The purpose of this descriptive and exploratory study was to extend our understanding of the motivations for trophy hunting. Hunting is an important recreational activity and part of the culture in Montana. Placing specific emphasis on the importance of obtaining a trophy nonhuman animal when hunting, the study examined the attitudes of resident hunters and nonresident outfitter-sponsored hunters. The study used a qualitative approach to data collection and developed 2 surveys that contained mostly open-ended questions. Results from 1000 surveys mailed (...) to resident elk hunters and 1000 surveys mailed to nonresident outfitter-sponsored elk hunters indicated that nonresident outfitter-sponsored hunters were more likely than resident hunters to seek trophy-class animals. Respondents provided statements about the importance of obtaining trophy animals. (shrink)

This paper makes a contribution to nonhuman animal studies by discussing the tensions in practices, discourses, and narratives of hunting in a settler postcolonial society. It aims to present a discussion of how the imperialist construct of the “exotic” is applied to nonhuman animals. The focus of the paper is on the different roles the exotic animal status plays in the hunting experience in New Zealand, and how other agencies also play a part in the construction of the hunting discourses (...) and personal narratives in relation to the exotic animal. The paper concludes that the exotic concept is closely linked to a celebration of New Zealand’s distinctiveness from their colonizer. Always a process of “Othering,” the exotic status not only impinges on the relationship established with the nonhuman animal prey, but also leads to an inconsistent discourse that implies a speciesist position, one which is nonetheless consistent with a dominionist performance. (shrink)