my view on hunting.

[mysticwerewolf]

In modern times few can say they hunt for food. The fact is they hunt for pleasure. Sometimes the pleasure is being outdoors and getting fresh air, but one does not need to kill animals for that. Sometimes the pleasure is in the tracking and the skill involved in understanding and finding the animals, but people taking pictures need far more skill and get as much pleasure.

No the real pleasure in hunting is killing. This is an animal instinct related to human sadism and various other similar things.

very true concerning the amount of skill needed to take a picture. but it takes just as much skill to hunt for meat . especially if UNLIKE ME someone is willing to take a shot at 500 or 700 or 800 yards,

Maybe in your part of the world hunting is due to sadism (and maybe not) But when I hunt with a rifle I hunt for food. I eat what I kill and use the hides and the bones and the antlers and everything else I can use. Even the guts are brought home and buried as fertilizer in the vegetable garden

and to be honest it is insulting to a true hunter to be called a sadist

Edited June 17, 2013 by mysticwerewolf

[msmike1]

Hunting is not for everyone, that is for certain. I do hunt, and always have. I don't do it strictly for the kill as some have suggested. If I did I would have quit hunting a long time ago. I would much rather eat wild meat than anything from a store. It is healthier, and tastes better to me. Hunting is a tradition passed down through my family and I have passed it on to my children. There is so much more to hunting than just shooting an animal. If you don't hunt then you don't understand. I have taught my stepson about nature, about the joys it brings, responsibility, about doing things right the first time, morals, ethics, hard work, and wildlife conservation all through hunting. I don't like trophy hunting. I don't do it, because I don't think it is ethical to take an animals life just for horns. There is no respect in that. That is not the ethical way to hunt in my opinion. Hunters are the greatest conservationists.

Mike

[danielost]

can we exclude scary house spiders from that please?

Scary house spiders help to keep other insect populations down in the house, unless it is one of the poisonist types to humans.

[danielost]

Some hunters would say, they do it to keep populations in check. It would be better to reintroduce predaters into the area if possible.

[questionmark]

Some hunters would say, they do it to keep populations in check. It would be better to reintroduce predaters into the area if possible.

In many places that is a sure recipe for disaster.

[Still Waters]

Some hunters would say, they do it to keep populations in check. It would be better to reintroduce predaters into the area if possible.

Here they cull deer to keep their numbers down which to me is a form of hunting, but a necessary one, or so they say.... If some had their way we'd have lynx, bears and wolves roaming around the countryside too. I'd rather have too many deer.

[seeder]

Some hunters would say, they do it to keep populations in check. It would be better to reintroduce predaters into the area if possible.

Yeh - But Danie, another problem for example...is the wolf population has gone down or in some cases, totally eradicated, Nature tends to balance things out, in the food chain... take away the natural predators and a species can explode. If we do take out the natural predators, then we will have to step in at some point and do what they did. People may moan at culling/hunting of deer, but they moan a whole lot more with packs of wolves in the woods..

[danielost]

All three of you have good points, and I thought there might be problems. Which is why I used the words, if possible.

[danielost]

Yeh - But Danie, another problem for example...is the wolf population has gone down or in some cases, totally eradicated, Nature tends to balance things out, in the food chain... take away the natural predators and a species can explode. If we do take out the natural predators, then we will have to step in at some point and do what they did. People may moan at culling/hunting of deer, but they moan a whole lot more with packs of wolves in the woods..

So what do they do to the culled deer throw it away, or help to feed the hungry. Alaska, uses road kill to help feed the hungry, if possible.

[seeder]

So what do they do to the culled deer throw it away, or help to feed the hungry. Alaska, uses road kill to help feed the hungry, if possible.

Id like to think some of it goes to the Zoo's where the lions/tigers etc gets fed real game meat. I dont think it gets wasted, well I hope not. I have friends in Europe who shoot elks/moose, they say one elk can feed many families for months and all have freezers full in hunting season

anyway heres a story on the UK problem

Deer cull: why half of Britain's 1.5 million animals must die

http://www.theweek.co.uk/environment/51866/deer-cull-why-half-britains-15-million-animals-must-die

[mysticwerewolf]

So what do they do to the culled deer throw it away, or help to feed the hungry. Alaska, uses road kill to help feed the hungry, if possible.

that depends on what state your in / some give it to charities, some give it to food banks, some places they feed it to zoo animals, some just toss it. here in Wa. Most road kill is tossed, while most culling is given to a charity ..... wish they would give me some... I wouldn't need to hunt for it

[trancelikestate]

can we exclude scary house spiders from that please?

spiders are our friends. I don't understand why everyone is so afraid of them and insist on killing them when they are indoors.

[Sakari]

Some hunters would say, they do it to keep populations in check. It would be better to reintroduce predaters into the area if possible.

That was done....

We killed Wolves off, then re-introduced them, now are killing them again....And it p***es me off.

Check my signature link.....

[trancelikestate]

My view on hunting is if you need to do it go ahead. But, if you can go to the store and buy hamberger don't do it. If you have to hunt for fun use a digatol camera. In my view hunting for sport is wrong, for food it is ok. But, only if you can't buy food.

I don't agree in killing purely for sport but there are many types of meats that cant be bought in the average supermarket. Wild meat also has a better taste (IMO). Also most animal suffering happens because of store bought meat. By buying meat from the store instead of hunting your own, your supporting that suffereing. And why exactly do you put a lower value on the lives of captive animals over wild ones? Personally I think the opposite of you. We should be stocking wild herds and hunting what we need. If you can't kill and clean your own meat, you shouldn't eat meat. Killing is quite a brutal process but needs to be done in order for us to consume meat, most of society has become extreamly disassociated with this fact. Personally I think there would be alot more vegetarians in the world, probally for the better.

