Why is hunting classified as a sport?

Question

Why do they catorogize hunting with normal sports like golf and tennis?

Answer 1

sorry, but i have no idea. i personally find it sickening that killing something is considered a "sport"

Answer 2

According to dictionary.com, a sport is:

"an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature"

or

"diversion; recreation; pleasant pastime."

OK, it may not always be the most athletic of sports (although some types are quite athletic), but it is always much more so than other things that are classified as sport, like golf, or snooker.
It requires skill, and prowess and is often done competitively. And it is a recreation and pass-time (when it says 'pleasant' read enjoyable) for many people. If you want to do a silly thing like read the definition, it is a sport.

I think many people would agree shooting targets is a sport, it's in the Olympics, and all hunting is is (usually) shooting at animals. That you may find it morally reprehensible doesn't mean it isn't a sport.

Answer 3

It depends on the purpose of the hunt. If you are going out to shoot food for eating, then it is simply "hunting".

If you are into it for the thrill of the chase, then it is a "sport" as is any other activity where you seek a thrill.

I live in New England, and right now is hunting season. I personally don't condone hunting for sport. There are people who go out and shoot and get some deer and that meat lasts them through the winter, and I'm okay with that. But many just get off on chasing down a creature and killing it and that is not a good sport in my book. Same thing with fishing and "catch and release". You want to eat the fish, fine. You just want hook a creature and pull the hook out, I don't agree.

Answer 4

I always wondered the same thing. Hunting is not a sport, people hide in trees and bushes with big weapons and wait for an innocent animal to go by, then they sneak up on them. It shouldn't be a sport, I don't know what kind of person perceives it that way. It could be a sport if they used their hands then they would have a little competition.

Answer 5

Historical, subsistence and sport hunting techniques can differ radically, with modern hunting regulations often addressing issues of where, when and how hunts are conducted. Techniques may vary depending on government regulations, a hunter's personal ethics, local custom, weapons and the animal being hunted. Often a hunter will use a combination of more than one technique, and some are used primarily in poaching and wildlife management, explicitly forbidden to sport hunters.

Blind or Stand hunting is waiting for animals from a concealed or elevated position
Calling is the use of animal noises to attract or drive animals
Camouflage is the use of visual concealment (or scent) to blend with the environment
Dogs may be used to help flush, herd, drive, track, point at, pursue or retrieve prey
Driving is the herding of animals in a particular direction, usually toward another hunter in the group
Flushing is the practice of scaring animals from concealed areas
Glassing is the use of optics (such as binoculars) to more easily locate animals
Scouting includes a variety of tasks and techniques for finding animals to hunt
Spotlighting is the use of artificial light to find or blind animals before killing
Stalking is the practice of walking quietly, often in pursuit of an identified animal
Still Hunting is the practice of walking quietly in search of animals
Tracking is the practice of reading physical evidence in pursuing animals

Answer 6

if you are hunting the female species there is nothing more sporting. It out weigh golf, fishing baseball and any other sport you can come up with.

Answer 7

Here's a link to my favorite T-shirt. I used to have a couple of the yokel hunters in my area (and years ago an uncle) pester me about how "tuff" hunters are. See my answer to an earlier hunting post for details.

This really isn't the place to be discussing hunting IMO.

Answer 8

probably because it fits into the 'activity that produces physical exertion with no other use' box.

It is abhorrent, but many humans regard all other life as so insignificant. It's sad that animals cease to be living creatures & become 'meat'. I wish that other creatures were not veiwed as purely prizes, equivallent to a goal. Unfortunately, people don't see a problem with this, they think humans are the most important thing on earth & everything else is there to fulfil their every whim.

Answer 9

I would rather classify it as a game. Aim and shoot just like in darts, so it's a game, a dumb one but one nonetheless.

Edit: adoughtery10, boy, I feel for you, I live in Florida and if that stuff would come on the news, it wouldn't take long that people would call to get rid of it.

Answer 10

I've always wondered the same thing myself! I hate watching the sports segment of my local news. This time of year people send in their pics...young boys showing off a carcass of a buck they have just killed, very nauseating!

I hate living in the Midwest!

Answer 11

cause people used to bragg bout their catch etc and mostly what was hunted was downed with a lot of beer , bragging and men talk