Hunters: Why do you hunt?

just to add: eating meat from the supermarket is much more disrespectful of animals, if you think how they are grown. seen lots of posts of cultured hunters, good job! in italy hunting sometimes is a mass fenomenon in mass populted areas leading to many hunt accidents and damage to the livestock of species.

Originally posted by mutante
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.

Read your history of whatever tribe you are claiming your ancestors are from Your ancestors hunted with guns as soon as the Europeans brought them. SHowing fearlessness and ability wasnt the issue and never was ( you must be white or a wanna be) .. thats the stuff your movies and BS teaches you.. feeding your family was the issue, obviously. The guns made it very good to make quick clean kills and feed the tribe. It wasnt the tribes that overhunted and destroyed the herds with guns.

If youre going in that route or want to demand others do.. here is how you hunt buffalo.. before horses were brought over here. You wear skins and run after the herd. You run forever until you are about to drop and single out a few to run off a cliff. The women are waiting at the bottom of the cliff. The few fall over the cliff and are immediately killed with short spear and butchered. Bows were VERY RARELY used...

Before you can tell people how to hunt like the ancestors, you better figure out how the ancestors hunted. AND you beter figure out what a crossbow is and where it came from.

reply to post by bigfatfurrytexan


I just honestly hate how everything has become a competition.
I don't agree with it because it involves greed and money, and my take on that is, well...in my sig.
For example:
In Life, who can make the most money...
Sports, who can win the most games...
And Hunting, who can bag the largest rack...
There's more I'm sure but it's mainstream bulldung.
In my humble opinion, competition causes conflict.
There's a difference between a friendly game and dog-eat-dog competition, too.
Conflict is a huge part of why the Earth has the problems it does.
Well, that and greed.
Again, all my humble opinions.

Whenever something turns from necessity to luxury or game...it gets ruined.

We all can attest to that.

Either way, I don't like what hunting has turned into; mainstream money makers.
But I do believe in making sure I can provide the skills necessary for myself...when needed.
And others too.

Hunting in my family has always been done to put meat in the freezer, and if it didn't go in ours, you can bet it went into someone elses. People that hunt do not hate animals. I have bottle raised a baby deer. I have raised and released all manner of wild animals. I love critters! My family hunts and fishes too. Not just to kill... to eat... and I can tell you, if the SHTF, we will survive before we starve. Yes there are those that hunt and kill just so they have something to hang on the wall and brag about, but that is not all hunters!

When I was younger I used to do a lot of hunting. You don't have the hormones that are injected in meat that you buy and wild meat is much healthier. Hunting can be considered compensatory mortality. For every animal taken by a responsible hunter there is one less that will be hit by a car, die from disease or starve to death.

As I got older I learned to appreciate the beauty of wildlife and no longer hunt but still love to shoot. If a hunter is responsible I have no problem with hunting but poachers are the lowest form of life.

reply to post by Gradius Maximus
I would much rather eat an animal that had been hunted,than one that had spent a short miserable life waiting for the supermarket shelf! unfortunately i'm in the uk,so the supermarket is the only real option....when the big whatever hits the planet nobody overhere will have a clue how to survive.

First off, great thread. It has been very interesting reading everyone's views.

Personally I would never kill any animal, for any reason. I just can't intentionally kill another living thing.
I wouldn't hesitate killing an animal (including a human) to protect myself or a loved one in a self-defense situation, but I hope it never has to come to that.

What really surprised me, was the amount of people hunting as a substitute to buying 'mass-farmed' meat in stores. That's amazing. If it is done with the best intentions then I applaud you. The only way I'd eat meat is if I had it in me to do the same, but as said earlier i do not

On the point of hunting for sport, let me offer a thought:
If an animal had a bomb attached to it and all you had to do was push a button in order to 'claim your trophy', would pushing that button still prove your manliness and superiority, or would it just be a tad pointless?
In my opinion, prove your manliness rather by knowing when it is alright to kill, and when it is not.
There are a lot of other hobbies to prove your masculinity and offer an adreneline rush without senseless killing. A few ideas: boxing, rock-climbing, paint-ball, etc.

Originally posted by neonitus
i hunt so i can feel like a man, i like nature to know its place (below me).

edit on 15-1-2011 by neonitus because: (no reason given)

roflmfao ffs dumb ass answer of the week

humans above nature .... lol yep dumb ass

I've never hunted and was vegetarian for over a decade...

