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Hunters: Why do you hunt?

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posted on Jan, 16 2011 @ 08:00 AM
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Originally posted by SaturnFX
what do you get out of it?


I haven't hunted for a long time, but when I did, I loved it everything about it except for the animal actually dying, so we make sure that happens in the shortest time possible. I loved getting out in the snow covered forest in the early morning, quietly moving through the trees, anticipating and watching for deer or rabbit or whatever we hunted. I also love the feeling of doing something so out of the norm. After living in the city and working all week for months, a getaway like hunting is very exciting, fun, it's an outdoor adventure. I even enjoyed skinning and cleaning the animal. At that point it's food, not a deer. It's an accomplishment.

Plus, there's the meat. That's the REASON for hunting, not sport. I do know some sport hunters ( who don't eat the meat, but hang the heads in their home) and I'm not comfortable with that, but that's just where I personally draw the line. As long as they're doing it within the restrictions, I don't have a problem with it, but I wouldn't do it myself.



Is it an enjoyable experience seeing a prey species die by your hand because you thought it was fun?


No. In nearly every activity, there's one part that's not fun. And that's the part of hunting that isn't fun. There is no thrill about an animal dying at my hand.



And would you ever hunt dogs and cats? Why (or why not?)


No unless I was starving. Then yes. But they are domesticated and it's been culturally ingrained that these animals are our friends. But I can assure you, if I was starving, I'd eat whatever I could find to survive. And I'm a huge animal lover. I have 4 dogs and 3 cats.



posted on Jan, 16 2011 @ 08:19 AM
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I heard of some crazy nuts hunting deer with knives, I also heard a story of a man who killed a bob cat with his bare hands.



posted on Jan, 16 2011 @ 09:47 AM
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After reading through 4 pages of responses, I see both sides clearly.

I hunt too.
Why? Because I had the upbringing to learn how to hunt, field dress and eat the kill.
I own land and use what the land gives me.
I don't believe in all the restrictions man has put on it.
My hunts are 'typically' free. No cost to me.
Traditional bow and arrows keep it that way.
It will stay that way.
I guess restrictions are necessary because certain people ruin a perfectly natural, and human, skill.
One that has been a necessity until societal progression kicked and the grocery store was invented.

Today, man uses hunting like an addict uses drugs.
Our culture has changed hunting from a necessity to a sport.
It's not a sport.
Man has made it fit his lifestyle. Period.

I can say this because I see it everywhere. Magazines, TV, etc...
To me, hunting is important because I actually don't buy meat from a store.
That's a choice. Thank GOD.
Usually what I hunt is enough, or my neighbor, the farmer and I barter for beef.

Unlike you, I don't feel the need to rely on other people for my sustinance.
Although it's somewhat unavoidable, I try my best to provide for myself.
I don't want synthetic meat either.



I hunt because I am able to
I grow a garden because I am able to.
These things are important to me in a society that heavily relies on mass produced food.

Of course you are probably a progressive, whereas I think it's getting worse as time goes by.





posted on Jan, 16 2011 @ 10:06 AM
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reply to post by SaturnFX
 



Meat. At the end of the day, I prefer venison over beef. I shoot a doe (can only shoot mule deer does this side of the river), in early Nov. most years from my porch. A humane death is certainly the priority. We butcher it ourselves (cheaper than store bought) or pay the local hutterite colony (still a little cheaper than store bought) to do it so it's at least cost effective.



posted on Jan, 16 2011 @ 10:07 AM
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reply to post by SaturnFX
 


SaturnFX,

I don't hunt in the traditional manner..not four legged game. Like you I prefer to fish. Fishing is a form of hunting or harvesting to me. I have learned that the four legged animals in the woods have a decided home court advantage over many of us even with firearms at our disposal. Also SaturnFX..some of the wildlife out in the woods are two legged, carrying fireams, and are or have been drinking..no thanks,.not for me.

