The Hunting Party

Hunters have been praised and damned in a Four Corners program on hunting aired on ABC TV this week.

“The Hunting Party” posed the question: Would you allow your child to use a gun to hunt and kill animals?

Kerry O’Brien’s introduction begins with the Port Arthur massacre, the obligatory reference point for almost any story on guns and hunting in the Australian media, but he quickly steers to current times and context.

The first segment is about hunters, with a distinct family aspect to it: three families are featured as they hunt.

The program then moves to the political climate around shooting, including an interview with Shooters & Fishers MLC Robert Borsak.

Four Corners covers many aspects of hunting and shooting, from safety and humane kills to politics and opposition.

Some of the comments aired are highly critical of hunters, while others paint a positive picture of their behaviour, ethics and aims.

You can watch the program on the ABC website.

Mick Matheson

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Mick grew up with guns and journalism, and has included both in his career. A life-long hunter, he has long-distant military experience and holds licence categories A, B and H. In the glory days of print media, he edited six national magazines in total, and has written about, photographed and filmed firearms and hunting for more than 15 years.