A canned hunt is a trophy hunt which is not "fair chase", typically by having game animals kept in a confined area such as in a fenced ranch (i.e. "canned") to prevent the animals' escape and make tracking easier for the hunter, in order to increase the likelihood of the hunter obtaining a kill.
Canned hunting has been banned or restricted in 20 states of the United States, including Alabama, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
[4] In 2007, a bill in the New York State Legislature to ban all canned hunting of certain "exotic" animals was defeated by legislative inaction.
Boone and Crockett Club refers to the activity as a "canned shoot", as they claim that there is no hunting involved.
[8] Safari Club International no longer accepts animals killed in canned hunts for inclusion in its record books and award categories.
In 2005, internet hunting became a major news story when a man in Texas set up a webcam and remotely controlled gun to allow hunters to shoot from their computers.
Under the plea agreement, he agreed to pay a $15,000 fine, give up hunting, fishing and trapping in Minnesota for 5 years, and forfeit both the stuffed bear and the bow used to shoot the animal in 2004.
[12] In 2006, the South African Minister of Environmental Affairs, Marthinus van Schalkwyk, announced new laws to stop the practise of "canned hunting" in his country.
Van Schalkwyk said a previously proposed six-month delay would not give lions enough time to develop self-defence instincts.