Like you SaturnFX I prefer fishing. If one needs protein fishing is one of the fastest ways to get protein..not eating berries, nuts etc..but from fish. Hook line, trap or with ones bare hands in the shallows. I like to catch and eat fish. I have no interest in sport fishing per se. What I catch I want to eat..not mount on a board. A photograph will do ..the rest goes in the freezer or in the pan/oven. But that is just me. I don't tell someone else how to spend their monies.

But if someone wants to hunt four legged animals..no problem by me.

Annee brings out a good point on page 2..people pay others to do their killing for them by purchasing in a supermarket. Fish, beef, pork, chicken etc. I too have considered this for many years now.

Also if you watch/observe some animals out in the wild..they are not humane killers. Many will play with and keep the prey alive for a long time before the end. Also if you fall over on the trail because of a heart attack ...the animals do not bury you...they eat you. In time only your teeth will be left. You do not become a fossil unless you are buried or contained from the natural breakdown/eating process.

Working on the waterfront for so many years I have watched the animals there in action..they are not nice humane creature..they are predators...all of them...from the seagulls to the fish...to the insects. If you fall overboard they will eat you too.

My Cousins in Hawaii..will on occasion hunt wild pig the way of the Olde Hawaiians..with spear. They get the dogs to run them down and then spear them. Very dangerous. Both for the pig and the hunters. The pig does not perish rapidly unless one is very good at the killing thrust. Also a angry pig can move very very fast. But if that is what they want to do..Bon Appetit.
I would prefer a good rifle or shotgun Thanks. Failing that I get my pork at the supermarket and hence I prefer fishing..much less dangerous.

Man is indeed a predator. I understand this. The veneer of civilization is very thin with many of us. I have no problem with a person desiring to keep their hunting skills up as long as they harvest for food or donate the animal to someone who needs it. I do not approve of the killing of ...say...buffalo ..just for the hides while the carcass was left to rot. People wear furs...I am ok with this. However ..with so many other methods furs are not needed in the manner they were so popular in times past. But if someone prefers furs..ok by me.

I also believe men are to be good stewards of that with which we have been blessed. This has not always been the case. Stewardship is a great responsibility.

Nonetheless if people want to hunt..ok by me. Others just pay someone else to do their killing for them and thus think they are morally superior to those who do their own killing. This does not make good nonsense to me.

Thanks,
Orangetom



posted on Jan, 16 2011 @ 10:09 AM
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I like to hunt cats. They taste like chicken.



posted on Jan, 16 2011 @ 10:23 AM
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reply to post by SaturnFX
 


Im a Hunter, of a sort. My first hunt was in 1997. I shot the deer, it helped our family financially as we had meat for about 3 months. I do realize most hunters hunt for sport, this irks me to no end. my husband is one of those sport hunters. After I shot this deer I havent been able to kill another sense. However I msut say. If we hunt through legal means, stick with the states, permits, draws and stay in the hunting zones, do not hunt more then fish and game say is available hunters are actually ( this sounds rediculous as I write it but her goes) hunters keep wildlife from getting deases. If they over populate, they begin to starve, spread deseases umongst each other. Take Monterey california as an example, this area has a 300 mile zone which cnanot be hunted, the deer and other wildlife are constantly dieing off from deseases from over population. I do agree the fact is most hunters hunt outside their legal limits, I see it happen when i go out with my husband. here in montana a family down the street hunted 3 deer, the limit is 1, made me so mad. Then their is the poachers who are more wrong then the ones hwo get their liscenses. Poachers go out and slaughter our wildlife in greed. Every year I do buy my liscenses, deer, bird all the liscenses, because, not only can a legal hunter hunt, their fees go towards wildlife reserves, the safe zones. It helps to further protect them in the same sense as we are taking them out. What needs to happen is people need to realize wild life is not endless and if we dont slow it down someday wildlife will be a the past. man encroached on their land, we decided to hunt them out. I agree it is somewhat wrong, but I believe with good management it could be looked at in a differnet way.
By the way do you realize fish have a great value on our eco system? they help keep waters clean, keep bacteria out of the waters, all wildlife has a value, we humans need to realize this.



posted on Jan, 16 2011 @ 10:23 AM
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reply to post by SaturnFX
 


Been hunting and fishing all my life. I haven't been hunting in years, but sooner or later that will change...

