I can't hunt animals, but I need to

Okay so I after I saw these frightening economic numbers which reassured me about what I was fearing, a double dip recession (aka, Depression). I told myself that if the economy enters a double dip then I will start being self sufficient. And pretty now I have to live up to this promise.

Well in about one month it will be hunting season again and as I was telling one of my older neighbors about my plans he told me that the most important part of self sufficiency is hunting. Now remember I have never killed any animal in my life, I have five Chihuahua's! I love animals, but I also respect them. So I am having a hard time applying for my hunting license here in Florida. Every time I go to get one I can't, I just think about putting a bullet in the head of a poor innocent deer and it makes me sad.

So what can I do? I would only hunt for food, not for fun but only for necessity. I can fish with no problem, but I have never peeled their skin off though.

Do you hunt? What is it like to kill an animal? What do you think I should do?

reply to post by Misoir

Listen to your conscience. If you can find a way to live without killing a living feeling innocent animal, then do it. If you can't find a way, I have no argument, I guess. But it is seldom a clearcut black-and-white choice of "kill or be killed" or "kill or starve".

Vegetarianism is a viable way of life, too. Or near-vegetarianism, if you can't be a full vegetarian (or vegan).

And please don't reply that plants have feelings, too, because they do not have nervous systems and those alleged findings of plants having feelings on lie detectors have not been replicated.

Please don't take this as a joke but have you considered becoming a vegetarian? If you can't shoot an animal for meat then educate yourself on how to get the nutrition you need in other ways.

Or, do you have skills or could you develop skills that you could barter for meat?

If you don't mind fishing could you trade fish, crabs, clams for venison or beef?

Becoming self sufficient goes just beyond killing your dinner. You also have to know how to butcher and preserve.

I am not a vegetarian or a hunter. I don't have anything against those who hunt to eat.
I can, however, understand your reluctance to hunt. I am sure I could do it if I was starving but under normal circumstances I would have a hard time doing it.

If you can't do it, you can't do it. Not much more than that. However, if the need arrises, your instinct for survival will probably take over.

Learn about preparing various types of meat for preservation, making it last as long as possible. Realize how much meat you and yours can consume within the length of time you can reasonably preserve the meat and hunt accordingly so little is wasted.

I could suggest turning it into something spirtual, realizing the animal is giving its life to help you. Giving up life is the ultimate sacrifice you could do for someone else and if you could somehow come to grips and rationalize that the animal is doing that for you, it may be easier for you to accept.

Other than that, you may want to join a hunt club.

Set up a barter arrangement with somebody who can and does hunt. Find something that you can produce for them in exchange for part of their hunting bounty. For example, start a garden and then trade vegetables for meat with them.

I don't understand why you would NEED to hunt....

Are you talking about in the future if/when things get really bad for you financially or as of now? I mean, you can't go buy some cheap meat at a store? Apparently you can afford internet service...what's five bucks for some deli cuts?

Good replies so far.
Sure vegeterianism is a possibility.
Your body will tell You.
As your title said though,
If You have to, You will learn.
It's not easy.
This is from first hand experience.
You have to get through the blood gurgling from its last breaths,
as You bless and love it.
Carry it to a safe place to butcher it,
Hang it for a few days,(preferable)
Cut and wrap..Dispose of scraps..(chihuahua's) (=
and store it.
And see its eyes everytime you eat.
It's really not that bad..
Just be thankful,
And love it , for having sacrificed It's life for You and Yours.

Love and light

reply to post by Misoir

I think you should start small and work up from there firstly learn to fish including scaling,gutting and cleaning,then progress to small game such as a rabbit or two and practice skinning and gutting those,you'll need a good sharp skinning knife but once you've skinned a rabbit you can more or less skin anything,the most important bit is do not burst the bladder when you remove it or you'll spoil the meat.In a survival situation it is more likely your going to live off small critters not bambi or a moose.There are lots of good hunting websites that will teach you the basics such as stay downwind etc however I personally recommend The SAS survival handbook it'll fit in your pocket and its got the guts of all you need to know in it.

