Japan's female hunters take aim at stereotypes

I hope that is just a bad pose for a photo and not how she really aims at Ducks !

Looking at the picture, I think she had already taken the shot and was lowering the weapon when the picture was taken. You can still see smoke exiting the muzzle.

Disgusting. Kodama is providing 'training' yet she herself cannot shoot straight enough to ensure a clean kill? They have to follow the wounded animal until it collapses and dies? For shame. 'It's exciting' to see with her own eyes an animal suffer and die so that she can play the intrepid hunter? These people should not be allowed out with a firearm.

@cleo

These people should not be allowed out with a firearm.

I dunno - personally I prefer not to get upset with people with guns, even non-stereotypical hunting females in the forest who are criticized for not being able to shoot straight yet provide training. Maybe let them just do their job there.

Yet the forest is a far cry from urban killing grounds in the Middle East, in some inner urban areas in some western nations or areas with high drug-addict-populations-becoming-lower in the Philippines.

Take it easy Cleo, no shame in hunting & eating game if done sustainably & safely.

OzzieD, unlikely she was shooting at a duck in the woods, likely quail or perhaps a dove that high up in the trees.

let them just do their job there

If she isn't teaching that a clean kill is essential, she isn't doing her job.

no shame in hunting & eating game

The shame isn't in 'hunting and eating game', if chewing on dead bodies is your thing. The shame is in causing an innocent living creature the pain and suffering of a slow lingering death - and calling it 'exciting'.

The hunters who come on JT defending their habit tell us how they always have respect for their prey and make sure that the kill is quick and clean. Kodama didn't.

I take it the downvotes are from the hunters who don't like to admit that their shooting isn't as sharp as they'd like to think, and that my criticism of Kodama's incompetence reflects on their own less than stellar performance.

GW - Yeah, hurting animals for the fun of it is just a laugh, right?

Yes, Its so fun and cool to shoot helpless animal for some idiotic thrill and be called "Hunter". Brave hunters :)

Yes, Its so fun and cool to shoot helpless animal for some idiotic thrill and be called "Hunter".

As compared to eating factory prepared meat, where the animals never get to live free, and are contained to tiny cages/pens, and fed steroids and hormones and fattened up until they are killed? Does it feel better to buy meat that you don't need to take any personal responsibility for it's death, because you bought it packaged in styrofoam or some take-out bag?

People always complain about Japan's high vegetable prices, but after the Deer and Wild Boars get their 10-20% prime cut (before any middleman) the price of manufacture has already gone up. Could help with lowering the cost of meats also and this open foraging grass fed (and farmer assisted) animals having way better quality meat and Omega 3 fats than a pure farm raised animal.

For Japanese that like meat these wild animals are superior that what can typically be found in food markets. = Should be your first Omega3 fat food choice along with wild fish etc.

Shooting and failing to kill instantly, and getting a thrill out of the kill and subsequent butchering (as described in this article), are not the marks of a good, ethical hunter.

Since the late 1990s, the number of deer in Japan has jumped from less than 400,000 to more than 3 million, according to the Ministry of Environment. The boar population doubled to 1 million over the same period.

Pity wild game isn't more popular in Japanese cuisine. Haven't had deer or wild boar meat for years but used to love it (as meat or pate).

"tracking the wounded animal through the forest." Am no hunter expert but I would have thought hunters themselves aimed for/want one-shot, fast clean kills? She seems to almost enjoy tracking the wounded animal. Hope (for big game's sake) she doesn't hunt small and big game using the same bullets/rifle?

Shooting and failing to kill instantly, and getting a thrill out of the kill and subsequent butchering (as described in this article), are not the marks of a good, ethical hunter.

I don't think any hunter intentionally shoots to not kill instantly. But animals don't just sit there, they are living creatures that can move erratically and unexpectedly, and sometimes the kill isn't as clean as one would like.

As for getting a thrill from the kill and/or the butchering, I don't see how that is unethical.

I don't think any hunter intentionally shoots to not kill instantly

I would certainly hope not; but the hunter in the article, supposedly training others how to kill, clearly failed to do so. And seriously, you see nothing wrong in people who get a thrill out of killing??

And seriously, you see nothing wrong in people who get a thrill out of killing??

I might be way off the mark, but I'm willing to bet that most hunters get a rush out of killing their prey. I assume that's partly why most of them do it. The hunt, the tracking, the preparation and the execution gives them a thrill.

Is it wrong? Not really for me to judge them, I think.

It's not something I would ever do, but hunting is not illegal.

I wonder what Cleo, who's so vocal about hunting, thinks about a woman's "right to choose"

There are a lot of amazing women hunters out there, my wife being one of them. I think there is nothing wrong with hunting or getting a thrill off of it. Been hunting since I was 5 and i always take my kids when we go back to the States. All the animals we kill, we eat and nothing goes to waste. I'm a hunter, but also, I am a conservationist. I believe there needs to be some balance in the order of wildlife.

And seriously, you see nothing wrong in people who get a thrill out of killing??

Not really - we're at the top of the food chain. I understand that as a vegetarian, you don't think it's morally correct to eat animals. I respect that stance, I just don't agree with it. I believe that prey is on the planet for us to eat, and enjoying the hunt for the reasons Tamarama gives is both natural, and ok - as long as there is respect for the animal involved. I don't agree with trophy hunting, nor with things like shark-finning. But the hunters I've known, who were meat hunters, all had respect for nature and animals in general, and made sure that as much of the animal as could be used was used. When someone enjoys that, it's enjoying the hunt for the hunt, and for the meat it will bring. When someone enjoys trophy hunting, they are just sadistic bastards.

it seems that sustainable amount of wild animals have to be hunted to protect farmers' crops, otherwise farmers will give up their good jobs to provide foods to markets. Most hunters and trappers are old or very old now, so they need more young hunters and trappers all over Japan. But most young people don't like such jobs in wild mountains.