Edited June 18, 2013 by trancelikestate

[mysticwerewolf]

spiders are our friends. I don't understand why everyone is so afraid of them and insist on killing them when they are indoors.

shoulder launched laws rockets are the only acceptable weapon for hunting spiders yes there is a story in there somewhere but not for this thread

[seeder]

spiders are our friends. I don't understand why everyone is so afraid of them and insist on killing them when they are indoors.

Spider are our friends eh? Even the ones with neuro toxins which attack the central nervous system and can cause seizures, strokes, heart attacks, aneurisms, foaming at the mouth, muscle spasms...to name a few lovely side effects..

The point I made was about not killing something unless you will eat it after!! hence why I said can we exclude spiders from the list, as I dont want to ever eat one

[Frank Merton]

My wife would catch and release outdoors almost any critter that got in the house, including locusts (the locusts in Vietnam are big and ugly but don't form swarms so that are tolerable) and crickets and spiders and even centipedes (don't ever let yourself be stung by s SE Asian centipede).

There were a couple of exceptions -- no mercy for houseflies and mosquitoes.

[Irrelevant]

I use to spear, haven't for a long time, we would always go one up one down, and never use scuba and shoot only what was required for food. to use scuba is cheating. Spearing can be dangerous, always have to be alert for shallow water blackout. These days I just kayak and line fish when i realy need some me time. However if I met another spero buddy I would again, its enjoyable and primal hunting your food, bringing back the dinner, These guys are having a blast, not for everybody so if your easily upset best don't watch.

[Purplos]

Vegetarians aside, I never understood the problem people have with hunting for food. The animals sliced up and packaged in plastic at the supermarket were killed too, ya know? And probably in a worse way, and definitely had a much worse life than the deer running around in the woods.

I personally think that if you eat meat, hunting it yourself is the absolute best way to go. We should support open space preservation and healthy wild animal populations instead of factory farming and food additives and crap.

[Rafterman]

My view on hunting is if you need to do it go ahead. But, if you can go to the store and buy hamberger don't do it. If you have to hunt for fun use a digatol camera. In my view hunting for sport is wrong, for food it is ok. But, only if you can't buy food.

Thank you for your opinion.

But you know what they say about opinions.

[rashore]

I think hunting can be necessary, as in conservation hunting. For a long time, we have removed natural predators, upsetting the balance. So we kind of need to fill that niche we have wiped out. It would be great if we could just let predators be, but then they start doing things like attacking humans or domestic animals... and we just can't put up with that. It's a vicious circle.

In some areas it's not a matter of predator reduction so much as a matter of we introduced a species, threw off the balance, and we need to fill the niche of predator to set things right.

Sport hunting is vile beyond words.

Hunting as in regular ole getting yourself some food hunting I have no problem with depending on the method used. IMO really, there isn't much difference between killing your own food or paying someone else to do it for you. Kind of the same difference as growing your own tomatoes or baking your own bread, or paying someone else to do it for you. The process is a bit different between the two options, but the general result is pretty much the same.

[Frank Merton]

Culling herds can be done professionally with much less harm to the environment that swarms of hunters, and the meat given to charities.

My main objection to hunting for food, when there are other options, is that the animal is being hunted and experiences this and the shock and pain of the death. Now this is of course part of nature, but that doesn't make it good and doesn't mean we need to do it.

When animals are raised domestically in safe, clean, comfortable environments and then killed without stress or pain, I think eating meat can be accepted. Unfortunately this is not the norm, so I generally abstain.

[jbondo]

Hunting of game animals is vital to the survival of species. Unfortunately we have pushed further and further into areas where wildlife used to tread unseen. Now we are in a situation where animal populations have to be managed.

Good and honest hunters/sportmen are the backbone of the longevity of animals and their environment. Not only do hunters thin herds, they also work in the offseason to protect and manage game lands as the other step in keeping species healthy and thriving. Animals are prone to disease just like us and weeding out the weak and diseased can only help the overall strength and health of species. Each square mile can only support so many animals and by not controlling them, they would eventually eat everything available. There are few things more painful than starving to death. It's a slow, horrible process as opposed to a well placed shot that brings instant death. Believe me, if not for this management, you'd see many species disappear.

I always eat what I kill and like many I know, never hunt haphazardly. If we can't take a clean, clear and safe shot, we don't fire. If hunting big game correctly, it should take only one shot in 98% of all cases.

Hunting is extremely regulated with the interest of the animals at the root of the process and abiding by game laws and regulations is vitally important. Hunting is for the good of the animals and the land they live on.

[Papagiorgio]

Culling herds can be done professionally with much less harm to the environment that swarms of hunters, and the meat given to charities.

My main objection to hunting for food, when there are other options, is that the animal is being hunted and experiences this and the shock and pain of the death. Now this is of course part of nature, but that doesn't make it good and doesn't mean we need to do it.

When animals are raised domestically in safe, clean, comfortable environments and then killed without stress or pain, I think eating meat can be accepted. Unfortunately this is not the norm, so I generally abstain.

Prey animals like deer have evolved (or were created if that's your thing) to be hunted. It is more cruel to not hunt them, than it is to hunt them. Since humans are responsible for the removal of these animals predators it is our duty to fulfill that role.

[SHaYap]

nice hat Smokie ...

thanks .... I just got it last week ....it being open season and all ...

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