Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Did they use combines or balers?


It was quite a "harvest" for elk hunters in Pennsylvania this year. At least that's what the Pennsylvania Game Commission reported in a news release this week, saying that 40 of the 45 licensed elk hunters in the state "harvested" one of the animals during elk season earlier this month. I have no problem with hunting, especially when hunters eat what they kill, but does the Game Commission really need to use euphemisms to describe what happened during elk season, as if people won't realize the true nature of the hunt as long as it's referred to as a "harvest"? Sounds all fallish and nice, like jumping into a pile of leaves or carving pumpkins. In addition to use of the word "harvest," the Game Commission spoke of elk being "taken." Are they being held somewhere against their will? Will they be returned? Why not just tell us what really happened. Forty people went out in the woods, found the elk and shot them until they were dead. Now, isn't that better?

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8 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

So if my girlfriend screams, "Take me! Take me!", I have to shoot her?

November 12, 2008 at 1:33 PM  
Blogger PRIguy said...

Nah...you just harvest what you need and leave the rest for the villagers.

November 12, 2008 at 1:55 PM  
Blogger PRIguy said...

As each successive generation becomes a bigger group of candy asses and PC continues to destroy the fiber of our society, you'll see more and more of this nonsense.

Harvested? They were shot and killed. Did they gut them? Probably not. The elk were most likely relieved of the burden of carrying a digestive tract.

November 12, 2008 at 2:04 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The patient didn't die, he failed to achieve his wellness potential.

November 12, 2008 at 3:04 PM  
Blogger Roger said...

I have no problem with "harvest" with regard to game animals. I DO have a problem when stories speak about removal of organs from a deceased person, with the intent of transplanting the organ into somebody else. Many years ago I grew up with the word in a farming context (e.g. seeds, grains, etc). The "harvest" activity was done for an income, and to support a farming operation as part of crop cycles. But, to "harvest" a body organ, ... doesn't fit very well for me.

November 12, 2008 at 7:11 PM  
Blogger Dale Lolley said...

When you're writing hunting stories, you often have to use other words than kill. Otherwise, there would be an overuse of the word.
Not saying that's the only reason they use harvest and take in their releases - there's some truth to what you're saying Brant.
But I know when I'm writing about it, I use all three words so as not to sound like Arlo Guthrie shouting, "Kill, Kill, Kill."

November 13, 2008 at 1:23 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

How 'bout "de-elkification."

November 13, 2008 at 11:41 AM  
Blogger Brant said...

First, I'm a big fan of "Alice's Restaurant." All I'm really getting at here is that they NEVER say kill. My sensibilities aren't that of an 19th-century schoolmarm. I can handle the truth.

November 13, 2008 at 12:44 PM  

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