I hunt because my father taught me it was our responsibility to hunt to keep the herds sizes down to manageable levels because there isn't enough predators to do it naturally. If we didn't hunt starvation and disease would devastate wildlife populations.

I bagged my first rabbit and squirrels at 9 years old and bagged my first deer at 11. One of my best achievements in life was downing a deer with a 50 cal. muzzle loader at almost 250 yards when I was 15 years old..... one shot one kill. I gutted this deer by myself and shared the meat with friends and family.

We are humans and before the neolithic we were all hunter gatherers... and the world was a good place to be.

Edit to add, what would you rather eat, a deer or other game that has not had anti biotic and growth hormones raised in concentration camp style farms?
edit on 16-1-2011 by LDragonFire because: (no reason given)



posted on Jan, 16 2011 @ 10:25 AM
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obviously I am a hunter also...
Something I think many people do not take into consideration...is the ammount or number of kills.

1 one full grown whitetail deer keeps my family in ground meat and steaks for months.

I always feel like the "non hunters" or animal lovers..."I'm one too!"don't take that into consideration, and I get the feeling they think there is a deer slaying every day, a few hours before the dinner bell rings...it is nothing like that, around my home.

Actually we harvested 3 deer last fall and I have just now used the rest of it, and only took two this year, due to last years surplus.

I highly disapprove of mass cattle and the ways they are kept and the stuff they are pumped full of!
Esp....chicken, so strong are the growth hormones, that studies are underway trying to link our young female children "coming of age" too early, due to this hormone left in the chicken meat.
But thats a thread all it's own.



posted on Jan, 16 2011 @ 10:37 AM
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reply to post by Doc Holiday
 


I agree with mass cattle foods. I understand how non humters cna be misconcieved regarding hunters. Take the large aranches in Texas, This is something P.E.T.A needs to attack. They fence up their lands. Feed the deer, antelope, elk steriods and scuh, set out corn feeders, put up hunting stands almost right under the feeders bring the "sportsman" hunter to the stand to sit their 30 minutes shot a large deer go home with a trophy and he feels like he is a hunter? no this type hunting is to say the least sickening and raw. I hate going by large hunting ranches, it gets to the core of me. In montana all the states lands are circled by land owners who cahrge you to go through their land to get to the state lands. Or they make you pay the thousands to get a deer off their land and dont let you haev access to the state land. Hubnting is out of control, and it does need to be adjusted to help the animal and the true hunter, not the sportsman hunter.
Edit to add for the OP, did you know many hunters will donate their deer to the needy? ya it happens all the time. you dont think the needy appreciate a meat meal?



posted on Jan, 16 2011 @ 10:41 AM
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If we didn't hunt, game would be over populated, then they would starve and die, spreading disease and even more will die. You will go for a drive in a big city and see deer running around in the parking lots/streets. It is called wildlife management. They taste good too! Someone said something about "we don't hunt cats and dogs", while we don't, they are still being put to sleep in record numbers, you know why? That's right, strays would be on the streets rampant, people would not be safe from all the wild dogs, etc.


Deebo
edit on 16-1-2011 by Deebo because: Edited to add



posted on Jan, 16 2011 @ 10:45 AM
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I am not a big hunter anymore though in my youth I was raised on fresh game for the table, which was more out of necessity rather than some choice. Pretty poor – we were.

I do still go turkey hunting every year, which is a big social event around here. I don’t really care for the taste of deer (other than some hard sausage my Amish neighbor makes – it rocks!) which is too lean and must be mixed with some kind of fat from another animal for a decent grind or slow cooked for hours to be palatable - IMO.

I think one of the primary reasons I don’t hunt big game anymore is my combat experiences. Being in the field with a hunting rifle brings back memories, some of which I’d rather not deal with regularly. That and the field dressing of the large carcass again sparks memories.

