Taking an animals life
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ZeroJunk
Member
I don't think much about it if it's fair chase. It's the way the creator designed things. If you really want to see a mess let the predators quit doing their job.
lizziedog1
Member
People that say they don't feel any emotions at all about killing scare me.
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Harley Quinn
Member
Ditto, truth and consequence is a biggie...
People that say they don't feel any emotions at all about killing scare me.
Sav .250
Member
The older you get, the more you appreciate things in general. When you first start out, it`s all about the killing a deer (what ever.)
As you get long in tooth, it`s still about getting a deer but it`s not the most important part of the hunt. Now you pick and choose. Even let some "walk." Even eliminate doe from the menue. Cause you can.
I hunt with family and that`s what I do. The hunt for me is just about all the stuff that goes on in camp. Still hunt hard and enjoy my time spent in the mountains but I sure let a lot more deer walk then I did when i was younger. A lot more.
As you get long in tooth, it`s still about getting a deer but it`s not the most important part of the hunt. Now you pick and choose. Even let some "walk." Even eliminate doe from the menue. Cause you can.
I hunt with family and that`s what I do. The hunt for me is just about all the stuff that goes on in camp. Still hunt hard and enjoy my time spent in the mountains but I sure let a lot more deer walk then I did when i was younger. A lot more.
CoRoMo
Member
I've never really understood a lot about fear and how it cripples good people. I've been told that fear is simply weakness, manifesting itself physically and psychologically. I don't know that to be true, but what I do know to be true is that fear is debilitating, both physically and psychologically. It really can destroy a person.
Armored farmer
Member
I'd say you may be lucky in more than "one way". There are few things that would keep my from hunting.......the "dear" in that pic just might be enough to do it!. lol
1911Tuner
Moderator Emeritus
Reverence.
It's probably due to something hard-wired into my DNA from the small percentage of Sioux in my heritage, but when I used to take to the field, I always enjoyed the hunt...but was saddened by the kill.
I've never mounted a trophy, even though there were probably a couple candidates for Boone and Crocket among my successes...and I always ate what I killed.
I've passed up shots for no other reason than I just didn't feel like killing that animal on that day.
I stopped hunting about 15 years ago. A personal choice for personal reasons, and to all who hunt, I wish for you all a memorable hunt and a clean kill.
It's probably due to something hard-wired into my DNA from the small percentage of Sioux in my heritage, but when I used to take to the field, I always enjoyed the hunt...but was saddened by the kill.
I've never mounted a trophy, even though there were probably a couple candidates for Boone and Crocket among my successes...and I always ate what I killed.
I've passed up shots for no other reason than I just didn't feel like killing that animal on that day.
I stopped hunting about 15 years ago. A personal choice for personal reasons, and to all who hunt, I wish for you all a memorable hunt and a clean kill.
Yo Mama
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I started hunting in my mid 20s. I really felt bad. As I didn't grow up with it, I had to grow into the acceptance that it's better that I do it, than an unknown butcher in a plant. It's my food, why have someone else get it for me? I pray that I have a good hunt, and that I can feed my family, and I give thanks for the bounty I receive.
I started taking my oldest girl - 3 - to the field bird hunting with me. She is so into it, and picked up the birds for me, and spotted them much further than I did. She's a natural! My wish for her is to have that which I did not, raised to know that humans have worth, and reason to exist. That when you take a life of an animal, that we live to accomplish a larger purpose.
I think hunting helps us establish a closer link to our land, and our creator.
I started taking my oldest girl - 3 - to the field bird hunting with me. She is so into it, and picked up the birds for me, and spotted them much further than I did. She's a natural! My wish for her is to have that which I did not, raised to know that humans have worth, and reason to exist. That when you take a life of an animal, that we live to accomplish a larger purpose.
I think hunting helps us establish a closer link to our land, and our creator.
Can you explain the stages for us non-initiated?
