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Imagine you’re a hunter and you just bought a copy of Exposing the Big Game to add to your library of photo books featuring images of bulky bull elk, weighty bison, scary grizzly and black bears and other animals you objectify and fantasize about one day hanging in your trophy room full of severed heads, or of “lesser” animals like prairie dogs and coyotes you find just plain fun to trap or shoot at. You don’t normally read these books–you’re too busy drooling over the eye candy to be bothered–but for some reason, this one is burning a hole in your coffee table. So, you take a deep breath and summon up the courage to actually consider the text and its meaning. Some of the words are big and beyond you and you have to find a dictionary to get through it, but soon you begin to figure out that Exposing the Big Game isn’t just a bunch of exposed film featuring the wild animals you think of as “game.”
More than just an album of wildlife photos, this book has a message, and the message is: hunting sucks.
You don’t want to believe it. The notion that animals are individuals rather than resources goes against everything you’ve ever accepted as truth. Reading on, you learn about the lives of those you’ve always conveniently depersonalized. Finally, it starts to dawn on you that animals–like the ones staring up from these pages–are fellow earthlings with thoughts, feelings and interests of their own. By the time you’ve finished the third chapter, your mind is made up to value animals for who they are, instead of what they are. Now your life is changed forever!
Suddenly you’re enlightened and, like the Grinch, your tiny heart grows three sizes that day. You realize that the war is over and the animals were never the enemy after all. You march over to the gun cabinet, grab your rifles, shotguns, bows, arrows, and traps, haul the whole arsenal out to the chopping block and smash it all to bits with your splitting maul. Next, you gather up your ammo, orange vest and camouflage outfits and throw ‘em all down the outhouse hole.
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Returning to the book, you now face the animals with a clear conscience, vowing never to harm them again. You’re determined to educate your hunter friends with these newfound insights and you rush out to buy them all copies of Exposing the Big Game for Christmas.
…Or, suppose you are a non-hunter, which, considering the national average and the fact that the percentage of hunters is dropping daily, is more than likely. For you, this book could shed new light on the evils of hunting, insight outrage and inspire a firm resolve to speak out against these atrocities.
And if you’re one of the few who have devoted your life to advocating for non-humans, the photos of animals at peace in the wild will allow you a much needed break from the stress and sadness that living with your eyes open can sometimes bring on.
So, who should read Exposing the Big Game? — any hunter who hasn’t yet smashed his weapons with a splitting mall…or any non-hunter who still isn’t comfortable taking a stand as an anti-hunter. The rest of you can just enjoy the pretty pictures.
Article by Jim Robertson, author of Exposing the Big Game
Find more information about Jim’s book here: https://www.all-creatures.org/aw/book-exp.html
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