For the HSUS being so against hunting in general..there is a lot of outside influence with CHILDREN that they forget..Walt Disney made TONS of movies, and comics that involved hunting...ironically..with HOUNDS! (Goofy and Pluto who look hound to me)
Now, are they to say that Walt Disney was wrong for making a cartoon involving Pluto and Mickey going duck hunting? Sure they never actually killed one, but it was the act of itself that was recognized...Id like to see them pick a fight with that industry and see how fast those movies DONT come off the shelves, or screen writes re-written because its "promoting harm to animals."
As the HSUS was founded in 1954..the influence of hunting through comics and short films was around much earlier than that...Walt Disney from the very beginning was making movies, and comics about hunting...
The Duck Hunt (1932)
Mickey and Pluto are going duck hunting. They clown around a bit. Then they march off, with Pluto's fleas following in formation, which lures a few ducks to follow. As soon as Mickey turns around and sees the ducks, they fly off. He heads for his blind, out-fitting Pluto with a decoy on his head. The ducks buy it, but Mickey has trouble with his shotgun, ultimately shooting a hole in the bottom of his boat and having the gun disintegrate. The ducks see this, and unmask Pluto. Sensing vulnerability, they recruit more ducks, and fly off with Pluto and Mickey. Mickey drags on windmills and rooftops, and finally both of them drop into long underwear hanging on a line (with Pluto's fleas using little parachutes).
The Moose Hunt(1931)
Mickey's hunting, along with a characteristically playful and distracted (and uncharacteristically talkative) Pluto. Pluto fetches a forked branch, and Mickey shoots, mistaking it for antlers, but Pluto is OK. Then they find a moose, and Mickey's gun fails but they escape when Pluto does an impression of Dumbo, with Mickey riding
Then you have to take in account, The Fox and the Hound. Sure its not really FOR hunting, but its still there!... also Mary Poppins..when her and the children are running on the mary-go-round horses they encounter hunters and a fox. Walt Disney was smart in corrporating hunting into childrens stories. He made them fun, but still introduced "city kids" into a world they would have never known otherwise.
Its funny how every cartoon that includes hunting..its either Mickey and his trusted DOG Pluto... or Goofy whom is a dog himself?
There is a book I bought a year ago, VERY neat book. I encourage those who haven't read it...to do so.
HUNTING AND THE AMERICAN IMAGINATION
By David Justin Herman
Herman is not so much interested in hunting itself as in ideas about hunting. He traces the path by which Americans--especially Theodore Roosevelt and others of the Progressive Era--came to think of themselves as a people who had been made great through hunting. Herman deftly draws on critical theory and on a vast repertoire of secondary literature yet he grounds his story firmly in history rather than in literary criticism.
Im new to hound hunting, but I'm still upset on how big corporations like HSUS and PETA target those who are closed minded and uses lies instead of facts to swing a vote in their direction and benefit their cause, with no recollect for the other party, or their argument... Im a hard headed woman, but I still let people tell their side of the story in fair trade... just irks me. ....
Im not sure if my opinions are even relevant to the issue at hand..but ..Those are my two cents anyway.