World Hunting Association

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The World Hunting Association organizes professional deer hunting competitions, scheduled to begin in the latter half of 2006. These hunts are going to be conducted in a fenced 1000 acre (4 km²) ranch and will involve the use of Rifles, muzzleloaders and archery equipment.

The promotion of events follows a commercial format similar to professional bass fishing, consisting of an organized "tour" contested by a small group of "professional hunters" who are publicised along with the events themselves by the WHA. Competitions are to be televised on the internet, pay-per-view and cable television. The WHA states that the objective of the competition is to promote hunting by showcasing the activity.

The WHA has attracted criticism from other hunting organisations and businesses. For example, Safari Club International have expressed "serious concerns with attempts to 'professionalize' the tradition of the hunt, particularly with cash rewards". The Quality Deer Management Association position is that the "WHA’s program violates many elements of QDMA’s mission of ethical hunting, sound deer management and preservation of the deer-hunting heritage – values shared by the vast majority of deer hunters in North America." The original proposal for the WHA competition involved the shooting of deer with tranquilizer guns and darts, drawing considerable criticism from hunting and animal welfare groups. In response to such criticism, in late August 2006 the WHA announced that this approach has been dropped in favor of more traditional methods ^[1].