I don't absolutely have to hunt but I want to hunt. But the problem is that to become mostly self sufficient I also want to eat meat but not buy from stores. My point is to save money, stop serving corporations and develop necessary skills in the case of a full economic collapse.

I have never even tried hunting, I can fish though. I was just wondering if I should give hunting a try.

[edit on 8/28/2010 by Misoir]

reply to post by Misoir


Hi Misoir,

First things first ... please don't tell me that you've convinced yourself that economic catastrophe is imminent because of what you've been reading on the ATS or on other conspiracy sites? ATS members are a lot of things, but for the most part pretty much the worse economic predictors anywhere. It is the nature of the beast to predominantly have folks who spend their time thinking and posting that the end is afoot ... they often carry graphs.

Having said that, if it is a specific unfortunate personal circumstance that will require you to consider hunting for nourishment, disregard the above.

Furthermore, even if life events don't dictate it, it is always sound to consider how one would cope should catastrophic events, economic or otherwise, manifest.

So let us visit your ethical quandary ...

What is the difference between shooting a deer for sustenance or purchasing a steak at the supermarket. In both cases an animal has to die for you to eat right? So the only difference is that you don't have to personally execute the cow ... that is what we call an ethical convenience, for in reality, you might as well have shot it yourself to get that steak. Actually, truth is that the deer you shoot will die a better death than that cow steak you bought at Safeway.

So as a poster above noted, it seems that what you should really be asking yourself is, do I want to eat meat?

If the answer is yes, then killing an animal should now come easier to you since that's what you do anyway every time you purchase meat. If the answer is no, then you should probably stop eating meat.

There's no right or wrong, it's just being honest with who you are ... but also know that honesty requires you to concede that buying meat off the shelf is the same as killing it yourself.

[edit on 28 Aug 2010 by schrodingers dog]

What everyone here, from the hunting proponents, to the vegan proponents have said is correct. There is no wrong answer so far, because just as you can get protein from animal flesh, you can get it from plants, it just takes larger quantities. Biologically humans have a longer gut than our true carnivorous counterparts for a reason, to extract nutrients from plant like material. So, look for the alternatives to meat as well as learning the intricasies of hunting/meat perparation. That way, regardless of the scenario, you and yours are covered.

You are gonna be really nervous on your first hunt and when you finally see a deer and you raise you gun or bow, you are gonna get a surge of adrenaline. I didn't think I would be able to do it either but after my first, I even cleaned it afterwards. Your natural instincts kick I believe and after your first deer, its just like getting a tattoo. You got to get another one.

reply to post by Misoir


You can raise chickens and eat the eggs. Would you strongly object to eating eggs (aka becoming a baby killer)? Just kidding about the baby killer thing. But you would be killing some really fine chicks. An egg contains only a few living cells when it first emerges from the chicken.

I agree with the guy who said you should start with fishing. I've seen a video of a fish farm being started in a greenhouse and that turned out to be actually profitable for them.

But before going hunting, the obvious thing to do is start on a garden. Like another poster suggested you can start small, like with one row of plants, and expand from there.

How can eating eggs be like baby killer?
I don't even have a rooster. My hens' eggs are not fertilized!

We have a friend that hunts, that likes to kill more than he can freeze and eat. He gets the deer, we pay to have it processed. (About $60 a deer. I want to learn to process them myself but I appreciate how much work is involved. I buy big cuts of beef and whole chickens and cut them myself, but a deer is pretty big and involved.

Maybe you could buddy up with a hunter that really wants to hunt and who's freezer is already full?

