Hunting And Killing

Status
Not open for further replies.
Yeah, me too. Well, I never did think much of the dragging out either, and the cutting and wrapping is just okay - not something I really look forward to though.
My dad always used to say, "The fun's all over the second you pull the trigger.";)

I gave up on dragging anything out. I break them down and carry them out now, which can be rewarding feeling albeit difficult depending on the pack weight and terrain. I've yet to find anywhere to hunt in Idaho that's particularly flat or low elevation so it's usually a slog.
 
I started hunting with a camera many years ago. I decided I could buy what meat I consumed. I've always enjoyed watching wildlife of all kinds go about their business. I'm rather limited on numbers and species as this is the south plains but I still manage a trip to the mountains every year. Also age has become a limiting factor in my on foot journeys.
 
O.P. - get a quality camera. Hunt with that and fill your desire to be out and about. You can still 'shoot' that trophy without any guilt.
 
I find as I age, I haven't the desire to kill that I used to. But, if I don't shoot, catch, or raise something, there's a good chance we won't eat it. We're not fans of buying food when we can get it free or nearly so. So I usually get 2 deer a year, and all the squirrel and rabbit I can. Add to that trout, bass, and other fish, along with home grown veggies, chicken, and the occasional fat hog, and we eat exceptionally well.

I'm not like most though, who kill for the Hell of it. I've never liked it, and though I've done my share, it gave me no pleasure. It was and is simply a means to an end (full freezer); a necessary evil you might say. A man's gotta eat, and that's the best way I've found. Or that's how I justify it anyway.

Mac
 
I totally understand where your coming from. I can't explain it, but last year my LOVE for bowhunting waned and I only went out twice. Then In rifle season I only went out the first day. This was the first year since 1982 that I didn't kill a deer. Then fast forward to this year, Pa archery season started Oct 5th and today was the first day I went out. I saw 7 deer and didn't even bother to stand up. I just watched as one doe got within about 5 yards of me. I could have almost jumped on her. Then a small buck started grunting and started chasing her. Another spike buck walked within about 10 yards of my tree stand. I climbed down about 9 am because of something I can't explain. I just didn't care to be there anymore. I really have trouble getting out of bed in the morning when years ago I didn't even need an alarm clock! Something is going on within me, and I hope and pray it will cease! I'll be 63 in about a month. I too, realize the "work starts after the arrow flies or the trigger is pulled. I've killed TONS of deer over the years. If anyone has an answer, please chime in!!!!
 
I grew up in a hunting family. Every Thanksgiving my dad and his six brothers would get together and hunt rabbits behind a pack of beagles. That was heady stuff for a youngster. So for a long time I was a hunter. Later on I was in on a successful black bear hunt in Montana. As I stood looking at that beautiful bear on the ground who had just peacefully walked across a hillside just moment earlier something came over me that made me realize that all animals love life just as much as humans. I've never hunted since! I don't judge hunters as hunting was a huge part of my growing up but it changed for me and I'm thankful for that. I only poke holes in targets now and I'm happy doing that.
 
I hunt to get through the winter without starving. Every time I line my sights on the prey I silently thank the great spirit for providing me the means to survive another winter season with a full belly as my ancestors taught me. Then with a pang of regret and some sadness I pull the trigger. Thereafter the real work begins!
 
I have posted many times in the past few months about going into the woods, swamps etc. to scout deer. Yes, just studying these beautiful creatures and being in the woods is therapy for myself. I have loved the woods since a young boy. Still remember the first Deer I killed and how the thrill of wanting to kill one quickly diminished after doing it. I talk about the new 4 1/2 lb shot gun I carry now. Well one reason is the fact that it is easy to go for long hours the woods but also because I really do not care about shooting a deer. In fact for years have just past so many up. I just love to get away, to think, to enjoy all of God's majestic work. Peace and beauty. I envy the Poster that said he is a Forrester. What a wonderful job. I was all set to buy another gun. But instead put that cash toward a new Camera. Lol, I will be out there in the woods this Deer season, this Turkey season. But you can bet the Buck is safe from me..
***And to note: Have killed many Deer over the years and do not find any thing at all wrong with it. In fact, in many cases it is a duty to kill if possible to keep the game in Check. Yes, I will kill a Turkey and might even kill another deer. For the real part of HUNTING is the hunt for me, not the kill.

Wik20WX.jpg

Robert Frost.
 

Attachments

  • Wik20WX.jpg
    Wik20WX.jpg
    71.9 KB · Views: 6
Last edited:
I enjoy the hunting and the killing. Of course there’s always a brief moment of reverence when the deed is done, but that moment is outweighed by the rush of adrenaline that comes with success. It is outweighed by the delicious meals prepared from God’s creation. It is outweighed by the good done for local farmers every time I take a wild pig out of the breeding pool.

As a deer hunter, I have become much more selective. I think that is just part of growing up. I don’t shoot young bucks and don’t shoot yearlings. I just don’t get an satisfaction from killing young deer.

