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Maryland Moves to Ban Net Hunting

By Ed Oswald, BetaNews

February 6, 2006, 3:04 PM

Maryland is now considering legislation that would ban Internet hunting, a new fad among some enthusiasts of the sport that allows the user to fire a gun remotely at live game. However even avid supporters of the sport are working to have it outlawed.

At least ten states now have laws on the books prohibiting the practice, and Maryland State Senator John Astle, a hunting enthusiast that says Internet hunting "flies in the face of the hunting ethic," has put forth legislation in the state to stop the practice there.

Astle, a Democrat representing Maryland's Anne Arundel County, has garnered the support of the Humane Society of the United States, the Safari Club, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, and even the National Rifle Association.

At least one Web site has already stopped services due to rule changes. Live-Shot.com stopped service last year after its home state of Texas made the practice illegal.

"Prior to the ban, we proved that with determination, practice, patience and perseverance, a man who thought that he would never have an opportunity to hunt again was able to harvest an animal while bound to his ventilator in his room," the Web site said of the new law.

Some say the ban needs to be worded so those who are disabled may still use computers to assist in hunting live game.

"We would never want to eliminate future technologies that would allow someone, disabled or otherwise, to participate in hunting in the field," Maryland Department of Natural Resources director Paul Peditto told the Associated Press on Monday.

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By mtsuguitar

edited Feb 7, 2006 - 7:36 PM

This site just gave me an idea...

online remote QUARTERS!!!

You know... like the quarters game where you flip a quarter in a shot glass?

It will be like online hunting... but man-o-man. .. You will be sitting your lazy a** at home and flipping quarters instead! imagine the marketing possibilities for this one?

You can have tourneys, etc. ... a little conveyor belt contraption that carries the quarters back up to the little device that you flip them with. awesome stuff man.

yep.

Score: 0

By citizen420

edited Feb 7, 2006 - 2:27 PM

the states have online hunting! thats just F**KED-UP! i dont mind guns, but this is seriously tooooo mutch.

personally i wouldent use anything more than a crossbow or knife, and i dont mean to kill poor animals, more likely to be the S*CK F*CKS that are "net-hunting".

Score: 0

By Austin814

posted Feb 7, 2006 - 9:57 AM

First I'll say I'm not defending it, but taking a neutral stance. I don’t see how it is a "sport" and I would much rather shoot a target then an animal, unless I need the food. However in many areas of the country there are no wild predators of, for instance Deer. To keep the numbers under control, hunters hunt such animals and states license the hunters. If hunters didn’t hunt, then the state would be hiring people to go out and kill them aw, unless you wanted them on the interstates and eating your landscaping. I believe in Michigan the state was considering allowing hunting of domestic cats because the numbers of domestic runaway cats have become so high in number that in the wild they are affecting the numbers of rabbits and small rodents lower on the food chain. This in turn was affecting hawks/owls etc. While the online "hunting" I don’t see as much of a sport, it really just shows the progression of people in the US getting more and more lazy. Really, if you are lazy enough to sit and watch TV, cant you walk over to the TV to change the channel? And if you are going to drive your car, can’t you change your own oil? The arguments like "If you want to hunt go out in the cold and hunt" really dont stand up well when you consider things like "If you want to eat, make your own food" Its just a business catering to something someone will pay for.

Score: 0

By rijp

edited Feb 7, 2006 - 8:08 AM

This crosses the theorhetical "illusion" line because its just like a video game. Someone at their house who merely clicks a button to shoot an animal, doesn't have a grasp of reality. A lawyer could argue that this is nothing more than a high tech, 21st century, remote control video game. Therefore, its an entertainment.

At the bottom line, does it really matter HOW the animal dies? Killing for mere sport or entertainment is SICK, let alone wussy or retarded.

I agree with the ban, don't get me wrong, but I think hunting at ANY level should be banned. I have never agreed with killing animals just for sport. What kind of a sick sadistic bas**** do you have to be to kill an animal? Bow and Arrow, spear, rope, traps, I don't care what you use, I would like to see humans that track animals to kill, should have the tables turned on them, and THEY should become the hunted, lets see how you like it.

This lends itself to those idiots out there that mistreat their animals. They will justify killing and hunting as similar to them beating their own animals, they don't have the fortitude to kill it, but they are demented enough to beat the crap out of a defenseless animal.