I always was taught to kill what you eat. I've slightly modified it myself to "kill what you can eat and/or use constructively, or can harm others". I don't however hunt predators anymore, except for coyote, and that's because they are a huge nuisance problem here for pets and livestock. I kill rattlesnakes because I use the skins and eat the meat. Other than that, it's all herd animals. I used to go rabbit and jack shooting with friends for sport, we'd collect the rabbits, clean them out, and give them to my friend's mom who would make asado(red chili) out of them. Lately however, my hunting time has been too sparse, making it so that I only have time to take for deer or elk hunts. I always say a quick and silent thank you to God and nature for the bounty. And I always eat what I can and make sure everything is used that can be.
Art Eatman
Moderator In Memoriam
So far, I've never met anybody who felt no emotions at all about shooting Bambi. I figure an emotionless type wouldn't be bothered to hunt, just to begin with. Emotionless types are far more likely to hunt in the grocery store's meat counter. But a lack of grand excitement or not having the warm fuzzies does not mean a lack of emotion...
It's fairly common that in early life, we're sorta bloodthirsty about hunting. Not "bad-bad", but generally eager.
With maturity comes a more measured approach. Some hunt strictly for meat. Others, sure, the meat is good but as I said earlier, there is the "wait for a bigger buck" part of the deal. I figure that it comes from the self-confidence in one's ability, knowing that it's when, not if.
Somewhere in there for many is the adding of the challenge for the real trophy horns or size, with maybe a lesser importance attached to the meat. That brings the "if" back into the deal.
Then, down the line for a lot of us, is the "Been there, done that" and we slow down. Heck, at my age I can't eat a whole deer. The "school teacher" part of one's psyche comes into play. I'd much rather help somebody catch a deer than go to the trouble, now, to do it myself. Here on the Internet, I just sorta pass along some of the stuff I've learned, these past seventy years.
I ran across the comment, years back, that one's immortality is only in the minds of friends and family. In memories. So, since I can recall the circumstances of the hunt for each and every set of antlers nailed to my garage joists, there's a sort of immortality there that has lasted long beyond the usual lifespan of a deer. I recall the day, who was in camp, the shot--all those things that go into the package. Memories...
It's fairly common that in early life, we're sorta bloodthirsty about hunting. Not "bad-bad", but generally eager.
With maturity comes a more measured approach. Some hunt strictly for meat. Others, sure, the meat is good but as I said earlier, there is the "wait for a bigger buck" part of the deal. I figure that it comes from the self-confidence in one's ability, knowing that it's when, not if.
Somewhere in there for many is the adding of the challenge for the real trophy horns or size, with maybe a lesser importance attached to the meat. That brings the "if" back into the deal.
Then, down the line for a lot of us, is the "Been there, done that" and we slow down. Heck, at my age I can't eat a whole deer. The "school teacher" part of one's psyche comes into play. I'd much rather help somebody catch a deer than go to the trouble, now, to do it myself. Here on the Internet, I just sorta pass along some of the stuff I've learned, these past seventy years.
I ran across the comment, years back, that one's immortality is only in the minds of friends and family. In memories. So, since I can recall the circumstances of the hunt for each and every set of antlers nailed to my garage joists, there's a sort of immortality there that has lasted long beyond the usual lifespan of a deer. I recall the day, who was in camp, the shot--all those things that go into the package. Memories...
birddog
Member
I don't have a lot of sympathy for pheasants, as my screen name implies. Most small game kills don't make me emotional. Deer kills, done well, leave me with a feeling of satisfaction. The deer kills I've done poorly have left me with remorse. If you don't feel any remorse for a wounded animal, I don't think you should be hunting.
The 5 bears I've killed...they are a different story. I enjoy the sport. I enjoy the meat. But that fact that I'm killing an animal that's substantially more aware, or sentient, if you prefer -- a "thinking" animal, as a bear guide of mine calls them -- often leaves me a little sad. Doesn't stop me from hunting them, though.