Go to a forest with a gun and no food, when you get hungry enough then you will hunt.

reply to post by Misoir


I do hunt,…. Well used to anyway.
I haven’t gone hunting in 16 years due to life restrictions and even that trip was only a 3 day trip hardly enough to enjoy.
The first time I shot anything I was 6 or so and I felt bad about it for days I worried about the life I took and worried about not having a hunting license, I was in my backyard with an official “Red Rider” BB Gun.
Of course I was just young and dumb with a huge conscience.
From there it gets a little easier when you actually hunt for the hunt and the food.
I still feel a bit of guilt every time I bag but I also understand that if the Goddess did not want us to eat animals then she would have not made them out of meat. 0.o
Seriously though, I think the biggest misunderstanding will be in a world without law there will be no game wardens therefore there will be no hunting licenses.
If this is the case Deer in America may go extinct because of our Mountain Lion policy and idiot hunters.
What I mean to say is it probably won’t be like “Red Dawn” where they ate deer.
You probably will have to eat what you can get rabbit, squirrel, Etc. no big game.
If you are starting out then do not jump in both feet first, take a .22 rifle in with you and do some varmint hunting those mentioned above.
This will give you a rough idea of what you are to deal with, only exception is big game are harder to handle. But a varmint after dressing you can roast whole very much like a chicken, try to tell yourself it is just chicken might help.
Best thing about varmint is there is no tags needed just a hunting license.
Hope it helps.

Most people who have learned to hunt did so with a close relative - father, brother, uncle, etc.
Rarely do people learn hunting by themselves.
You need a mentor in the area.
My suggestion is get your license and find someone that will show you the ropes. Let them kill an animal and you can learn by observing how to properly dress a carcass.
Time at a shooting range is the best way to get familiar with firearms.

If the SHTF hunting will NOT be the best way to procure meat - trapping will be, unless you can learn to hunt with a bow or crossbow. Firearms are too noisy and will attract unwanted attention.

Learn to forage for wild plants. Get yourself the Peterson's field guide to wild edible plants and begin trying them out. There are dozens of wild edibles where you live (FL, right?).

Those are my suggestions. Foraging and trapping (fishing too possibly) are the best bets in your area.

U2U me if you need more specifics on anything. I've been doing all of the above for 40 or more years.

g146541 brings up a good point, killing a deer would mean a great amount of excess meat that you could not readily eat and would have to preserve somehow. Start with small game first if you must hunt.

Best of luck, ATA

[edit on 29-8-2010 by Asktheanimals]

Misoir, whatever your decision (and I'm really saying this to everyone), always remember that a good huntsman tries his very best to take out his quarry with one headshot ... even if that means waiting an hour, or two or even more for the perfect opportunity.

I despair when I see "recreational shooters" and the suffering they inflict by their own ignorance. Any fool can own a gun. But it takes a real man to know when to pull and when to let the moment pass you by.

I urge you to get proper training, if you haven't already done so.

I don't like to kill either. I have many times, everything from flies, to crickets, on up to chickens, squirrel, and pigeon. I am adverse to killing rabbits because they are so incredibly intelligent.

As for larger game, no, I cannot do it; however, I can clean them and I can prepare and cook them. I have been able to distinctly recognize that the body is only a vessel, once the animal is dead I have no problems with the carcass.

I believe this is where you might find solace and begin to participate in hunting. I have found there are a tremendous amount of hunters out there that do not like to clean their kill. They would prefer to take it to a processor and pay to have it done. They would adore you for your skills if you can take this part of the processing on. Not only that, you will have gained valuable skills that will last you a lifetime.

I raise chickens and I do have to cull them. I now have turkeys and my heart just goes out to them. I will not kill the turkeys but I have someone that will, then I can prepare them.

Good luck, please keep us posted. One thing that I do is that I honor the animal with prayer and I honor the animal with respect to their bodies. I bless them as they bless me.

In NDN and Metis tradition and even according to shamans world wide, animals sometimes require man to release their spirits to the afterlife.
They offer themselves up as a gift to man, and so man does not waste any of the gift foolishly, and is thankful to those spirits.
Abusing the relationship can lead to unwholesome results.

Prey animals have a shock mechanism that is different from hunting animals. Prey animals go into shock much easier generally.

My advice is to look at hunting like a job:
Do it efficiently in all regards, don't waste any thing, and don't get to like killing.
Keep in mind that one day you will pass too...

PS
The government has had stellar results at conditioning man to kill man through the use of first "pop up " ranges, and then video games like Doom etc, which were originally developed as conditioning tools because many recruits felt the way you do about killing things.





[edit on 29-8-2010 by Danbones]