The Fate Of Hunting In Pakistan – Good Hands Vs Bad Hands
I mean the heights of innocence never seem to end in Pakistani hunting community. Here is yet another ‘seasoned hunter’ asking for an even more seasoned opinion over social media. Innocence coupled with curiosity and thirst for wisdom, reveals how desperate the guy is towards the sport of waterfowl in Pakistan. He hasn’t filled the greed in opening season and now asking whether any of ‘leftover’ ducks would show up to keep the barrels warm.
And more annoying is the actual wisdom pouring in from his counterparts in the virtual community, who never seem to miss a chance to fill in some waterfowl wisdom. One pearl of wisdom falls and guides the ‘innocent killer’ to wait until Ramzan holidays. Sounds like he knows for sure, ducks don’t really like to sport around in Ramzan and more busy in their pilgrimage somewhere. Another pearl enlightens the dude with the knowledge of patience untill the full moon blossoms and the duck might show up for some love. Poor hunter already has enough ignorance in the subject matter, now he is to be more prone to sighting moon for ducks. That too in a time, when moon sighting would bring more joy if was for the advent of Ramzan ul Mubarik.
There is no end to goofy head hunters and subsequent Roomis and Ghazalis with spiritual knowledge of the game whether upland or waterfowl in Pakistan. After all sharing knowledge is an inevitable part of our religion. Regardless of the consequences of sharing such knowledge, we love to share a bit of what we know. Try asking these holders of the pearls of wisdom, where they hunt? Trust me, you will be ignored like anything!
If one doesn’t have the audacity to spend time in the field and learn from its failures, doesn’t have the eye for observing nature and doesn’t have the pulse to read the game, please go eat biyani and sleep over it. There is no shortcut for learning how to hunt. I’m sure the guy doesn’t even know when did even the season start, let alone knowing whether it has ended.
I don’t think waterfowl anywhere in the world share a universal calendar that officially tells hunters their itinerary over the course of waterfowl season. And thanks to Almighty, you didn’t share the eternal pearls of this particular wisdom. Otherwise, the universal duck travel itinerary would have been sold in the black market. And these innocent, virtually born hunters with a silver spoon, would be ideal niche to sell to.
That’s the irony of being part of hunting community in Pakistan. Virtual hunters being born in abundance inspired by the heroic gun holders with loads of game by the river bay. Immediately visualizing themselves in the photo with a million views. Then ask random blood thirsty question on a forum to fill in the knowledge gap and here they go! They don’t realize hunting is a lifestyle inspired by a spiritual connection to the sport. It is way beyond shooting and is something you learn by observing and specialize by doing it consistently.
Weather is dramatically changing with drastic impact on wildlife and its habitat. Hunting pressure is only adding to the miseries of the game species in this changing environment. And on top of that, we are constantly recruiting volunteer hunters with no heritage and ethical orientation to the sport. The gap is huge. Before encouraging someone for hunting, let’s just think for a moment and try to predict if your small piece of advice would land in the right direction.
“we are constantly recruiting volunteer hunters with no heritage and ethical orientation to the sport”
Does every hunter need to have a hunting-rich heritage? Sounds flawed, no? Yes, They should be totally vary of the rules, ethics, and dos/don’ts but saying that recruiting hunters with no heritage orientation is sort of wrong but I do agree with the ethical part.
P.S: I feel like you might be referring to the hunting heritage and not the person’s heritage. Also nice blog
You absolutely felt right Arham. And that is totally me thinking here and i can be wrong if i can be right at times.
By heritage i never meant every person should inherit the endeavor and that’s flawed as you rightly pointed out. But if you see i put more emphasis on ‘learning by doing’. There is no short cut to any learning process. Even the one from who we inherit may not have inherited himself but learned the hard way. So either heritage or learning the hard way both have the same consequence in terms of rising as an ehtical and prudent hunter.
But millenials have short patience span and hardly revert to that mode of learning. They wish to learn with Reel time and that’s where they only get inspired by the superficial aspect of hunting i.e. guns, huge game bag and eventually a heroic picture. And that’s where it becomes a competiton more than hunting and that’s where the snowball effect comes into play.
I totally agree with Ezaz. As a beginner in hunting I also feel the same way. I am learning by the failures. In 2 years I have traveled as far as balochistan for hunting with lets say less then desired results but I enjoyed every bit of it the adventure the outdoor camping and the adrenaline rush when after a long day single bird is found. But the people whom I am supposed to learn from have no regard for ethics and bag limit etc and it really hurts seeing old generation not thinking of next generation of hunters. I can only hope that new generation of hunters like me will be more educated and aware.
In Sha Allah.