It's a conundrum.
The 5 bears I've killed...they are a different story. I enjoy the sport. I enjoy the meat. But that fact that I'm killing an animal that's substantially more aware, or sentient, if you prefer -- a "thinking" animal, as a bear guide of mine calls them -- often leaves me a little sad. Doesn't stop me from hunting them, though.
It's a conundrum.
kyle1974
Member
depends what it is. I find deer species to be special animals, and I sometimes find myself being a little quiet after the initial excitement has settled. I shot a huge deer this year, and after the first few minutes of whooping it up, I oculdn't help but notice it was a little sad that such an awesome deer was gone.... but, I love to hunt, we loveto eat the meat, and I like to hang dead animals on my wall.
still carries over to the mounts, every year at christmas I have the yearly arguments with my wife because I do not like them hanging ornaments on the deer... jsut find it a little disrespectful.
birds.... eh. I shoot them, and eat them.
still carries over to the mounts, every year at christmas I have the yearly arguments with my wife because I do not like them hanging ornaments on the deer... jsut find it a little disrespectful.
birds.... eh. I shoot them, and eat them.
ZeroJunk
Member
It is telling that people including myself have some complicated philosophical thoughts about taking a game animal yet we think nothing of eating a pork chop from the grocery store all sanitized and removed from our participation. And, a hog is a genius compared to a deer.
I recall as young as about 5 years old, my grandfather directing my brother and I to go to the barn, and catch two chickens for supper. Years later, I worked in a butcher shop while in undergraduate school. Man's gotta eat.
I do however, shed tears when I peel an onion. Guess it's just an emotional experience for me?! I don't have such emotions fir tatters. 
What?!
Geno
I do however, shed tears when I peel an onion. Guess it's just an emotional experience for me?!
I don't have such emotions fir tatters. What?!
Geno
Hunting is a natural instinct for man, If anyone does not believe that, look in the mirror at your own teeth, most of us still have our K-9's and they are thier for a reason, which is to tear animal flesh for consumption. Myself, I always feel some sadness when taking an animal, I wasn't always that way, when I was younger it was the thrill of the kill. I think as we get older we appreciate the marvel of life and we think about the power of the kill and how it all fits in to the laws of nature. For those who do not hunt, they can never know the emotions of the pursuit,the kill and the post kill. It's the predator in us that comes out. But, as we all know, a good predator is not an indiscriminate killer, he or she is a steward of nature. Not so much by choice but by destiny. From life there comes death and from death comes life and so it comes full circle and thats the way it is.
I've hunted 60yrs and was taught to only kill varmints and others for meat. Just a natural part of life in my part of the county, hunting or butchering farm animals for meat. I just don't kill for the sake of killing a trophy or for a thrill, had enough of those.
1911Tuner
Moderator Emeritus
There's a difference, and it's got nothing to do with philosophy or sanitizing it or IQ.
Hogs and other animals that are bred for slaughter are never free. Their death is a release from bondage, and possibly even a relief. Wild game animals were born free and have lived free. Their death is a sorrowful occasion for me because it represents the death of a free spirit.
MariettaMike
Member
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2011
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- 5
First Kill
I snuck out with my brothers Benjamin .177 pump pellet gun when I was 7 years old and shot at a mockingbird from about twenty yards. It fell from the tree branch and was flopping around. I picked it up and saw the blood coming from its neck. It was looking at me when it died. I felt just about as bad as I did when my mother told me my grandmother (her mother) had died the year before. I put it in a bag and threw it in the garbage and did not shoot at another living thing until my dad told me to a couple years later.
I snuck out with my brothers Benjamin .177 pump pellet gun when I was 7 years old and shot at a mockingbird from about twenty yards. It fell from the tree branch and was flopping around. I picked it up and saw the blood coming from its neck. It was looking at me when it died. I felt just about as bad as I did when my mother told me my grandmother (her mother) had died the year before. I put it in a bag and threw it in the garbage and did not shoot at another living thing until my dad told me to a couple years later.
