Features Section Editor: Sven Bellamy the other press March 19, 2003 opfeatures@netscape.net John Hislop—Profile of a Hunter Barb Adamski OP Contributor “T do not hunt to kill, I kill to have hunted.” The words of Spanish philosopher, Jose Ortega y Gasset, are very dear to John Hislop. A hunter for over three decades, he carries in his wallet a clipping containing his favourite quote and is quick to share his love of the sport. The clipping looks new, despite the fact that it’s been in his wallet for years. “It just lives there,” he says. For Hislop, the kill is the least important part of the hunt. It doesn’t matter who takes the shot; it doesn’t matter if any shot is taken at all. What, then, makes a hunting trip successful? “My hunting partners and I,” he says, “judge a successful trip by the country we've seen, by the game we've seen. A good trip is one in which we've enjoyed the physical challenge, the fact that we've seen country that most people will never see. It’s remote. You have to work at it to get into the area. There are a lot of people who, where we've been hunting, wouldn't sur- vive.” Because of this, physical conditioning is a high priority. Hislop runs thirty to forty kilo- metres a week and weight-trains four days a week. All of this in preparation for multiple hikes on rough terrain, often in adverse weath- er, with a pack sometimes weighing over a hun- dred pounds. On Hislop’s most gruelling trip, in which he shot and killed an elk, he and his partner spent three days after the kill transport- ing the elk through the rugged bush of the Kootenays. The elk was so big it couldn't be carried out by two men in a single trip; they had to make four. As for “trophy hunting”, Hislop expresses doubt that such an activity exists. It is a deroga- tory misnomer, he believes, possibly linked to the guiding industry making money from tours with American and European hunters. While it may look as though a hunter is killing for an impressive four-point buck to grace the walls of his den, in reality, explains Hislop, Canadian hunting law dictates that hunters shoot the biggest of the species: in deer season, they must kill a four-point buck. What's more, he points out, hunters have to pack out all edible portions of the animal, as well as the antlers, which must be presented upon request of a Conservation Officer as proof of the age of the animal. Hunters cannot merely take the trophy and leave the rest behind. Nothing is wasted when Hislop hunts. “What’s left—the carcass and the entrails— goes back to nature, feeds birds and critters,” he states. “That’s the way it’s supposed to be.” He worries his sport is disappearing, and cites urban development as the main reason for depleting game numbers, not hunting: “We've encroached on the animals’ territory to the point where there’s limited hunting available.” There are still a lot of remote areas in BC, how- ever, and for Hislop, the more remote the bet- ter. He has hunted for mountain goat in the sub-alpine regions of north-central BC, camp- ing out in the snow, often getting caught in white-outs. When it clears, however, the views are breathtaking, and that’s what he loves most. Seeing game is an added bonus. The shot itself depends on the nature of the animal and its location. There is no use in him killing a goat on the neighbouring peak only to have it fall off the edge of the cliff into oblivion. A common belief is that hunters, with their high-powered rifles and their telescopic sites, have all the advantage over the animal. Hislop is quick to refute this idea, speaking admirably of the animals’ extraordinary sense of sight, sound, and smell and of their intelligence. “They haven't grown up to be a big buck with- out being very smart and avoiding having been shot in the past,” he notes. As for those who prefer to do their hunting at Safeway but still dismiss his sport as cruel, Hislop feels they are hypocritical. “Animals in captivity can smell the blood, hear the screams of the others in the slaughterhouse,” he states. “They know they're going to die. With hunt- ing, they're wild and free. They live and die by the laws of nature.” While he is sometimes criticized for his hunt- ing, Hislop believes that a lot of the negativity is based on lack of knowledge and that, given five minutes, he can usually sway people to understand, if not entirely accept, the hunter’s point of view. His goal is not to convert more people to hunting: “For selfish reasons, I don’t want to. I’m happy to have it all to myself.” Les bourses CCE! Millennium Scholarships MILLENNIUM EXCELLENCE AWARD PROGRAM COMMUNITY SERVICE * ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT * LEADERSHIP * INNOVATION NEW awards 2003 National in-course If you meet the criteria and are entering your last two ears of college or undergraduate university studies, this scholarship, worth $4,000 to $10,000, may be for you. To learn more: www. millenniumscholarships.ca/incourse 4 CREATING OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE NEW MILLENNIUM page 15 ©