Hunting: Bari, interview with a hunter, "Why do we go hunting?" replies President Debernardis of the URCA, “Killing an animal is like weeding out a chicory. It's about food ”.
On September 15 the hunting season reopened (it lasts until December 31) and with it the criticism of animal rights activists, who consider it a "cruel activity, to be prohibited". We read on the website of the environmentalist association WWF: "In an area already tried by overbuilding, the loss of natural habitats, pollution and climate change, hunting represents yet another aggression to fauna". And what do the hunters answer? We asked Giuseppe Debernardis from Altamura, vice president and founding member of the URCA (Regional Union of Apennine Hunters) of Bari.
So how do hunters defend themselves against criticism from environmentalists?
For us, hunting is not "killing for fun". We do not kill animals and then leave them on the ground: each of us collects his own game to eat it. Just like the vegetarian who collects chicory born spontaneously on the Murgia. Even that chicory has done nothing wrong, and yet it is uprooted from the ground to be eaten.
All right with wild boars, but isn't shooting birds an unequal fight? Moreover, it is not that with birds you can take away your hunger….
Shooting and then eating the birds is like tasting those little fish that in Bari we call "sea foam". Even in that case you are not satisfied, but obviously there are those who buy them to take a whim. Well, we like little birds.
Another criticism: according to Italian law, a hunter can enter private land by law to shoot prey. Do you think it right?
You can enter a private property because there is an agreement stipulated at the time with the farmers. But beware: hunters can only enter the terrain on foot, so as not to damage it. And where there are hanging fruit the hunter can only shoot if the harvest has already been made. In addition, there are restrictions in the vicinity of houses and buildings. A hunter must be at least 150 meters away from the room and only if the building is behind (and therefore in the opposite direction to the shot), can he fire at a shorter distance, 50 meters from it.
What do we do with weapons?
At the end of the hunting season, the weapons are stored in the house, in locked lockers and the rifles are always reported at the Carabinieri station closest to one's home.
But which animals can be shot here?
Among the sedentary preys there are wild boars (in excess in our area), hares, pheasants and foxes, classified as "harmful" animals because they endanger the balance of fauna. Among the migratory preys we have instead woodcocks, quail, thrushes and larks.
Is it easy to become a hunter?
To start hunting, it is necessary to be over 18 years old and have passed an exam in the Province, in the presence of a commission composed of biologists, doctors, environmentalists, ballistic experts and dog lovers. It is not easy at all. And luckily there are amateur groups that organize training courses for candidates, at no cost.
What makes a person pick up a gun?
We often follow in the footsteps of fathers and grandfathers. But anyway I don't know if there is a peculiar feature that makes people go hunting. I love being in contact with nature and being away from traffic and cities. I am not the son of hunters: this passion was born in me precisely because I have always had to deal with animals, which I respect, because they give me food.
24 September 2013
Source: Barinedita