Alabama Hunters Devolving Sling Spears At Prey; Animal Activists Fret
Animal rights activists are taking aim at a Stone Age practice that’s been officially revived in Alabama: hunting with spears.
Alabama last year began issuing free permits to hunters who pursue deer or wild pigs with a spear as their only weapon.
Doug Walker, a microbiologist who persuaded a state conservation board to approve spear hunting as a one-year experiment, said he likes pitting his wits against a wild animal’s.
“I know it’s been done before; the Indians did it and I wanted my chance,” said Walker.
Sixty-four hunters got permits last year, but it’s not known how they fared, game officials say.
Wayne Pacelle, a spokesman for the Humane Society of the United States, said the organization would fight the move.
“There’s no question that spearing will result in grievous pain and suffering for the animals,” he said. “It makes a mockery of the hunting ethic that demands a quick kill.”
Pacelle said some provinces in western Canada permit spear hunting of black bears. He thinks spear hunters should be subject to prosecution under state anti-cruelty codes.
Tommy Champion, a retired engineer and member of Alabama’s conservation advisory board, defended the experimental program. He said the board felt spear hunting posed little danger to the state’s rapidly expanding deer population.
“God placed us in control of the animal kingdom and I don’t think he intended that it be abused, but he put it here for our usage,” Champion said.
Walker, 26, of Cottondale, Ala., said the risk of leaving injured animals in the woods is far greater with bow hunting than with spears.
Even after practicing for weeks and becoming proficient enough to hit a milk carton from 15 yards, Walker never got a chance to throw his spear during 20 deer hunts.
“I’d rather miss the animal totally than hit it and it get away, because I consider myself a humane hunter,” he said.
“I’m not out there just to kill, I’m out there to make a harvest and I eat the meat too.”
Walker said his spear, which he bought from a Texas craftsman for $200, has reverse barbs on the tip to ensure that it stays in the animal, making a quick retrieval of the animal more likely.
State game rules, however, require only the spear blade be sharpened and at least 2 inches wide.
“That could be a big kitchen knife tied to a broom handle,” said Walker.
The conservation board, which includes Gov. Fob James, meets March 8 in Montgomery to decide on a permanent spear-hunting season.
xxxx KNIFE TIED TO BROOM State game rules require only the spear blade be sharpened and at least 2 inches wide. “That could be a big kitchen knife tied to a broom handle,” said hunter Doug Walker.