If hunting were like other sports

[cooch]

The original definition of “sport”, was an outdoor activity engaged in or enjoyment.
Hunting was considered a sport before most of the ball games you are thinking of, existed.

We hunt because we enjoy hunting. There is nothing wrong with that, and we do ourselves no good by pulling sad faces and pretending that we only do it out of some necessity. It fools no-one , and we only lose credibility.

 

[caribou]

For me, Sports are games designed, generally, compete and live to compete another day.
I think the Olympic Games started this way.

With Hunting, Death is the goal


As I make a large part of my living Hunting, I do not find 'sport' in doing so, but a good, honorable living, adventure and personal satisfaction a ball and team could never give.
I have no problem with sports hunters while I Subsistence hunt for sure, and here in Alaska, the meat must be removed from the feild before the antlers, and accounted for when traveling. That makes every one a subsistence hunter in the eyes of me and the law, so its just that some value the antlers more than some value the meat.

 

[cooch]

For me, Sports are games designed, generally, compete and live to compete another day.
I think the Olympic Games started this way.

With Hunting, Death is the goal
.

Friend.

If death is the goal of hunting, then it wouldn’t matter how we got there or the meaning we apply to it.

If death is the goal, then I can shoot sheep in my own paddock, and be back in my kitchen before the coffee is cold. Instead, I travel thousands of kilometres and spend every winter weekend sleeping on the ground in the open.

Sport is not just about getting something done. It is about HOW we do it, and the meaning and value that we put on it. Without that “how”, then there is no difference between hunting and slaughtering domestic animals.

Hunting is many things, not just one thing. It can be both subsistence and sport, to the same person and at the same time. Anthropologists tell us that it is universal amongst hunting cultures for hunting to be valued over and above its utility in acquiring food. It is far more than just grocery-shopping with a gun.

As an aside, when you talk of the Olympics, it pays to recall that the athletic competition among the ancients, were those skills valued in war and the hunt.

 

[Art Eatman]

I hunt because I'm a natural-food freak. No chemicals in my dove, quail and deer.

 

[jmorris]

"You went golfing all day yesterday and never hit the ball. So you want to go golfing today again?"

You haven’t won a race in your entire career and you still want to race?

Your team has never even been to the superbowl and you still want to play football?

All you ever do is drown bait, spend money and work on your boat and you still call yourself a fisherman?

We could do this all day...

 

[entropy]

Your team has never even been to the superbowl and you still want to play football?

Or worse, been there 4 times and lost everytime. I'm looking at you, Vikings......

 

[jmorris]

Yeah, the point being lots of folks enjoy sports where they won’t be successful at winning, ever.

So, that puts pretty good odds on hunting.

 

[cheygriz]

Or worse, been there 4 times and lost everytime. I'm looking at you, Vikings......

Not worse. It's far better to be in second place than it is to be third or fourth, etc..

 

[entropy]

C'mon, even the Cubs won the World Series...........

Oh, my. We've regressed from discussions of Ortega Y Gasset to this....

 

[George P]

Second place is also known as "First Loser".........

 

[cheygriz]

Second place is also known as "First Loser".........

So what is fifth place??

 

[H&Hhunter]

So what is fifth place??

What I got for deer season this year.

 

[caribou]

Friend.

If death is the goal of hunting, then it wouldn’t matter how we got there or the meaning we apply to it.

If death is the goal, then I can shoot sheep in my own paddock, and be back in my kitchen before the coffee is cold. Instead, I travel thousands of kilometres and spend every winter weekend sleeping on the ground in the open.

Sport is not just about getting something done. It is about HOW we do it, and the meaning and value that we put on it. Without that “how”, then there is no difference between hunting and slaughtering domestic animals.

Hunting is many things, not just one thing. It can be both subsistence and sport, to the same person and at the same time. Anthropologists tell us that it is universal amongst hunting cultures for hunting to be valued over and above its utility in acquiring food. It is far more than just grocery-shopping with a gun.

As an aside, when you talk of the Olympics, it pays to recall that the athletic competition among the ancients, were those skills valued in war and the hunt.

Yes, Friend, thanx for your opinion of my opinion

Ive never been Hunting anything without intending to kill whatever it was I was hunting.

Ive never played a Sport where I had any intention of killing.

Hunting is not a Sport to me, its how I make a living. Slaughterd or hunted down, I eat dead animals, and take their skins.
How someone gos about that is their business ..............as long as its legal, why would it matter how someone gos about it?

No matter why or how, for food or for kicks, for a living or a weekend, Walk the Tundra or shoot at a Buck at a feeder from a heated box with a TV in it and a bunch of drunks................ hunting has the goal of killing an animal.

Is there another goal? The things that go along with hunting, the experiance, the travel, the stalk, the processing of the animal are all fun to, though not the moment we seek as ''accomplished'' which is the Kill.
Have fun, for sure, catch or not, for food or sport, if you dont kill an animal your hunting for, was your hunt sucsessfull? ...no.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

The original definition of “sport”, was an outdoor activity engaged in or enjoyment.
Hunting was considered a sport before most of the ball games you are thinking of, existed.

I believe your etymology is in error. Being outdoors had nothing to do with the early definitions.
https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=sport

 

[FL-NC]

Golf course;

A waste of a perfectly good shooting range.

I think Col. Cooper said this.

 

[George P]

Have fun, for sure, catch or not, for food or sport, if you dont kill an animal your hunting for, was your hunt sucsessfull? ...no

I'll disagree. I stopped hunting deer and larger game when I moved East; but I still love to hunt birds. Watching a good dog work, taking a nice stroll through the plantations or uplands is the success. Killing some birds is a little extra icing on the cake.

