Dominion: The Shooting Field

I have struggled to think of how to start off this blog post. There are so many things that I want to include in it, and so many points that I believe once readers reach them, they will hit the "x" on the tab and not read through. I also hope I can do justice and summarize the information I have taken in without making it sound too weak or to over baring. So I guess I will just go to it.

I am currently reading the book; "Dominion" by Matthew Skully. This past Friday night, I started the second chapter and could not stop until I finished it. The content of this chapter legitimately had me irritated so much inside I had a hard time trying to sleep that night.

In this chapter Skully talks about his visit to the Safari Club International's Convention in Reno, Nevada. A gathering that occurs annually. Some press is aloud in, but is extremely looked into by the coordinators of the event. You may understand why in a few. Skully did not opp for a press pass, instead went as a hunter interested in membership.

The Safari Club International is a Members Only Club of Hunter's. But not Hunter's like many understand them. These are Big Game Hunters. But not Big Game Hunters like you are imagining them. I challenge you to step your thought process higher. Think BIG GAME hunting. What do you imagine? Moose? Buffalo? Bison? How about Elephant! Rhino! Giraffe! Lion! Cheetah! Start imagining these, and you are starting out in the realm of these so called "Hunters."

Upon walking into the convention hall, he estimates there is about 18 rows stretching sixty yards a piece, spread out over three hundred thousand square feet of space. With over three thousand guides and outfitters serving some thirteen thousand visitors. Different "Safari" Hunts for sale. Guns, Weaponry, Jewelry, Videos, Books, Clothing, and Uncountable amounts of stuffed, fluffed, and posed Taxidermy. EVERY ANIMAL POSSIBLE! EVERYWHERE YOU LOOK. Name some sort of animal that is in the wild or the woods that can be shot at with a bullet, a bow, or a sling, and you will probably see it there. Stuffed Giraffes sit in the auction room. More exotic birds than you can count stare you in the face while you browse the pamphlets at the counters. A giant African Elephant's Head watches over you as you browse the "Safari's" for sale in the aisle dubbed "Elephant Walk." A Baboon stuffed and posed by a Lodge table, wearing a hat and Game Warden Uniform. Polar Bears, Leopards, Hyenas, Moose, Wolves, all on display. One aisle's booth even has two stuffed and posed Bald Eagles. This convention room floor has put a price on the heads of some of natures most beautiful creatures, and there is at least one of all of them there for you to look at. Considered "Big Trophies."

Maybe a full size animal is not for you, well what about some of these glorious items? A Giraffe skin day planner for $189. A Zebra Skin purse $149. An Impala skin gun case for $249. How bout a Giraffe skin rug for a couple hundred? Or a Cape Buffalo Hide Golf Bag starting at a Thousand Dollars?

Are you getting a vibe yet?

While parading around the floor and deeply searching each booth without being overwhelmed, Skully stops here and there to observe videos that are playing. One video he records watching briefly, "With Deadly Intent." One of three video's deemed "The Classics." The jacket to the video reads; "You're right there to see four dramatic brain shots. See how a .500 Nitro Express stops a raging bull's charge at ten steps!" For anyone like me who is unfamiliar, the .500 Nitro Express is an Elephant Gun that is currently the low boy on the market. When this book was written, it had just been upgraded to a .600 with .700 in production and a .800 in the works. Short run down of the film description; These "Hunters" come up on two female elephants bookending a calf, and the bull (male elephant) charges the hunters vehicle to try and scare them away. After some short time he charges straight at the vehicle, then the "Hunters" do what they do, and there lies the description of Four Brain Shots.

To all of those interested here at the convention, they too could have an African experience like this and many others for a certain price. Packages can start as low as $1500 for a Giraffe hunt, and top off somewhere near $250,000 for a White Rhino hunt (only one of the many endangered or soon to be endangered species on the list of hunts.) Custom Packages are available depending on the extent of what you may be looking for. You can add shipping of your "trophy," plus stuffing and delivery to your estate.

