The sport of hunting

In many media hunters are usually asked about the sport of hunting and, lately, without asking, some minimalists also respond.Among the hunters there are opinions of all kinds and all, generally, argued.In the other field they insult us directly and we do not need to argue.In some areas, generally in the least prone to hunting, it is denied that hunting is a sport.I think that to sustain that initial affirmation and to judge it as a sport, or not, we must know, or ignore, what is sport, what is hunting, or what are both.The worst situation occurs when there is no good intention.The sporting spirit that is maintained in our days and looks for mens sana in corpore sano(maximum coined of Juvenalia, the games instituted by Nero), some do not want to consider it for hunters.

I have always said that 'bad times are for the hunter, when we have to demonstrate the obvious'

The controversy ends from the moment when hunting is considered a sport in the Spanish legal and sporting system.The Royal Spanish Hunting Federation is included as a sports entity in the Higher Sports Council in accordance with the law.In all the Autonomous Communities, the Autonomous Hunting Federations and their affiliated companies are part of the network of sports entities of the Sports Councils in accordance with regional laws.I believe that, having said that, we should not say more. Regardless of that official consideration, which would end the discussion on whether or not hunting is a sport, I would like to give a few brushstrokes to see if I can fit the game in sport or vice versa, following the most universally accepted definitions.

I am convinced that the hunting activity is not only a thousand-year-old sport but, in addition, in each era it has been many other things that make it great and make it highly recommended, both for those who consider it a sport, and for those who do not. There are those who confuse competition (championships) with sport.

Minor hunting with dog.

Participant and Judge in the 2012 Spanish Championship (LEO).

It is obvious that among the almost forty types of hunting, and around seventy-five methods, that hunters currently use to exercise the hunting activity, each modality and method requires different effort or sport intensity (1). The Dictionary of the Royal Academy of Language defines sport as

"recreation, hobby, pleasure, fun or physical exercise, usually outdoors and selflessly"

The DRAE also qualifies what is game or competition, which is the only meaning that, by the way, UNESCO considers.

Baron Pierre de Container considers it "the voluntary cult of muscular exercise that can go as far as risk" Nobel laureate Ernest Hemingway said that it is only sports that put life at risk; everything else is a game. Another Nobel laureate, the ethologist Conrad Lorenz, considers sport a ritualized struggle that fulfills the important task of teaching the human being to consciously master the instinctive reactions in combat. This last definition has been a very generalized opinion among the nobility throughout history.In short, sport has always been defined as: «The voluntary and pleasant effort, without guaranteed reward, which is usually practiced in the open air. The sport of competition is always adapted to a regulation » The competitions on hunting species (championships) are regulated by sports entities with the regulations published by the RFEC.

In the case at hand, the competitions on hunting modalities are all regulated.The sports and competition modalities of the RFEC and Autonomic Federations with hunting species are carried out almost all with dogs, some exclusively, and most of them with firearms or bows. here are also some competitions with birds of falconry and with claim of male partridge.

Hunting is not a sport

The victory of Rubén Fernández in the last Championship of Spain of Minor Hunting with Dog ends the blackest stage of the history of this federation competition considered the reign of the Spanish Hunting Federation.

I am happy for him because he is a magnificent hunter and an excellent person, respected and loved.