One of Ortega y Gasset's main points is that once we bypass an animal's natural survival instincts with our technology, then we're not hunting but just killing: “The confrontation between man and animal has a precise boundary beyond which hunting ceases to be hunting, just at the point where man lets loose his immense technical superiority—that is, rational superiority—over the animal.”
I agree with this concept, but the problem I have is with figuring out where that boundary is. I don't believe it's as precise as Ortega y Gasset would have us believe.
And if we're talking about defeating the animal's natural survival instincts by taking shots from long distances I believe that boundary is closer to 200 yards than 1,000. Nobody talks about the huge difference in an animal's ability to detect a hunter at 300 yards vs. 50 because most guys can make a 300 yards shot. Or think they can.
Humans have always used technology to defeat prey animals' survival instincts, it's what we do. Both in hunting, and in raising domesticated animals for food.