Maybe Big Game hunting is not your thing. You like to keep it classic, like deer, elk, moose and the like. No worries. There are many Hunting Lodges here to suit your needs. And by suit your needs, you will not believe what they have. For starters, there is no real need to worry about loosing your prize. Almost all of these Lodges have completely fenced in property. So even if you happen to fire a shot, and your trophy runs off, you will find it eventually. They also offer you the exact sizes and specified quality you are looking for. Antler size, weight, colors. All of these can be met on a stocked yard. With quality feed that is high in protein and scientifically engineered to create top notch trophies. Further more, they can reduce the doe crop in the yard and increase the amounts of Bucks through "Proper Harvesting." In Texas, one Ranch offers a two thousand foot high fence all around the land. They also offer deer that are engineered under the "Texas Scientific Breeder Program." One Lodge owner describes the experience to be like shopping for a new car. You pick out what you want, you buy it. You shoot it. You take it home. Prices starting in the low $1200's.

Are you a Hunter at Heart, but just can't seem to find the time to get out there as much as you like. No worries there either. With the trapping programs, and the zoo buy outs, they can bring the hunting to you. This really happens. Whatever you are looking to hunt, you can get it. Call up the Companies that offer this. Tell them what you are looking for. Pay your deposits. Then when they receive your animal, you head out to meet them at a determined location. The hunter is placed on a raised podium in the open, while the trappers "release" the animal some couple hundred yards away. Then when the animal appears in your sights, FIRE AWAY! Make the kill, pay for your trophy, and away you go.

Maybe the skeet shooting approach is not your type. You still enjoy the classic, in the woods feel of the hunt. That can be arranged. With guarantee. The program you hire, will head out into the woods and set up two stands. One in one spot with a bag like contraption below it, and some "X" amount of yards away will be another with a camouflage tent atop. The idea? Keep the feed tent out for a while and allow it to draw in the trophy. Let it feed on the Scientific Feed placed in there that is promised to bring top results. Then when the animal has become accustomed to eating from the bag, bring in the "hunter." Have them wait it out a while, and when the one they like shows up! There ya have it, your Trophy! Guaranteed! Kill it, pay for it, take it home.

Still with me? There's more!

Not only does the convention provide you with all of these kill options, (some I did not get into, like the Grand Slam, the Big Five, and the Big Five Special to name a few,) They also hold an Awards Banquet! What are they rewarding? Damn near everything you can think of. There is a Record Book for S.C.I. described to be the size of a Manhattan Directory. In it is a list of winners covering somewhere around twenty nine categories of achievements with hundreds of sub categories. All of them receiving some sort of award. Then there are the Inner Circles, where your entry is based on the sheer volume and raw numbers of kills. Having seven or eight different species can get you into the Copper Level. Next is Bronze at a dozen species of trophy animals. Silver carries weight of ten animals in ten species. Gold Members weigh in at a dozen or more trophy animals. Finally you can reach Diamond Level, with a minimal grand total of seventy-six different creatures slain.

By the time you receive all of the Safari Club Awards in all of the Categories, collecting the highest honor of all, "Crowning Achievement Award," one would have a collected kill count of minimum required Three Hundred and Twenty Two Animals! None of them to be the same. Think it is unreachable? Think again. One man has received the "Intercontinental Award," and his total sits at Three Hundred and Sixty Nine Animals. To add insult to injury, these numbers do not even add in the number of animals that were shot and wounded, or shot and never found.

In the year this book was researched, Skully says there were Five Hundred and Three different Awards given. The title names alone are something to dwell on: South Pacific Estate Taken! Diana the Huntress Award! Ibex of the World! African Big Five! Gazelles of the World! African 29! Grand Slam Wild Sheep! Diamond Grand Slam! Champions of the World! Wild Pigs and Peccaries of the World! And a rather flattering McElroy! An award that was given to a guy for his One hundred and Forty plus Record-Class animals from seventeen African countries including his 11 Grand Slams, 273 different hunts on six different continents, and Three Hundred and Sixty Nine Species! Too top it all off, there is a Hall of Fame as well! Swallow that!

With an American membership following of 32,000 people, each averages eight to ten kills a year. That puts a Grand Total of 320,000 animals killed! Yearly! That does not even cover the grand total of almost One Million members worldwide.

Now for the cherry on the top!