Am I drawing a parallel between animal rights and killing for sport? You bet I am.

DEAD is DEAD. Whether its from 2000 miles away from the comfort of your living room, or using a high powered rifle, its SICK! It should be stopped.

There ARE cultures that need to kill for survival. Fine. I eat meat, and I am not advocating we should all be vegetarians but I am pretty sure the animals being hunted are not cows and pigs.

I don't care what your preferences are for meat, if you kill simply for a trophy, you should be shot. Fisherman.. I am sorry, fish are not animals. Mammals are animals, so killing a grouper, go for it! Leave whales, dolphins, porpoises, and semi-intelligent creatures alone.

If they can pass an IQ test, they live.. otherwise, what's for dinner?

Score: 0

By fs2k155

posted Feb 7, 2006 - 8:02 AM

The next evolution of this is to "fake" it. If they can get game technology so realistic that the end user thinks they are firing a real gun at a real animal, then that's where we need to be. That way these lazy hunters can continue to be deranged, but the rest of us can be safe from all the potential abuses of this technology, and real hunters still have the opportunity to do their thing.

Score: 0

By melkor

edited Feb 7, 2006 - 4:40 AM

Most of these sites are caged hunts. As most don't have thier guns mounted on remote controled ATV's.

There would have to be a limit to how often you could go hunting as a disabled person. Should require a special license. The thought of some one bagging a deer daily strikes me as excessive. Killing a creature with a mouse click seems more ethicaly questionable then internet porn. Not to mention it's cheeper. and you know what they say ♫ the internet is porn ♫

make love not war ^_^

Score: 0

By ServerMechanic

edited Feb 7, 2006 - 12:06 AM

Anyone who hunts with anything more than a bow or a crossbow is a wussy.

Anyone who kills an animal that they will not eat is a coward and a selfish jerk.

Go kill an animal and then eat it. Don't kill for sport. Also, don't make it so easy. Give the animal a chance. Use a bow!

Freaking buttholes...nobody should use the internet to kill remotely!!!!!!!

Score: 0

By TheRecklessWanderer

posted Feb 7, 2006 - 3:36 PM

You want to make it fair? Give the deer guns and show them how to use it. Nyuk.

Score: 0

By Kramy

posted Feb 6, 2006 - 10:57 PM

And naturally, disabled people and non-disabled alike can sit out there in the wilderness for days on end without breathing, ready to pull the trigger.

Score: 0

By Banquo

edited Feb 6, 2006 - 11:45 PM

What is that supposed to mean? If you have to sit out in the wilderness for days without breathing, you suck at hunting. Sitting in front of a computer, pushing a button and killing an animal isn't hunting. It's retarded.

Score: 0

By Kramy

posted Feb 7, 2006 - 12:34 AM

Webcam + Gun don't breath, if I understood that correctly. They probably won't frighten animals away either. Any fool could shoot an animal via remote. As someone said...slightly more frustrating than CS.

Score: 0

By Banquo

posted Feb 7, 2006 - 1:19 AM

Oh, I see what you meant now. I thought you were defending this craziness for a minute there. :)

Score: 0

By Banquo

posted Feb 6, 2006 - 7:49 PM

Why not just put them in a small cage and "hunt" them?

Score: 0

By zenarcher

posted Feb 7, 2006 - 6:42 AM

Even better....these "sportsmen" need a thrill? Why not lock them in the cage with the animal and let them have a go at it, "hand to paw." A lot more competitive and perhaps more of these brave hunters would just satisfy their craving for fresh meat at the butcher shop.

Score: 0

By Arakiel

posted Feb 6, 2006 - 7:36 PM

Wait wait...killing stuff via remote control is a sport? Well damnit when are we gonna get Olympic Beer Drinking as a sport...I need to be competitive!

Score: 0

By DigitalSin

posted Feb 6, 2006 - 6:49 PM

It's one thing to get your lazy a** out of bed at 4am, treck thru the woods to your stand in the pitch dark, and sit there for 4 hours in the cold and find something. It's quite another to sit in your bedroom and click a mouse and take an animal's life. And then have the nerve to call it a sport?

This is the epitome of absolute ignorance. Disabled or not, if you take part in this kind of thing please do me a favor and blow your own head off and stop contaminating the gene pool.