ZeroJunk
Member
When I grew up the hogs were pretty free until a cold spell in late fall. I find it a little weird that we can produce something sentient on an assembly line and have no compassion upon it's death but make a big deal out of killing one that has a chance.
So animals that we would consider "free" have a "spirit", but those in bondage have none (or at least none that deserve reverence and consideration). Interesting concept!
Seems like they would be animals all the same. ^^
35 Whelen
Member
The Six Stages of Hunter Development
JohnBlaze asked:
The priority is getting off a shot, rather than patiently waiting for a good shot. This eagerness to shoot can lead to bad decisions that endanger others. A combination of target practice and mentoring helps most hunters move quickly out of this stage.
Limiting-Out Stage
Success is determined by bagging the limit. In extreme cases, this need to limit out also can cause hunters to take unsafe shots. Spending time with more mature hunters helps people grow out of this phase.
Trophy Stage
The hunter is selective and judges success by quality rather than quantity. Typically, the focus is on big game. Anything that doesn’t measure up to the desired trophy is ignored.
Method Stage
In this stage, the process of hunting becomes the focus. A hunter may still want to limit out but places a higher priority on how it’s accomplished.
Sportsman Stage
Success is measured by the total experience—the appreciation of the out-of-doors and the animal being hunted, the process of the hunt, and the companionship of other hunters.
"Give-Back" Stage
In this stage, hunters are interested in introducing others to hunting and passing on the proper hunting values. These hunters also teach others about safety and the responsibilities of hunting.
There ya have it!
35W
JohnBlaze asked:
The Six Stages of Hunter Development
Shooting StageThe priority is getting off a shot, rather than patiently waiting for a good shot. This eagerness to shoot can lead to bad decisions that endanger others. A combination of target practice and mentoring helps most hunters move quickly out of this stage.
Limiting-Out Stage
Success is determined by bagging the limit. In extreme cases, this need to limit out also can cause hunters to take unsafe shots. Spending time with more mature hunters helps people grow out of this phase.
Trophy Stage
The hunter is selective and judges success by quality rather than quantity. Typically, the focus is on big game. Anything that doesn’t measure up to the desired trophy is ignored.
Method Stage
In this stage, the process of hunting becomes the focus. A hunter may still want to limit out but places a higher priority on how it’s accomplished.
Sportsman Stage
Success is measured by the total experience—the appreciation of the out-of-doors and the animal being hunted, the process of the hunt, and the companionship of other hunters.
"Give-Back" Stage
In this stage, hunters are interested in introducing others to hunting and passing on the proper hunting values. These hunters also teach others about safety and the responsibilities of hunting.
There ya have it!
35W
wankerjake
Member
I agree, there's a big disconnect for sure. I used to feel pretty sad, but then I think about all the meat I've eaten in restaurants or from the store... Animals are dying to feed people, if you decide to eat meat you probably shouldn't be too sad to kill one. Therefore if you are so sad about it that you can't hunt, you probably shouldn't eat much meat. If you don't see it die then it's easy to forget, but that doesn't make it any more right to eat it if you think it's wrong to kill animals. Killing is just part of living, this is a pretty fundamental concept of nature. It's only easy for us (humans) to forget since we don't have any predators and our meat comes from the store. And so people condemn the butcher while paying their salaries. Bugs me.
I can't get on board with this at all. It's incorrect a lot of the time. For caged chickens that can only lay eggs and can't move... maybe. But free range hogs and cattle are just as free as deer. AZ is full of free range cattle, I see them all the time when I'm deer hunting; same habitat, same habits, same feed, same watering hole. AND, they run from you when you get close. They're looking for what's coming, just like the deer. The only difference is that most of the deer go to predators, and most of the cattle end up on dinner plates in fast-food joints.
cottonmouth
Member
I feal something too............ recoil!
J.B.
J.B.
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