HUNTING FOR "PLEASURE"

"Objection to 'sport hunting' - as opposed to that carried out by
indigenous peoples - often centers around judgements about
motivation. A close friend once told me: "I have no problem with
people who hunt for food, but I'm totally against anyone hunting
for pleasure." During a study of relationships between people and
deer in America, I've heard innumerable versions of this
statement. But for the Inupiaq and Koyukon, as much as for
ourselves, pleasure is among the deepest and most vital rewards
of hunting. And in our own culture, as among Native American
people, motivations for hunting are multifarious and complex -
including a range of economic, social, and personal
dimensions. In addition, based on explorations of the literature
and conversations with hunters, I wonder if there is anyone who
hunts purely for pleasure.

This underscores the tenuousness of making ethical judgements
about hunting based on motivation. To risk a comparison, I am
reminded that some Christian theologians and denominations have
judged as immoral sexual activity motivated for pleasure, and as
moral that which is motivated for procreation. Even those who are
entirely devoted to a reproductive goal, one suspects there is at
least a twinge of enjoyment, not to mention emotional and
pyschological gratifications. Here is another biological
function, like the quest for food, involving numerous motivations
that cannot reasonably be separated one from the other." [p.29]

Richard Nelson. "Stalking the Sacred Game: Perspectives from
Native American Hunting Traditions". (Proceedings of the
Governor's Symposium on North America's Hunting Heritage. July
16-18 1992, Bozeman, Montana). pp.22-32.