Sudden situations
There are times when the hunting world feeds its own illusion of having made significant progress in the field of communication, in the sense of being able to tap into broad layers of public opinion to make its side heard on current issues relating to wildlife, the environment and hunting in general. Then, in an explosive manner, sudden situations erupt that demonstrate, alas, how this belief is far from being reflected in reality and should be relegated to an illusion. This is what happened between the end of January and last February with respect to two specific events: the barrel hunting trip in the Veneto valley by Trump junior and his entourage; the minors at the EOS fair in Verona.
The Trump Question
In the first case, a huge fuss was raised accusing the heir of the President of the USA of the illegal killing of a ruddy shelduck (Tadorna ferruginea), a species that cannot be hunted in Italy, as shown by the photographs and videos released by the illustrious scion. In the second case, a hornet's nest of lesser echo, but no less dangerous, was created by some national newspapers with the dissemination of photographs of minors in the act of holding hunting rifles inside EOS. It seems useless to underline how, in the first situation (while still maintaining the illegal killing of a non-huntable species) the political instrumentalization determined all kinds of comments just as, in the second situation, the clear objective was to discredit for the umpteenth time a sector that probably, in the eyes of the opponents of hunting activity, still appears too flourishing from an economic point of view (the fair broke the wall of 40.000 visitors, a new record).
Rational arguments
It was useless to point out that the shelduck is not a vulnerable or endangered species, that it is not particularly protected by state law, that hunting in Natura 2000 sites is not prohibited and that they are not protected natural areas, that the Veneto Region declared that Americans hunting in Italy had been regularly authorized; just as, it was obvious to underline that minors at EOS are only allowed if accompanied, that the weapons exhibited at the fair are deactivated and therefore harmless and that any handling, if permitted, takes place under the eyes of those responsible for the stands. All rational arguments run aground on the shallows of emotion and prejudice, which hunting detractors have been able to cultivate over time and which today they know how to stimulate and bring out with great skill.
One-way communication
It is the gap between "us and them", resulting from decades of one-way communication that has conditioned the mindset of the average citizen who is not familiar with wildlife and hunting. Decades during which the hunting world has more or less placidly slept, reacting - where it happened - with delay, lack of coordination and poor effectiveness. Because the focus is not on who is right and who is wrong: the divergent opinions on the merits of hunting exist and are legitimate, but rather it is centered on information and disinformation, on the desire to communicate correctly so that the public can decide "which side to be on" and that of communicating by pre-orienting the same towards a preconceived position. If the indignation expressed by a large plethora on the issue of the shelduck had simply been in the name of the illicit act committed, there would be nothing to object to: instead, also due to the political implications, it was seasoned with unfounded statements, relating to alleged hunting bans in Natura 2000 sites, to the fact that the species is particularly protected, to the Americans who hunted illegally because they were not authorized. Ditto for the issue of minors at EOS.
The reaction of the hunting world
Have official reactions arrived? Yes. The Veneto Region and the Fair Authority have rather promptly responded to the accusations, clarifying what was needed (even if it does not seem that these official clarifications have benefited from the media coverage that should have been guaranteed). Has the hunting world reacted? Yes, but without public visibility. Therefore, we could say that it has not reacted. Many posts, well argued, on hunting social networks and announcements on websites and in the trade press: that is, nothing that has contacted public opinion outside the hunting circle, except for sporadic interventions on non-hunting social groups, which were also quickly overwhelmed by the aggressive reactions of the usual haters. Even in the era of digital, immediate, democratic mass communication, accessible to anyone, we are always behind. Who and how many non-hunters will read these same reflections? It is now legitimate to doubt that we will ever be able to recover the lost spaces. (source: ANUUMigratoristi)
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