I’ve always considered myself an ethical hunter. Some of my compatriots, not so much. There are indeed unethical hunters out there. I know a few of them. But one thing I do not do is condone it, nor tolerate it around me.
Thus, I feel compelled to write a bit of commentary on this commercial recently released by Dodge Ram trucks.
Watch the video on the right. I’ll wait.
Done?
What are your thoughts?
If you’re like me, you’re taken aback. In the clip the narrator calls the man an “outdoorsman” yet shows a character shooting critters just so that he can sleep in silence.
As ethical hunters, we hunt with a particular goal in mind. Most often we hunt for meat, and occasionally for a great trophy (which also supplies some fine eating). Some hunt varmints and pests both for the thrill of the hunt as well as to control population growth and reduce damage.
No ethical hunter I’ve ever met shoots a beast of the field simply because it is noisy or annoying. Here, however, Ram Trucks portrays hunters as willing to take the life of a bird or beast just to make themselves a bit more comfortable at night.
Dodge Ram and Chrysler do a disservice to true outdoorsmen and hunters everywhere with this commercial. I’m all for their marketing of Ram trucks towards hunters and adventurers. I’m sure they’re well built vehicles. But to portray their target audience in such a way makes our efforts to promote ethical hunting that much more difficult.