Entrepreneur John Lockwood, blessed with an abundance of exotic animals on his Texas ranch, and computer skills looking for a venue, thought one day, "How can a disabled person partake of the thrill of a hunt?" This, he claims, was part of the concept behind Live-Shot, a site that combines web-cams, remote-controlled rifle firing at "reactive targets," and the presence of on-site personnel for safety and control.
In case you don't know what a "reactive target" might be, The Humane Society of the United States is happy to tell you: it's a live animal enticed into range of the computered-controlled rifles by a feeding station. What Live-Shot offers is, technically, a canned hunt.
Maybe you can see the appeal of this. As Lockwood explains in the first FAQ on his site,
Is this like playing a video game?
No, this is real. What you see on your screen thru the camera is what is there. When you activate the fire control, you are sending a signal to the firing mechanism which discharges a round. You control the camera and firearm.
According to the Humane Society, however, what Live-Shot offers is the chance to "kill a captive exotic animal from the comfort of your living room. By turning a computer into a deadly weapon, Live-Shot.com has created trophy hunting without the fuss and muss of having to hunt at all."
Curiously, the National Rifle Association and several pro-hunting organizations agree. The NRA has come out strongly against Internet hunting. "The element of a fair chase is a vital part of the American hunting heritage," said NRA spokesperson Kelly Hobbs. "Shooting an animal from three states away would not be considered a fair chase."
Kirby Brown, executive director of the pro-hunting Texas Wildlife Association, also was appalled. "The idea of sitting at a computer screen playing a video game and activating a remote-controlled firearm to shoot an animal is not hunting," Brown said. "It's off the ethical charts."
Legislators in 17 states (including Texas) have already banned or are moving to ban Internet hunts, and measures have also been introduced at the federal level, in the Senate by Frank Lautenburg (D-NJ—the "Sportsmanship in Hunting Act of 2005"), and in the House by Tom Davis (R-VA—the "Computer-Assisted Remote Hunting Act"). H.R. 1558, which would make participation in Internet hunting a felony, is the right step, Davis said, "because gun owners, hunters, animal rights organizations and more than a dozen state legislatures oppose online, computer-assisted hunting."
Article comments
1 - RJ
Truly sick...
2 - Dave Nalle
What is sick, RJ, the computer hunting or the desire of legislators to further limit free enterprise and the rights of the handicapped?
Dave
3 - DrPat
Dave, I have to call you on that characterization -- what happens on LiveShot.com is to "handicap rights" and "free enterprise" what child pornography is to the adult Internet, the inexcusable perversion.
This long-time NRA member agrees with RJ.
4 - Dave Nalle
Have you read the article that features the paraplegic hunter who uses the site? It might change your perspective.
Plus, I don't see how this is any worse than some of the guided hunts they have down here in Texas where the animals are essentially tame and are lured with food and then shot.
I'd never participate in something like this, but I have to come down on the side of the clever businessman who thought the idea up. If he can make a buck this way then more power to him - it's never going to become a widespread trend or a substitute for real hunting, so what's the harm? As far as the animal's concerned dead is dead. It's not like there's any greater cruelty involved.
Dave
5 - Victor Plenty
Good... bad... they're the site with the gun.
6 - Nancy
Any paraplegic that intent on hunting can damn well pack up his wheelchair and get his friends to haul his butt out to a hunting range where he can at least see the animals he's seeking to kill in person. Otherwise, like the rest of us who'd "like to" do this or that but aren't able to due to physical constraints, he can either watch it on tv or read about it. Internet hunting is disgusting, despicable, & unethical. Handicapped rights, my ass! Try another one, Dave.
7 - RJ
I'm no hunter, but isn't part of the fun supposed to be in the stalking of a wild animal?
As opposed to, you know, watching a deer appear on a computer screen eating tree bark (or whatever) from a man-made feeding area, and then blowing it's head off?
If the "hunter's" goal is just to kill an oblivious animal in the midst of eating dinner, well done. But I find it sick.
8 - DrPat
I'd suggest the Paint-Ball live interactive site, instead -- your putative guy in a wheelchair can have all the fun of shooting remotely, and no animals are required.
Hey, it's at least as healthy as internet Poker, right?
9 - RJ Elliott
UPDATE
10 - RJ Elliott
Er...sorry...wrong link...
Try this one instead... :-/
11 - Jon
While I think internet hunting is one of the lamest things you can do with your time and money I don't think legislators have any business banning it either. Like Dave said, dead is dead. I don't see how killing an animal with a computer is any different than slaughtering a cow in a factory. I would personally rather kill an animal with my own hands if I'm going to eat it but I'm not stopping any one else from killing it their way.
I don't think this has anything to do with handicapped rites however since anybody could do it. I just picture a bunch of bored immature frat guys huddles around a monitor guffawing as they mow down a zebra.
Jon
12 - Jason
I'm a 32 male who has CP, & I wish I could go out to the woods & kill a deer. I will give you 3 reasons why I can not to the woods & hunt.
#1 I am in a wheelchair. My wheelchair don't go over rocks, tree limbs, dirt, snow.
#2 in South Dakota, the temp is in the 30's or below 0 when it is deer hunting season. My body can't handle that.
#3 I can't hold a gun because of CP. CP is Cerebral Palsy. It effects my motors skills. I am luckly enough to be able to run a computer.
I was glad to hear a guy came up with Live-Shot. I thought to myself, "Wow, that is cool. I can get to hunt now. I can share in the hunting stories with my family." but before I got try it out, the state of Texas made that guy close the site down. I found that unfair & unjust. I hope somebody has balls to try to run Live-Shot again. Too bad that I don't have enough money to it.
13 - Jared
Back in '06 Field and Stream published a story about a guy who is paralyzed and can no longer hunt. Instead of using some wimpy website, he has his wife haul him into the woods where he sits, sometimes for day, for an animal to walk past. He has a compound bow mounted to his wheelchair and he aims with his mouth. He uses a bite plate to fire an arrow. I'm sick of hearing people complain about handicap rights. Man up and go hunt like you were meant to hunt. Man vs. beast, not motherboard vs. mother nature.
14 - Aaron Miller
what a wonderful idea it would create jobs and could donate meat for hunters for the hungry what outdoorsman wants to spend 300 days in a office and not be able to hunt im sure some of the procedes go back to the wildlife too and most animals nowadays are farm raised its a great idea and i support it i might even set some up on my land
15 - JC
If it was shooting hunters, I would pay to sign up in a minute.