Score: 0

By The MAZZTer

edited Feb 6, 2006 - 5:50 PM

I can see it now...

Hunter: *tap tap tap click click* ...

Hunter: oh yeah... line up with the deer... annd

*blam*

Hunter: *@$^ING LAG

It's like Counter-Strike for real!

Score: 0

By rijp

posted Feb 7, 2006 - 10:13 AM

Lag..hahaha.. Damn, this was funny.. I have been laughing for 10 minutes.. that's just too damn funny.

Its so true.. So if a limit was imposed at say hunting will stop at say 5pm, and some hunter, shot at like 4:59. Due to lag, the gun went off at 5:02, and shot someone.. is this breaking the law?

Score: 0

By Banquo

posted Feb 6, 2006 - 5:17 PM

WTF? Why was this even legal to start with?

Score: 0

By rijp

posted Feb 7, 2006 - 10:14 AM

Why are you surprised? ANYTHING that makes money, my friend, ANYTHING!

All you need is an idea, if it makes money, its acceptable...

Score: 0

By Banquo

posted Feb 7, 2006 - 12:47 PM

Selling cocaine makes tons of money, but it's hardly acceptable.

Score: 0

By rijp

posted Feb 7, 2006 - 1:18 PM

Really? Tell that to government. They make billions of money every year, "fighting" drugs. They can end it any time, but they make money continuing to "fight" an endless battle. Then they "seize" assets from the drug lords, and guess what, the drugs somehow end up in other countries... because they are selling to foreign governments..

That's acceptable, because that money can be used for other things. Selling to other countries, and get money for free, that's what I call accetable.

Score: 0

By Banquo

posted Feb 7, 2006 - 11:22 PM

Wear your tin foil hat much?

Score: 0

By horsecharles

posted Feb 6, 2006 - 4:46 PM

Quote: Some say the ban needs to be worded so those who are disabled may still use computers to assist in hunting live game.

If someone disabled still feels a yearning to disable & injure other living things... Now, this would be extemely useful if said person hiccuped or erred otherwise, blasting away a hunter(s) instead...
Laws allowing this, and establishing a definitive open season should be enacted immediately: "Look Ma, i bagged me a coupla aholes!"

Score: 0

By rijp

posted Feb 7, 2006 - 1:19 PM

F$$K the disabled! Why are they hunting? I can agree with a good parking spot, but to help them engage in killing innocent beings, sorry. No can do.

Score: 0

By switchstance

posted Feb 6, 2006 - 4:17 PM

I don't see anything wrong with this. When the first human is shot by an internet hunter, then I'll start to cry wolf. Until then, *point* *click* *bang*

Score: 0

By rijp

posted Feb 7, 2006 - 1:20 PM

yeah, and we can make you the first target.

Score: 0

By pevernagie

posted Feb 6, 2006 - 3:38 PM

my god, sick people (the hunters)

Score: 0

By braveheart814

posted Feb 7, 2006 - 6:04 AM

It's the greatest thing. My boy Eddie and me do it together, there's no blood so its safe for the children. We love it.

Score: 0

By Banquo

posted Feb 7, 2006 - 12:49 PM

Just buy one of those Deer Hunter video games. It's the same thing only no real animal has to die.

Score: 0

By rijp

posted Feb 7, 2006 - 10:18 AM

OK, so your argument is that the gore and blood is not visible, thereby filtering and protecting your kid from hunting. So an animal is dead for real, just because there is no blood, its ok that you are teaching your kid how to kill an animal for sport?

You are one classroom away from Columbine.. Where do we draw the line? Some other sicko on the other end could "modify" the gun to shoot people from a distance, but because there is no blood, and no real evidence of a crime, the "shooter" didn't realize he did anything wrong..

Eddie, is going to grow up and not respect you, and I can't wait for the day he just takes your car, stays out past his curfew, and totally disrepects your house. You enjoy it while you can, you beligerent bas****, your son will grow up in denial.

Score: 0

By pevernagie

posted Feb 7, 2006 - 9:21 AM

no blood?

Tell Eddie his daddy is a sick pervert

Score: 0

By kid McTango Jr.

edited Feb 7, 2006 - 2:32 PM

Why all the hate? This is just the next step in the evolution of mankind. I just killed 3 deer and what I think might be a rabbit! I've gotta go get the corpses so I can mount them in my den over my fireplace.

Score: 0