What a pile of "crap", it is the Humans that are destroying this Wonderful Place. Never mind taking Aim at 4 legged Ainimals, take aim at the Two legged animals that are destroying this Wonderful Place!

170 mil. is No Small Change! If they're following the rules & getting it done that's good - The End.

Long before the days of industrialisation, man or human kind, relied on hunting as a means for survival.

The act of the hunt itself involves using the senses - sight, sound, smell, touch & taste. So after a successful hunt, there is bound to be a sense of satisfaction. How many of us can say we are tuned into our environment by engaging our senses when using smart technology?

And for the carnivores among us, have you really seen where the meat you buy actually comes from? Has anyone been to observe an abattoir recently?

Sure, only few people would appreciate and enjoy the act of hunting though for those who do, at least there may be a sense of appreciation for the role of animals in the human food chain.

As for mindless killing of animals, deforrestation for the pursuit of food production eg palm sugar is a good starting point for debate.

What a pile of "crap", it is the Humans that are destroying this Wonderful Place. Never mind taking Aim at 4 legged Ainimals, take aim at the Two legged animals that are destroying this Wonderful Place!

...........I think that could very well get you jailed in most countries. Anyway as one poster above pointed out people who hunt, fish etc are also some of the BEST conservationists out there, do tremendous good, lots of work. To be sure there are also many who do similar good work who neither fish or hunt. But EVERYONE here impacts the environment around them & worldwide.

And in Japan wiping out the wolf was a real bad mistake

I did not know deer hid in trees, but I am glad she chased it down to finish it off. Should make a lot of stew and curry.

i prefer women that hunt in clubs and bars! but in all honesty, killing for fun or sport is atrocious. but if you eat what you kill and you kill it cleanly there isnt much of a problem. fair enough some hunters may gain some excitement or even sexual gratification from hunting, but stick to the laws and morals of hunting. HAPPY HUNTING!

What nobody mentioned, but is an important point as well, it's not only for protection of the farmers (they can and use netting for certain crops against tanuki and electric fences against boars and deer), but nature itself. When I went hiking the high plain of Kita-Yatsugatake last winter it brought a tear to my eye to see a sea of bamboo grass(笹) with trees in between only to find that most of these had been ripped off their protecting bark by deer who probably couldn't find any other food. And I think shooting deer is about the only way to re-adjust the balance.

Deer top off or devour most of the smaller trees = helps manage a forest. You will have a much denser (scrubby) forest without the deer.

Cleo, have you ever actually gone hunting, or are you just being argumentative?

Cleo, have you ever actually gone hunting

No of course not. Except with a camera.

Why on earth would I ever want to go out with the intention of deliberately hurting/killing some creature that had done me no harm?? I would give myself nightmares.

Why on earth would I ever want to go out with the intention of deliberately hurting/killing some creature that had done me no harm?? I would give myself nightmares.

Just curious, does that include fish? How about cockroaches or mosquitos?

cleo: But that's self-protection; I don't go out looking for insects to take pot shots at, and when I do kill one I take no pleasure at all in it. It makes me sad.

And then there's bathing! And showers!

Bacteria dying in their trillions, screaming tiny little cries as they go down the drain ...

Deer top off or devour most of the smaller trees = helps manage a forest. You will have a much denser (scrubby) forest without the deer.

The issue is balance, when over populated deer do TREMENDOUS damage as we see in many countries, when low in numbers yes we get more growth & predators(if they exist, the don't in Japan really now the wolf is extinct) numbers will rise & fall depending on prey populations. And Cleo, sorry but man IS part of nature, we aren't bystanders & you have to admit growing veggies DOES have an affect on many animals, including their deaths to bring greens to you kitchen.

Cleo, thank you for answering my question. I hope you don't eat fish then.

you have to admit growing veggies DOES have an affect on many animals, including their deaths to bring greens to you kitchen.

Strange how opining that 'killing for fun is wrong' brings out all the tired old 'This is why I'm not a vegetarian/Vegetarians are bad for the environment/Vegetarians are hypocrits/If you can't be perfect why bother at all' memes. The topic is hunting, not diet. No one here is pushing a vegetarian lifestyle, so why the need to knock it, or attempt to defend meat-eating? Thou dost protest to much.

How does my pointing out that (1) the lady supposedly teaching how to hunt is a lousy shot (2) failing to make a clean kill is poor huntsmanship and (3) it's sick to get your jollies from watching an innocent animal being killed (ineptly) and gutted, and watching its blood foul a river, have anything to do with vegetarianism? You can be a meat-eater and still not want the animals you eat to suffer in any way.

But to humour you, yes, agriculture does have an effect on nature and does cause animals and insects to die. Guilty as charged. But it takes less land and resources to feed a vegetarian than it does to feed a meat-eater; the non-vegetarian actually consumes more veggies than the vegetarian, it's just that most of those veggies are processed (quite inefficiently) through the digestive systems of the animals that provide the meat. So any harm the vegetarian does to nature is eclipsed by the harm done by the meat-eater who relies on meat from the feedlot/abattoir.

All readers back on topic please.

Cleo, do you also oppose and protest fishing?