what trophy hunting is all about. And there is nothing at all wrong with setting individual hunting goals, such as taking the North American 29, or all of the spiral horn antelopes. The question is one of emphasis. Focusing too much on taking big trophies and reaching hunting goals may be blinding us to the larger pleasures of being a field and causing us to forget the gentlemanly values of yesteryear.
The ruminations above come as the result of visiting the Rowland Ward web site. Seems that venerable organization publisher of the important Records of Big Game has formed what it calls The Rowland Ward Guild of Field Sportsmen whose main goal is the celebration of ethical behavior afield. Ethics are so central to what the organization is about you have to read the organi- zation's Code of Ethics and agree to abide by it before you can apply.
Membership in the guild costs $50 (US) for one year; $90 for two years. That buys you acceptance by the group, a tie or cap with the Rowland Ward logo on it, a subscription to the bi-annual Rowland Ward Magazine, electronic access to a digitized version of Records of Big Game and discounts on the purchase of various books and products.
Here at The Hunting Report, I have long ago accepted that international hunting has moved in new directions of late, away from the gentlemanly roots of the activity. And those moves have been good and bad. They have been good because they have turned hunting into an economic juggernaut worldwide that has pushed the old protectionist ethic to the sidelines of history where it belongs. Wildlife populations the world over have a new chance to survive because of the new mercantilism of world hunting. On the........(continued)