I have killed people in combat both up close and through the scope of a sniper weapon along with the use of air strikes and artillery en mass; it can wear on you after a time but I have to say even though I raise my own animals for food I don’t process the larger ones for myself – I do kill and procees my own fowl (chickens, ducks and geese) and smaller game squirrels etc.

As for beef I also raise my own. (Always a sort of sad day around when the butcher comes....I genuinely think the animals can sense the "killing days" in the air.)

Our butcher comes to the farm in a "mobile" trailer, kills the steer right there, skins it, processes and wraps it on location and I put it in the freezer. He keeps some of the scraps for hamburger that he sells at his shop. That and he keeps the hide and, horns (if any) if you want the hide he charges extra.

I think I feel more compassion for animals than I do people when it comes to many issues; we created though our removal of predators a problem with rabbits, deer and other herbivores that without hunters would soon become a horrible problem of overpopulation. If I have a problem with rabbits or other critters taking from the veggie garden I might kill them with the .22 and either we’d eat it or my dogs will – no waste.

That said; I think one of the biggest problems with our society is that people are too far removed from their food. People have no real idea what it takes to grow/raise, kill/harvest, and prepare/store food. To do it in mass quantities takes measures that most would find "disturbing".

I watched food INC and other such documentaries years ago and vowed that after I retired from the Army I would know where and how my own food was raised. That is both how in terms of humane treatment and what they eat.

While I am certainly no PITA person, I go with the philosophy that the lives of my animals, regardless of how short they might be should resemble as closely as possible what they would have in nature.

I don't use hormones and crap like that though I will use antibiotics and other med's reactively if I get some sick stock – I don’t use it preemptively like some producers.

They all live free range (with shelter and forage appropriate to their species) and have access to natural ponds for the waterfowl. The chickens live in a "house" at night but primarily for their safety and they are out at sun-up and go back in on their own around dark.

I always make sure they have proper social structure for their type never one of any species.

My milk animals are not bred every year I alternate years which is why I have 12 milk cows and 20 goats.
So they get a break. I leave the offspring on the "teat" even though we get less production for 90 days milking only once a day. After that as long as they are milked 2x a day they will produce for 9 months or more....

My stomach turns to know that animals are raised any other way; docked tails, eternal pregnancies, hormones, animal matter for feed in herbivores etc. Such deplorable conditions...

I think if more people had to raise their food our society would be a lot more stable – not a lot of time for idleness and mischief around here for the kiddies.



posted on Jan, 16 2011 @ 11:17 AM
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reply to post by havok
 


A great response.

That is a good point, too. I notice that MSNBC has this whole "Lean Forward" slogan. Why do i want to lean forward? Forward towards what? Is there a goal we are trying to achieve? It would seem that what lies forward is less freedom that what lies behind us...why lean in that direction?

My youngest son and I have talked about moving to the mountains one day, when i am older. It is something he wants to do. Perhaps it will happen, perhaps not. But he has brought me back to my youth, reminded me that I am from the country, regardless of what i do for a living today.



posted on Jan, 16 2011 @ 11:35 AM
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reply to post by neonitus
 


You hunt so you can fee like a man?

I guess if you would knock out beer one on one with bare hands - you'd feel like a man.
But with a rifle? Seriously?
What's so manly about ambushing animals and then shooting them with rifle?



posted on Jan, 16 2011 @ 11:39 AM
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reply to post by archasama
 


I don't think he meant "man" like it is an achievement, but rather "man" as in the human bio-organism that has hunted, killed, and eaten these animals for thousands of years.

"Man", as in "connecting with our more primitive past".

Mankind is made up of higher primates that use tools to kill animals, which they eat. There is nothing more manly than shooting an animal with a gun (a "tool") and then eating it.



posted on Jan, 16 2011 @ 11:47 AM
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Originally posted by SaturnFX
Heya

Well, I have never hunted (have fished..love fishing). I always wondered what it would be like to kill a mammal.

I am a bit of an animal lover. I have dogs, have had cats, hell, even look after 2 birds (not mine..I don't like caged birds, it seems unnatural to me).

