To define hunting-

To search for or follow after, as game or wild animals; to chase; to pursue for the purpose of catching or killing; to follow with dogs or guns for sport or exercise; as, to hunt a deer.

The cruelty of hunting involves the causing of gratuitous pain to wild animals.  True, wild predators also hunt, but their killing is not gratuitous. Only humans kill for pleasure.

Hunting, the stalking and killing of animals, has been a tradition most likely since the Ice Age when plant food became scarce. Although it was a crucial part of humans’ survival 100,000 years ago, hunting is now nothing more than a violent form of recreation that the vast majority of hunters does not need for subsistence.  Hunting has contributed to the extinction of animal species all over the world, including the Tasmanian tiger and the great auk.

Many animals suffer prolonged, painful deaths when they are injured but not killed by hunters.

 Today it exists as a "sport";  even when the animals' flesh is eaten, there is no excuse or justification for stalking and killing an animal in his or her habitat. Nevertheless, people not only engage in hunting but strongly defend it as their right to do so.

The stress that hunting inflicts on animals--the noise, the fear, and the constant chase--severely restricts their ability to eat adequately and store the fat and energy they need to survive the winter. Hunting also disrupts migration and hibernation, and the campfires, recreational vehicles, trash, and other hunting side effects endanger both wildlife and the environment. For animals like wolves who mate for life and have close-knit family units, hunting can severely harm entire communities.

The majority of animals hunted in Australia fall into two size categories: small or medium game. The six most common game species would probably be rabbits, hares, foxes, pigs, goats and the medium-sized deer (fallow, rusa, chital and hog).

Did you know that in Australia, recreational gamehunters have been given permission to hunt in our State Forests?  They can now get access to the majority of our publically owned forests for the purpose of feral animal control - also known as Big Game Shooting!  The only type of land they can't access yet is National Parks.

This is allowed under the  Game and Feral Animal Control Act and is supposed to allow for feral animal control by the community.  This act claims to be protecting the environment but by allowing hunting it has nothing to do with science or conservation.  It will not protect the environment – it will promote game hunting which is in conflict with co-ordinated pest management.
There are no genuine independent monitors, regulators or authorities to ensure that hunters do not abuse the extensive powers provided by this  law. Shooters largely police themselves. The Game Council is controlled by hunters and appoints inspectors.

They're hardly cute or cuddly. In fact, if you ran into one it would probably scare you half to death. So why should anyone care if 25 saltwater crocodiles are killed by trophy hunters in Australia's Northern Territory every year? After all, 600 crocs are killed every year for their skins and meat, so what are another 25?

Well, aside from the natural distaste most people have at the idea of anyone getting a thrill out of killing a wild animal, a decision taken by our Australian Government to allow the trophy hunt to go ahead could be the thin end of the wedge as it would overturn Australia's policy banning recreational hunting of native wildlife. As a representative of the International Humane Society (IHS) pointed out, the next thing you know, tourists could be invited to come to Australia and shoot kangaroos for fun.

Its not just in Australia, animals all over the world are being hunted and killed, regardless of size and beauty, hunters are indescriminate in their kill. 

 September 1st marks the opening of the hunting season every year of the endangered grizzly bears of  Canada.

In 2001, the threat of a European tourism boycott convinced the then Canadian Government to impose a moratorium on trophy hunting of grizzlies in the province. The new, notoriously anti-environmental government, has overturned this moratorium, ignoring the verdict of international scientists that hunting, combined with ongoing habitat loss from logging, could push the grizzlies to the edge of extinction.

WHAT IS CANNED HUNTING?                

In the vile world of trophy hunting, nothing is more disgusting  than the practice of 'canned hunting' - the captive breeding and hand rearing of big cats and other animals for the sole purpose of being placed in an enclosure for wealthy big game punters to kill them.  

Canned hunting operations, also referred to as "shooting preserves" or "game ranches," are private trophy hunting facilities that offer their customers the opportunity to kill exotic and native animals that are trapped within enclosures.

                                                         Who Are the Victims?

The animals killed in canned hunts may come from private breeders, animal dealers, or even zoos. These animals are frequently hand-raised and bottle fed, so they have lost their natural fear of people. In many facilities, the animals expect to be fed at regular times by familiar people—and the shooters will be there waiting for them.

Semi-tame animals make easy targets, so canned hunt operators can offer their customers a guarantee of, "no kill-no pay." The animals are guaranteed something as well—that there will be no escape. 

An eye witness on a canned hunt wrote this;

"The bullet slammed into the lioness and she spun into the air, falling against the electric fence behind which she was confined. Standing on the other side of the fence were her three young cubs - she had been separated from them an hour earlier.

"The overseas hunter fired another shot. She slumped to the ground in a crumpled heap. Both times, the hunter shot from a vehicle. He then posed with the dead lioness and pulled at her mouth to show her teeth."

Click here to see a canned hunt operator, and check out the 'photo's page'.

These are some of the questions asked on the site:

What would you like to hunt with?
Bow Rifle Both

Which animals would you like to hunt? (check all that apply)
Elephant
Rhino
Buffalo                                                                                    
Zebra
Sable
Leopard
Lion

I guess it just goes to prove: big gun little dick