My dad went through a phase after his liver transplant where he just didn’t care much about deer hunting anymore. I got him to sit in a shooting house with me a few times before he died, but he only did it to humor me. He never really enjoyed a deer hunt again before he passed away in 2013.

I don’t think there anything wrong with a hunter losing his desire to kill an animal. Hunting is personal. Killing is personal. Nobody can tell you how you are supposed to feel about taking a life. Keep enjoying your time in the woods the way you like. You’ve earned the right to do what you want out there. Good hunting.
 
I'm sure no-one has intended to imply anything else, but I think this has to be said out loud: All other wonderful aspects of nature and the actual kill are NOT mutually exclusive.

It's not one or the other. The kill is the final link in connecting the whole experience to food chain, which is nothing less than the basis of all life on this planet. Often just knowing that you could've made the kill is enough. Choosing not to, for one reason or another can be just as satisfying. Even more so when you've already been there, done that and got a pallet of proverbial T-shirts.

Myself? I've more or less given up on capercaillie, black grouse and ptarmigans / snow grouse. Maybe one or two for Christmas as an alternative or a supplement to turkey, but usually I just let them go, or guide the hunt and handle the dog(s) for my friends and family members. I do have a sizable collection of photos of capercaillies' behinds too, taking off in front of advancing dogs. Gone are the days of 50+ birds a season and serving black grouse weekly throughout the year.

On the other hand, when you want the meat instead of resorting to outsourcing, ie. having someone else kill your food for you, there's just one thing to do.

Whichever approach serves you the best.
 
On the other hand, when you want the meat instead of resorting to outsourcing, ie. having someone else kill your food for you, there's just one thing to do.

Whichever approach serves you the best.

Actually do not eat much meat, prefer Fresh Fish, but sometimes I have no problem with Someone preparing a nice Prime Angus Sirloin.

And the thing is, I actually prefer and have a great better time Scouting Deer all year, which is, IMO hunting. I do not need to have the kill to complete the process. Hopefully in the next years to come, my new Camera will do all the shooting and that process will be complete.
And I never go hunting the first week of the season. Prefer the end of it. And enjoy the scouting well after the season.
 
Last edited:
And the thing is, I actually prefer and have a great better time Scouting Deer all year, which is, IMO hunting.
I never implied that it isn't. I only pointed out the dietary aspect of the big picture. Not that I'd refrain from Angus sirloin (or preferably Hereford, maybe even Wagyu/Kobe, châteaubriand, blue rare... with a nice glass or two of '96 Beringer Third Century Cabernet Franc, please :)) or various cuts of reindeer for that matter, but being a direct part of the foodchain matters to me on a personal level.

Not unlike picking mushrooms, arctic wild berries and such, which kills living organisms for food just like putting a bullet through a moose's heart.

There's no wrong or right. Only personal takes on the subject and this sums up briefly what's the philosophy behind my $.02. As a clear motive why I for the most part DO squeeze the trigger, or pick up the wild porcini, or gather a basket full of bilberries for that matter.

YMMV.
 
In Hunter Safety class, we talk about the 5 stages many hunters go thru in life. Some never make it past the first. Some get to number five before others. At 65, I believe I'm at stage 5 Just last Sunday night, I let two bucks walk by me on bow stand, that in earlier stages, I would have been excited to take. Same is true for turkey hunting. Now I pass on toms early in the season just to make the season last. If the season ends with my tag unfilled, I still feel like my hunts were successful. I doubt if it's hormones, I believe it is a mindset.

The five stages defined.......https://www.fieldandstream.com/five-stages-hunting/
 
The five stages defined.......
Coming from cross country skiing and hiking background way before I was introduced to hunting, the stages seem to be the other way around. Probably they're written from the standpoint a shooter who picks up hunting, or some similar situation?
 
Coming from cross country skiing and hiking background way before I was introduced to hunting, the stages seem to be the other way around. Probably they're written from the standpoint a shooter who picks up hunting, or some similar situation?

I think it's from a standpoint derived from sport hunting. Subsistence hunting would probably be stuck on the second stage, and numbers. Growing up as a kid, my friends and I were hunting with BB guns before we were old enough to hunt with firearms. We did what we called "Tweety Bird Hunting", which was to shoot at, anything that moved and did not belong to someone(dog, cat, chickens, etc.). Once we were old enough to hunt with firearms, it became a numbers game, as if what was in your bag determined how big a man or how good a hunter you were. This is the stage where most folks tend to bend the rules/laws in order to fill a tag. Then I and some of my friends moved up the ladder to Trophy and method hunting. For deer, I now use only archery or handguns. Rifles have sat idle for many years. Now, like the OP, I tend to enjoy watching the deer much more than shoot them, even tho I do enjoy eating venison. In other countries and areas, where the hunting mindset is different than here in the lower 48, maybe those five stages don't apply.
 
I have been at it for about 16yrs and I often get the feeling that one day I will stop killing. I enjoy sitting out there watching everything but I find myself passing deer because "its a bad shot" or its too young/small. I dont get the thrill to kill anymore.
 
