Swan shooting. ‘Ah, sport, what crimes are committed in thy name.'
For 63 years I have owned and shot with everything from a Joe Manton flintlock, to a 400 Holland & Holland, to a Colt .357 Magnum. But never have I shot a bird on the water or taking-off. For two years, I humped a rifle as a soldier, and for another two years used both rifle and shotgun on the East Taupo Rabbit Board, so I think I have sufficient qualifications to write on the subjects of firearms and pest control. Guns pose many legitimate questions. I am neither for nor against; I know the pros and I know the cons, and I know enough to keep out of that particular kitchen. But I know also that guns can never be the answer to any single question, like the over-population of a species of large birds. Besides, a swan shoot looks to me like shooting cows in a paddock; thought I'd never say it but I would rather be playing golf.
From what I saw on the television on on Monday night of the swan shoot in the Bay of Plenty, if this firearms discipline is maintained on the next shoot, the swans are not going to be the only ones to die on that day. In this age of technology, limiting the numbers of these beautiful birds (just watch them take off!), need not be left to the lazy, the incompetent, and the trigger happy. In my day, there was a great difference between hunting and killing. The former was what it was all about. Have things changed that much? Or can we get our head together, use our computers, GPSs, our respect for the natural world, our rejection of needless pain and suffering and come up with a humane answer to what, after all, is not rocket science, but a fairly simple problem?
Julian Dickon, Katikati.