Hunters' federation secretary Lino Farrugia yesterday warned he would no longer advise his members to abide by the law if the spring hunting season is stopped.
Spring hunting is likely to be shelved, possibly forever, after the European Commission filed an urgent court case against Malta over the issue last week.
Speaking at the FKNK's mass rally in Gozo yesterday - ahead of the one in Malta today - he delivered a warning to the political class. Mr Farrugia said stopping the season would not be like introducing a tax that people eventually get used to, but would "remain a sore wound that is re-opened every March".
"Some perhaps don't appreciate this but I was always the first to tell people: Don't break the law, don't hunt out of season and I say it again here. But if, God forbid, come March or April the season is not open, I will not say this anymore. I will not say it..." he insisted, as people in the crowd pre-empted him and started yelling they will still go hunting.
"Dr Gonzi, or who the hell will be in Government after March 8, don't come to me if you break (this promise)".
There was a sizeable crowd, numbering around 200 people. But as Mr Farrugia himself remarked at the opening of his speech, with hunting being such a popular activity on the sister island, Gozitans were hardly there in droves.
Today, a second rally will be organised in Rabat, where a large crowd is expected to attend.
As the verdict from the European Court of Justice draws closer, after the Commission filed a case for urgent interim measures to be taken against Malta to block this year's season, the issue is certainly becoming more of a sore point for the hunters.
Those approached were reluctant to speak to the media while the curt reply of one, when asked what he expected from the Government, was: "Why don't you..." particularly after he found out the comment was for The Sunday Times.
Many sported typical camouflage gear, but few carried placards and only one of them made a vague electoral threat: 'No hunters' vote'. Mostly, the messages stressed how much hunting and trapping meant to them, as with the official FKNK T-shirt, which said on the front: 'Hunting and trapping is our life'.
Most of the speeches sounded like indictments of the culprits that had entrapped the hunters before the 2003 election which decided Malta's entry into the EU, including former Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami, the former head of the Malta-EU Information Centre Simon Busuttil, and even Saviour Balzan and Joe Sultana, who were involved in the negotiations related to hunting.
The best was left for Birdlife, as expected, repeatedly referred to as "Birdlies" by Mr Farrugia. In a patriotic call that even invoked the George Cross printed on a large Maltese flag on his back, the federation's PRO Joe Perici Calascione said Malta had lost its sovereignty on hunting.
Cheered on by two of Azzjoni Nazzjonali's candidates, who were present at the rally, he made his case for Malta's loss of sovereignty, pointing out that: "The EU Commissioner is Greek, the Birdlife director is a Turk and their biologist is from the Bermudas."
On similar lines, Mr Farrugia even suggested that those lobbying against hunting were not really passionate about birds but in reality simply "hated" hunters and trappers, a statement that was received with resounding applause. He said the European Commission was making Malta, the smallest member state, a scapegoat, to be able to send a message to the other member states.
He even suggested at one point that Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas was taking a stand against Malta because his term would soon expire and he wanted to be remembered for having stopped spring hunting on the island.