I fish because I love fish...The fish is too damn expensive in stores, and ultimately I feel no kinship towards fish, which makes me see their value in life equal to a tasty insect. I guess for my consideration, they need to at least breath air.

I am also a carnivore, I love meat on everything...if they could make bacon ice cream, I would be all over it, so don't take this as some vegan saying we need to simply all eat dead leaves...

I can go to a supermarket and get plenty of meat. I can feast until my belly pops.
I know no hunters whom hunt out of necessity, be it for food, or clothing. All hunters I know do it for "the sport". I often wonder what sort of sport it is sneaking up on a deer with a sniper rifle and ending its life for fun...this to me sounds a bit twisted.
Now, I do see value in knowing how to do this should the day come when it is necessary, however...the whole sport confuses me...what do you get out of it? Is it an enjoyable experience seeing a prey species die by your hand because you thought it was fun? What is the rush you get?

And would you ever hunt dogs and cats? Why (or why not?)


I have hunted, killed mostly small game; I have to admit I don't like "the feeling I get". So I don't go much at all..
What gave you the impression your supermarket meat was not an animal somebody else killed so you could eat??????? I find the "tone" of the o.p. hypocritical.



posted on Jan, 16 2011 @ 11:49 AM
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reply to post by SaturnFX
 


Years ago, I actually did it to survive.



posted on Jan, 16 2011 @ 12:09 PM
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Awesome Post by the way!

I'm from what I like to call a traditional family. (We are native mixed with Danish, and German. A highly stubborn combo!) Anyway my family lives in a Northern Canada forest. It doesn't get wilder than that. We treat animals with respect. We hunt in the fall. We don`t kill cows or calves. (As in moose) Fish that are pregnant are thrown back year round. (They all spawn in different times) My grandparents put `Eat what you kill.`into our minds. I`ve seen my brothers have to eat little sparrows and squirrels, because they negelected to follow this rule.

We don`t hunt for sport. Everything is used, the meat is disrputed between our overly large family. The organs, brain, nose, hooves, and of course the bonemarrow. (Bone marrow is a God sent. The most amazing thing to eat!!) The hide is also used. My grandmother and mother are two of very few people in our town who still make a hide in traditional manner. My uncles and brothers also make art from the various bones.

Nothing is wasted and I feel no guilt over this what so ever. We also hunt and harvest, geese, ducks, fish and rabbits. There is no point to killing wolves, cougars,Lynx or bears besides the odd time they threaten ourselves. (Even then they are eaten. They taste like hell! Well lynx tastes oddly close to chicken.) We never kill for sport only for food.

Oh yeah as for your question about eating cats and dogs. If i was in a sitution, and there was only cat or dog to eat. If it was them or mine. I would not hesitate. (Unless of course the dog was mine, there for it would be trained to hunt and be able to lead me to another food source. etc etc) Then again I would probably eat human (as long as they were dead first) in order to keep mine alive.

Wild meat is good and good for you! You can`t get anymore free range and organic than that. No antibiotics. Extremely lean. Can be turned into steaks, ground meat, sausage, roasts, ribs.

Also store bought beef is strange. Most have been dead 3 weeks before it hits the stores.

Have a good one!



posted on Jan, 16 2011 @ 12:44 PM
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if you hunt to eat and feel with your ancestors, you should hunt without a rifle.
crossbow and other oldschool weapons, could show you fearlessness and ability. i've always found a little coward killing from afar with a shooting weapon, but that's just my opinion.



posted on Jan, 16 2011 @ 12:45 PM
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reply to post by Golf66
 


Great post!

I also understand the combat experience thing. My dad wasnt the same after viet nam.. nor was my grandfather ever since Korea according to grandma. Grandpa still hunted but dad would make excuses of one or another without really telling us until years later it was the butchering/field dressing he couldnt stand. He was embarrassed by it. I was the only child, oldest of the cousins that were till close, and a GIRL.. much to their horror.. but I could do most that the boys could except pack the big ones out of the woods on my own
If dad would have told me, Id have dressed the deer for him and he wouldnt have had to do it at all... IF he wanted to hunt. The poor husband is in the same boat.. pity the man because he has me and 3 girls. We never could get a boy!
He has seen combat, but I think it wasnt the same as he never had a problem hunting, he just doesnt take to it like my folks did and he is used to buying his meat because thats the way he was raised.

