Man vs. Bear

By David DiPetrillo
I once heard a tale of a hunter who killed a bear with his teeth. He was walking through the woods when he stumbled across a sick, and now very distraught, grizzly that was fast asleep just moments before. It attacked, and the hunter defended himself by taking the bear in arm and biting it in the neck. Today, hunters take advantage of technology. Many times, there will be someone sitting in a fifty-foot tower shooting at a deer five hundred yards away. Instead of using towers, guns and technology, let’s go back to more rudimentary technology: weapons like knives and spears. It’s far more humane when there is more of a challenge involved; one where the fight is a touch more even. Besides, it’s harder to sneak up on a deer with a spear than it is to just shoot it from afar. One needs skill, practice and patience in order to get that deer. Hunting would turn into more than just having that disturbing show of machismo by having a deer head in your living room. Much more pleasure can be taken with that trophy when you are actually being challenged for it by hunting with your hands and actual wit, instead of relying on technological advancements. The largest pitfall of my theory is that, well, it’s harder. Many people would give up the sport, but that’s exactly the idea. People would find it difficult to sneak up on an animal. Humans are quite noisy and cumbersome. One would either be heard before getting to the prey, or miss with a spear and not get a kill. Larger prey such as a bear may even retaliate, and trust me; no one likes an angry bear. After some time, there will develop a sort of super hunter; one that has been steeped and bred into hand-to-hand hunting for generations. For the sake of relating them to pop culture, I shall dub them Rambo hunters. They won’t need guns or technological advancements for their hunting. In an age of flying cars and ray guns, they will be able to wait in the tree tops for a deer to cross their path, pouncing on the unsuspecting creature. In all seriousness though, we can probably just stop hunting for sport. When you are hunting for food and survival that is one thing, but when you are just hunting for the sport and the kill, that is another thing. You don’t actually need it. If you don’t need the food don’t kill the animal. We don’t need to ensnare animals and keep them in fences so that they can be shot in convenience at our own leisure. You may say that it’s a fun and harmless way to blow off some stress, but may I suggest something to you? Try some situps, eat a fruit cup, or maybe go for a jog or something.