Keeping Sharp: The Importance of Target Practice

As all Explorers know, the main point of our job is to push back the frontiers of human ignorance. We are usually on a mission more of peaceful discovery than wanton destruction. However, there come moments, such as when faced by a bloodthirsty and irritatingly uppity tribe of so-called "indigenous peoples", when you must set aside high minded ideals and dole out a serious smackdown. This brings us to the main topic of today: target practice.
Unfortunately, due to some progressive lawmaking in national governments worldwide, it's no longer possible for an Expolorers keen on target practice to just go knocking about the woods banging away at whatever moves. You might hit a bumblebee bat or a yangtze river dolphin (well not anymore I guess, but that's sort of the point of what we're saying) or some other endangered beastie. Now you might think that this would limit your options and to a certain extent it does, but we here at Exploristas! believe that if you simply practice some of that resourcefulness we explorers are so famous for, you can work around this little snag.
Many populations of animals occasionally get out of control. Often due to a lack of natural predators or a particularly abundant season, some animals will experience a sudden spurt in birth rate. This can lead to all sorts of complications. Weak bodied or weak minded specimens can live on and pass their genetic code, weakening the herd as a whole. Or, more horribly, resources can get used up and the entire herd will starve. This is why judicious culling is extremely important. There are several species currently experiencing this state of affairs; we suggest you choose philosophy graduate students.
We're not trying to sound anti-intellectual. Far from it! Explorers at their foundation are the purest intellectuals. You could call us Intellectualistas! But just look at the man on the left. It's obvious that this creature and many more like it need to be put down. Also, they make it nearly impossible to get in and out of Starbucks quickly.
You can find small flocks of these animals loitering in "coffee houses", haunting library stacks or snapping their fingers at poetry readings. Another good option is to follow them to popular Undergraduate watering holes, where they will try to attract mates with memorized passages. Though they may seem pale and weak, we argue that due to their choice of habitat, they still make challenging prey. For whatever reason, local authorities frown on the culling of any of the subspecies of grad student (unless you're in the USA, where the prevailing attitude at the White House is that these College Boys are ripe for the plucking) and so, along with target practice, you will get to practice evasion and survival tactics. Until next time, Good Hunting!