Ive never liked hunting pig. WIld boars scare the tar out of me and always have. I also can barely eat pork and must have been a muslim in a previous life.
My real turning point when I was a kid was the difference in the meat my grandparents gave me and what we ate when we werent with them. It looks tastes and smells different. My grandma said sick people eat sick animals... and store bought were all sick animals. I also got to see how "humane" farmers were. Not all farmers but some. Then later I looked into the mass produced meats and was horrified.Not just the cruelty, whcich was enough, but the filth and disease. It didnt make me want to eat veggies only, it made me want to eat good meat that has lived well and died well. I prefer big game.. have to eat too many squirrels and dove at one time for a large family. It doesnt feel right to kill that many at once.

The only "trophies" I have in my home was my dads first pronghorn kill that was mounted ( my mom was impressed with him and thats what her people did.. dad wasnt thrilled but knew it was meant as honor and so he took it right and tolerated it), bison blanket and a 30 pelt coyote blanket of my grandparents. I dont like trophies much although I DO love to look at the animals, I just prefer they are alive when I try to interact with them or look at them. I dont understand the hunter that has all of these mounts. I would probably laugh at a guy who had his duck and dove mounted as much as his deer. It just seems funny to have to prove you killed somehting and are a big man/woman.. by hanging a head on your wall! Killing isnt as pure as it once was.. man against animal for food. I too use a rifle, but might have been spanked if I didnt make sure every kill was quick and clean. Seriously. Ive seen hunters too lazy to follow blood trails or track when their kills are childish and unclean. In small societies like tribal or family ones where one hunts and the kill isnt clean, you are looked on like a moron, ridiculed, and you dont do it more than once. Ive seen carcases left and heads and feet removed. I dont understand this type of person.. and I dont think Ive met one yet.

Another issue I have is hunting areas. I TRIED to go hunting in Illinois and the area was so saturated with "hunters" with all of the gadgets known to man that it was far too dangerous and obviously not honorable to hunt this way. I noticed I was taught to hunt differently.. deer in particular. People actually sit and drink coffee in deer stands to wait for a deer to happen by and kill. To me, that is not real hunting and its just opportunistic killing. I for one dont have an entire weekend to WAIT for a deer to walk by for one kill. How could one be proud and bring back meat for his or her family in hunting in such a way? How could he or she eat the animal they killed since they laid in wait and basically stole the animals life? Maybe its a cultural difference I dont yet understand even at my age. Maybe they dont know any better or have the kind of belief system that demands things be done honorably and traditionally. Hunting and killing another living thing shouldnt be easy IMO. You SHOULD have to work for it. Thats how I was raised anyway.



someone asked why we dont hunt for dogs and cats? My culture honors the dog. We used dogs for pack animals, baby sitters, burglar alarms, and family members.. we hadnt seen a horse for some time when others had them. WHen we did see one, our word for it roughly translated is "big dog"... then we became the kings of the planes.
Dogs are too useful to kill and I bet we'd be haunted by irritated ancestors if we did. It'd be like killing a horse jut to eat. The horse is too useful to kill, though I imagine the meat is as edible as any other. On a practical side, dogs dont offer enough meat. Kind of like my aversion to squirrel and dove.. youd have to kill too many to sustain a family.. it wouldnt work out ecologically and if you had any sort of soul, that kind of harvesting wouldnt set well with you. As far as cats.. same thing.

Id read that if we all had to hunt in the US for food that our wild game would be gone completely in less than 3 weeks. People do not understand living with no waste and not eating to gluttony in the US. They breed to breed and eat to eat. The states will fail and the population would die of starvation quicker than any SHTF scenario Id read on here.... given 3 weeks with no stocked grocery stores and fast food.




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