 

[cheygriz]

Climbing the ridges in the early hours. Watching the sun come over a ridge top and light up the other ridges, the smell of pine needles, the peaceful quiet.
Refilling your canteen from a cold, clear spring.

Stopping at noon and building a small fire in front of a large rock to make your tea. Eating a light lunch, along with a shot of brandy in your tea.

An hour long nap beside your little fire. Getting up and putting out the fire, then retracing your steps back to camp and getting off of the ridge just after dark.

If you fill your tag, that's just frosting on the cake.

 

[Art Eatman]

Only the hunter is a do-it-yourselfer in providing his own meat. All others hire their killing and scut work done for them.

 

[caribou]

Killing some birds is a little extra icing on the cake.

If you fill your tag, that's just frosting on the cake.

Thanks for those opinions!

And this is why I understand that you, and a great many others view Hunting as a ''Sport'', which is perfectly acceptable, even when it is not a successful hunt.

My view of hunting is a bit different, because it depends on Hunter Success, so If the weathers nice, the ride smooth, the wind in my favor, etc, etc, that stuff is icing on my cake of dead flesh. If I havent had success, I keep hunting, untill I have obtained my goal..

I could only go home so many times with out ''Pay'', or I would be forced to find another living.

 

[caribou]

A bit off topic, but it reminds me;

Only the hunter is a do-it-yourselfer in providing his own meat. All others hire their killing and scut work done for them.

I use the same for ''Gun control'' idjits; It takes a gun to stop a gun crime in progress, so be responsible and own a gun, protect your self.... if you dont protect yourself, you will have to call a Cop who brings his gun.......

 

[mustanger98]

A lot of this depends on where you live and how much you depend on the just-in-time supply chain. I gotta agree with caribou... where he lives, if he don't shoot stuff and bring home the meat and hides, his people starve and freeze to death.

A lot of us hunt because we enjoy a variety of aspects... being out there away from the rat race where we can think... learning more about the natural world from experience... knowing where our food comes from... It's life. And despite a lot of ignorance we hear from antis, it's actually pretty creative.

Only the hunter is a do-it-yourselfer in providing his own meat. All others hire their killing and scut work done for them.

I agree with this statement too. Just an observation, some of us are better at meat cutting than others. There's some folks... some of them hunters and farmers, respected in their community... who also do a fine job as processors of deer and other game animals.

 

[burrhead]

I hunt and use to be a fishing fanatic when I lived near saltwater. Even so, Ernest Hemingway said, “There are only three sports; bullfighting, motor racing and mountaineering. All the rest are merely games."

I don't agree with that but, to me, anything involving a ball is eye-wateringly boring.

 

[caribou]

A lot of this depends on where you live and how much you depend on the just-in-time supply chain. I gotta agree with caribou... where he lives, if he don't shoot stuff and bring home the meat and hides, his people starve and freeze to death.
A lot of us hunt because we enjoy a variety of aspects... being out there away from the rat race where we can think... learning more about the natural world from experience... knowing where our food comes from... It's life. And despite a lot of ignorance we hear from antis, it's actually pretty creative.
I agree with this statement too. Just an observation, some of us are better at meat cutting than others. There's some folks... some of them hunters and farmers, respected in their community... who also do a fine job as processors of deer and other game animals.

Yep, you have to throw Farmers in as DIY meat makers

As well, me or my family wont freeze or starve in this modern day, but Foodstamps and unemployment isnt much of an option ,either.
Hunting and its products are what keep my ''ball'' rolling forward.

One thing I have picked up from this thread is that there are the Sporting views; ''It dosent matter if you win or lose, its how you play the game'' types, and there are the ''If you dont win, you lose'' types............. (ya, well thats me..)

It does, indeed, take all types.

 

[George P]

Thanks for those opinions!

And this is why I understand that you, and a great many others view Hunting as a ''Sport'', which is perfectly acceptable, even when it is not a successful hunt.

My view of hunting is a bit different, because it depends on Hunter Success, so If the weathers nice, the ride smooth, the wind in my favor, etc, etc, that stuff is icing on my cake of dead flesh. If I havent had success, I keep hunting, untill I have obtained my goal..

I could only go home so many times with out ''Pay'', or I would be forced to find another living.

And I understand your view as well; when it is your "job", coming home empty-handed is a $$$ loss; that would also pertain to hunting guides as well. If your clients aren't successful (especially in a setting where it is almost a gimmee, like a quail plantation), they aren't going to come back or recommend you to their friends.

 

[redneck2]

Hunting and its products are what keep my ''ball'' rolling forward

I understand that totally.

For most in this area, the economics of hunting make zero sense. I killed a nice deer, maybe 155-160ish field dressed. By the time you figure in gas, man hours, the cost of clothing and gun/ammo, plus cost of getting it processed, it would be cheaper to buy chicken or pork.

If I wasn’t so lazy, I’d cut it up myself which I’ve done many times. But I can easily afford to pay a mercenary to chop it up while I sit and watch TV, which I’m gonna do.

If I still lived on the farm, still had the farm shotgun, and still wore my farm clothes like I did fifty years ago it would make more sense economically. But I don’t do it to survive or to make sense. I do it because I enjoy it. And so I can post way cool pictures of my deer on The High Road. And try to convince everybody I know what a way cool, super savvy man hunter dude I am.