The Elitist Takes a Break
Question:
>I will be leaving the country for four months on January 15th, to do >a
sabbatical in India.I understand from Subash Mukerji that India does >not
allow hunting, which is a definite disappointment, but I’ll make up >for
it when I come back! To the Elitist, You fine wit and boundless knowledge will be missed. Stuart Gupton Visit the rec.hunting and rec.hunting.dogs FAQ Home Page at: http://sportsmansweb.com/hunting/ To leave the Hunting listserv list, send a message with SIGNOFF HUNTING
Response:
>I will be leaving the country for four months on January 15th, to do a >sabbatical in India.I understand from Subash Mukerji that India does >not allow hunting, which is a definite disappointment, but I’ll make up >for it when I come back!
For reasons that have to do with "food on the table and roof over head", I have not contributed much to the discourse on this newsgroup for while, but have "lurked" with some degree of consistency. So I came across the Elitist’s sad (but true for the most part) comment of the state of hunting in India, and feel obliged for reasons that are not entirely clear, even to me, to mount a defense of what is really an indefensible position. India was, in my youth, a great place to hunt, as were most places on Earth, if you go back far enough. Not that long ago, India was a composite of rag tag monarchies all of which subscribed to the doctrine that "all game belonged to the King" (read state) and thus the King had an interest in, and did, conserve the game for his Royal Pleasure. If you were on the side of the Angels in this set-up, you could be assured of great hunting experiences. The British occupation of India did little to change this beyond replacing a multitude of monarchs with a fat lady in London, who was given to wearing a crown on her head and being referred to as "Queen Vicky" by her close friends. And then came independence (for India, from afore mentioned Vicky). Suddenly, some 700 million people (now rising 950 million), were persuaded that they had as much right to the game as Vicky and her cohorts. The "British" rules of conservation, were deemed elitist (sorry Tom) and ignored by both the general populace as well as those charged with enforcing them. That kind of "hunting" pressure (lots of subsistence hunting with whatever means were at hand are included in that definition) on land mass about a third of the U.S.A., can be deadly. Some drastic game conservation measures were obviously needed. Meanwhile, the powers that be felt this overwhelming urge to introduce "gun control" laws (not for the same reasons as in the U.S., but it is such a long story that I will not bore you with it here. If you really want to know, e-mail me). So a deal with the devil was struck. Since the Indian Constitution (patterned on the British) has no explicit "right to bear arms", all guns are owned at the "pleasure of the State". Thus all weapons require a license, and the majority of these are issued for "hunting". Ban all hunting and then most citizens have no valid reason for owning a firearm. Go figure. Subhash "The Almighty never deducts from a man’s lifetime the hours he spends hunting and fishing" Visit the rec.hunting and rec.hunting.dogs FAQ Home Page at: http://sportsmansweb.com/hunting/ To leave the Hunting listserv list, send a message with SIGNOFF HUNTING
Response:
To the group: I will be leaving the country for four months on January 15th, to do a sabbatical in India.I understand from Subash Mukerji that India does not allow hunting, which is a definite disappointment, but I’ll make up for it when I come back! I want to take the opportunity to wish all of you a Happy New Year, and good hunting in 1998. Preparations for the trip have consumed a lot of my time in recent weeks and so I haven’t been actively posting as much as usual, but in mid-May you will (virtually) hear from me again. Tom Caceci aka The Elitist Visit the rec.hunting and rec.hunting.dogs FAQ Home Page at: http://sportsmansweb.com/hunting/ To leave the Hunting listserv list, send a message with SIGNOFF HUNTING