It tends to go in stages for most; 1st stage: I just want to shoot my gun! 2nd; I just want to shoot something! 3; OK, I shot something, now I have to <choose one> a. get the biggest buck, or b. get the most deer. 4th stage; I want Ol' Mossyhorns the buck that keeps showing up on my trailcams. 5th Stage; My, it's such a nice day out here, I really will be OK if no deer show up.
6th; It's a great day to be alive and out in the woods. Shooting a deer would just ruin it and make a lot of work. 7th; I get to guide the kids(or grandkids) today, I'll skip the rifle-it's more fun to enjoy their enjoyment of the hunt. Last stage; Curmudgeonly Camp Cook. Some skip to this stage quickly if the don't get any deer in stages 2-4.
 
@buck460XVR: I understand your point. I've never really got to the point of shooting everything and anything that moves. Pest control, of course, as instructed by my father but he also made a very strong point of respecting life. On the other hand, I started with the "living picture book" -mindset. I must have not been five the first time we made family day trips to wilderness on skis, hence learned everything the other way around. Being a part of the nature and understanding it first, finding out how it can provide you food long after that.

OTOH, these days I could easily harvest 15-20 whitetail and even more roe deer a year, on my front yard. Tags are a dime a dozen, roe deer don't even have a set bag limit at all. In spite of that, I usually shoot 3-4 a season and make at least one proper weekend trip out of it. Even though Mrs.hq would like me to hunt the yard, because the whitetail eat pretty much anything and everything in terms of flowers, apples, prunes etc. she tries in vain to grow. :)

Take only what you need and have use for, respect life and nature.
 
@buck460XVR: I understand your point. I've never really got to the point of shooting everything and anything that moves. Pest control, of course, as instructed by my father but he also made a very strong point of respecting life. On the other hand, I started with the "living picture book" -mindset. I must have not been five the first time we made family day trips to wilderness on skis, hence learned everything the other way around. Being a part of the nature and understanding it first, finding out how it can provide you food long after that.

OTOH, these days I could easily harvest 15-20 whitetail and even more roe deer a year, on my front yard. Tags are a dime a dozen, roe deer don't even have a set bag limit at all. In spite of that, I usually shoot 3-4 a season and make at least one proper weekend trip out of it. Even though Mrs.hq would like me to hunt the yard, because the whitetail eat pretty much anything and everything in terms of flowers, apples, prunes etc. she tries in vain to grow. :)

Take only what you need and have use for, respect life and nature.
You have Whitetail in Finland?
 
You have Whitetail in Finland?
Yes. Possibly more than a hundred thousand of them. Courtesy of about a dozen whitetails shipped from Minnesota in mid 30's and late 40's. They bred like proverbial rabbits and now they're everywhere.
 
Now I let them walk and I feel accomplished. Maybe I am not conflicted - maybe I am just in a better place - I now just enjoy my time on the hunt, I still carry a rifle and I still chase deer but something has grandly changed when it is time to pull the trigger - very strange to me.

Why is it a "better place"? Better than what? :scrutiny:

I've been hunting for 43 years. The only time that I feel bad, is when I'm in the woods and see zero critters..which is rare and so far only on very cold, winter days. It's sorta lonely, and as though the critters all decided to leave. I've been entertained by chipmunks and birds of prey, and fox, when I was out hunting for something, even though I bagged nothing. I've passed on shots that were poor; just been grateful that I saw some game. I've passed on the large patriarch buck where I hunt, as I don't go for trophies, but for the meat, and he makes more deer, and for some reason likes to keep his harem on the land where I hunt.....so he gets a "pass". :thumbup:

Yesterday I went on a scout. My son at the last minute announced he wanted to hunt with a centerfire rifle this year..., and my state restricts where that can be done, so..., I headed out to the State Forest to scout the area for a hunt, come the first Week of December. I knew squirrels were in season, so I took a shotgun. Didn't bag any squirrels, but it was a grand day. Saw squirrel, and deer, and wood ducks, and even turkeys. So the area that I had scouted by map turned out to be good when actually on foot. So didn't take a shot, but still had a grand time. ;)

I understand that you don't want to deal with a drag nor cleaning and butchering. If you don't feel like that chore, then by all means avoid it.

On the other hand, I may not want to deal with the tracking, the drag, and the butchering, but I think I could or can find a younger person that would like to do it all. So IF that day comes, I should think I would take that person to the woods (perhaps unknown to me today, and will be met tomorrow), and I shall pass on the shot, by passing it to the younger hunter.

With dwindling numbers of hunters, I also wonder that while we may be thinking twice about going out, or taking the shot..., do we not, with our skills and our opportunities, owe it to the game populations to perform the task of population management? I'm not sure that I can, as a regular behavior, abdicate my role as a "steward of the land " by habitually neglecting to go to the woods, or habitually not harvesting game. Eventually infirmity will stop me..., that will be the signal for me to stop....

But that's just me.

LD
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top