After all this information, not to mention the tid bits I left out concerning commentary and detailed description of kills and safaris from "Hunters," Trackers, Former Presidents of the USA, Celebrity Members, and SCI Leaders. After all of this I want to deliver the final thing that really got my insides cooking. You Ready?

Dwell in this for a few minutes, Safari Club International is a 501(C)3 Charitable Non-Profit Organization!

All the Safaris, the equipment, the travels, the taxidermy, the shipping, the jewelry, the clothing, the feed, the science, the research, the awards, the dinners, the convention . . . tax write off!

How you ask? Through deeds they deem "Charitable." Like the Sensory Safari Hunting Program. Where they take visually disabled, and blind people out on Safari. To show them what it is like to be a hunter. Also, all of the African Safaris are used to fund third world minor cities. Each hunt has a price tag. A portion of that price tag is given to the Cities and Countries to which they will be conducting their safari on. They also have a Museum Program as well. Turn a section of your home into a "museum" to display your "Trophies," and make sure that it is in your will that they are to be given back to SCI upon your death. Or donate them to a restaurant, bar, school or museum. These just some of the small deeds of the SCI Conservation Hunter.

Conservation?

That's right. SCI and it's members believe themselves to be Conservationists. They do what they do as a means to control populations of species. They keep the more valuable animals like Elephants, and Rhinos, and Bald Eagles, and Polar Bears from being victims to Poachers, and Ivory Hunters and the like by being the first to take them out. All the while, paying a hefty amount of money to the local areas hospitals, schools and public service buildings. Kind of like a big (Charity?) Payout to keep there mouths shut. But not only is it about saving them from poachers and ivory killers. It is also about keeping people safe as well. SCI says that these animals are a danger to the smaller cities and towns. The residents are not safe when there are Big Game animals located near their homes. So to solve the matter, they lower the number of these animals in that area, by taking them out.

Final Thoughts

I really wish I could cover A LOT more than I did here. Please remember, this is only a review on one chapter. And the way it is written, half the information. This book is so rich with information it can be overwhelming.

The people that you hear speaking in this book almost seem to brag about the kills they get. How exhilarating it is to take down an Elephant, or a Rhino. How they never go down on the first try. But yet, how they feel a bit of remorse after the kill. Only to do it all over again. The way they brag about the sizes of each kill, or how many kills they have. They make it all sound like it is completely normal to be this way. To take out nature one by one for the thrill of it all. For no better reason than the simple act of entertainment and dominance.

What these people do is absolutely disgusting to me. The disconnect in there systems is horrifying. Not to mention the fact, that some of the people interviewed, as well as some of the speakers openly believe that what they are doing is Godly. That Jesus himself approves of what they are doing. The Christian Sportsmen Fellowship had a breakfast the weekend Skully attended. They opened with a prayer that asks Jesus to occupy the throne of their life, and to help them change their pursuits. Also to purify their heart from all unrighteousness.

Now I am Christian, and I understand that not one man anywhere is perfect, nor will we ever be. But I truly feel sad for these guys and girls who take part in this Social Club and believe that what they are doing is in fact God Ordained. I do not believe this for one bit at all.This book is titled "Dominion." Taken from the scripture, in which God gives Man dominion over all the land animals, birds of the air, and creatures of the sea. This assignment was given to man to take care of, and watch over, and do right by. Not take advantage of, put a price on, entertain yourself with.

After reading this chapter, the only thing that rang in my head for the next few hours, was the part of scripture that Jesus spoke, when he said; There will come a day when these people approach me and say "Lord, Lord, Look at all the great things we have done in your name." And I will turn to them and say "I do not know you. Depart from me you evildoers."

I do not believe it is always the obvious things that society sees to be the reason Jesus said these words. Things like Addiction, Thievery, Greed, Lust, Etc. Although very distracting and sinful in their nature. I believe it is the things that have to do with the planet, and the inhabitants that he just might be talking about. The Earth and the way we treat it. The animals and the way we treat them. And Our fellow brothers and sisters, and the way we treat each other.

Love each other and treat each other as if to treat yourself. Take care of this creation, and all of the Life that is in it. It is our responsibility.