Opinion: Critter removal can be a spectator sport

As we’ve discussed before, varmints are perpetual pests that need to be controlled in number. Critters are less immediate problems, tending to be herbivores rather than possessing meat-tearing teeth. But the critter can be a pest if its numbers grow too great.

Critters both large and small have to eat, and while herbivores won’t bite you, they will eat the grass that your livelihood-providing livestock also prefer to consume.

In order to prevent the critter population from exceeding the limits of the land, measures must be taken to keep the numbers down to a manageable level. With both varmints and critters, some methods of population management are more fun than others.

For large herbivorous critters, the parameters for removal are officially controlled. The method is that activity that is most commonly known as hunting. There are rules and there are common practices. And then there are practices that are a bit odd. Larger game hunting is known to be a somewhat individual endeavor. A silent, studious pursuit, either alone or maybe with one or two close friends.

It is not often thought of as a spectator sport.

So, imagine, if you will, a hunt on the high, dry plains, where the hunter is out front, in a pickup or ATV with a driver/spotter/guide in the other seat. You head out in the morning, as soon as the sun rises and the mist clears, in search of a mature male antelope with horns that you hope are significantly taller than its ears.

It could be quiet and calm, but instead, you are followed by a procession of observers that are not subtle in any possible interpretation of the word.

A deuce and a half the back full of glass-wielding backseat-hunters who will spot you something to shoot from their elevated mobile perch can be handy for finding a shot. But if you don’t like the pressure of a crowd waiting for you to take the shot, you might experience some discomfort. Hopefully, that won’t throw your bullet off.

Hunting by commuter is one way to do it. And if you make that amazing shot, you’ve got plenty of witnesses to back you up.

In the other hand, you’ve got plenty of witnesses if you don’t.

Audra Brown did it and at least one mind was blown. Contact her at: [email protected].