But I've considered going with my grand father, who couldn't possibly go without my assistance since he is over eighty now.

Animal cruelty was not the primary reason for going vegetarian but I was and still am strongly opposed to factory farming. Growing Animals like they grow soy beans is not natural and is just plain wrong. And with all the genetically modified food that is fed to genetically modified animals it's somewhat hard to take people, who make claims that 'God' put animals on earth for such reasons, seriously. There is so much waste, at least one third of the meat in the markets get thrown out; we could easily say that one third of these animals die for no reason at all.

These are some of the arguments which makes it hard for me to go to the store and buy meat but at the same time, I doubt I could kill anything bigger than a ant or a fly. Jewish and Islamic beliefs condemn eating pork and Hinduism consider cows sacred... I'm certainly not going to judge, people have the right to believe what they want but obviously the most popular religion of all is that of consumerism which dictates to society what they should and should not eat, buying it at the store like we buy sunflower seeds; just another commodity and nothing more sacred.

I'm going back on a vegetarian diet as soon as I get my blood tests done, I really want to compare to those of last time, back when I didn't eat meat. I choose to be free from the dictates of consumerism and it's not a question of rejecting materialism but rather being able to decide for myself. I'm unsure about the consequences of my actions and I know that consuming meat does more harm than good therefor I shouldn't have it and if I were... I think it would be my duty to go out and kill it myself in order to deal with the grief of having done such a harmful deed. Society is responsible for the mass murder of these animals; and yes it is murder, it just doesn't feel like it until you're the one slitting the animal's throat.

I think humans should assume responsibility.

Originally posted by dyllels

On the point of hunting for sport, let me offer a thought:
If an animal had a bomb attached to it and all you had to do was push a button in order to 'claim your trophy', would pushing that button still prove your manliness and superiority, or would it just be a tad pointless?
In my opinion, prove your manliness rather by knowing when it is alright to kill, and when it is not.
There are a lot of other hobbies to prove your masculinity and offer an adreneline rush without senseless killing. A few ideas: boxing, rock-climbing, paint-ball, etc.

You see, this is the kind of argument that make hunters hate the people who doesn't hunt, is very clear you don't understand.

Yes, those who hunt for sport may be arrogant, but even then try to hunt in a fair way, of course the hunter will use a rifle to hunt a lion, but not a bomb, is very stupid to think hunters are like that and is totally arrogant of your part because is very obvious you are trying to prove some kind of moral superiority.

reply to post by MonteroReal


To start off, I never stated that I 'understood'. I just asked a question and offered my opinion.
My reasons were far from proving my moral superiority. This is a discussion forum.

The point I was making was that one hunter's 'fair' way of hunting is another's unfair advantage. Do hunter's generally agree on certain equipment or is it up to your own personal views on fairness?
One might think a bow and arrow is only the correct way, and yet another might think a gun is alright, but only if it is used without a scope. Is there a clear line mutually agreed upon amongst most sport hunters?

reply to post by MonteroReal


Perhaps, given the tone of the last several years, and the events in recent weeks, we could refrain from claiming that someone's words make you hate them?

I don't think it is what you meant...but you weren't talking to me.

Originally posted by Cocasinpry
Animal cruelty was not the primary reason for going vegetarian but I was and still am strongly opposed to factory farming. Growing Animals like they grow soy beans is not natural and is just plain wrong. And with all the genetically modified food that is fed to genetically modified animals it's somewhat hard to take people, who make claims that 'God' put animals on earth for such reasons, seriously.

I raise my own food animals and while as a non-believer I see no god given right to eat them; I do see it as a simple food chain issue.

(See my post above) One can raise, care for and harvest animals for food in a completely humane and natural way.

I am not putting the kibosh on your ideas - you are more than welcome to them - my wife was a vegetarian when we met now she can and does help me process our own fowl.

I detest factory farming and have not purchased meat from a store in over 2 years for that very reason - eggs is a recent addition after realizing the way those hens are treated.

I respect my animals and appreciate that they bring me and my family life.

Sometimes I do even just spare one that I like a lot - had one rooster that was doomed by his sex for the table but he was a character who would perch on my shoulder and really personable so he's still around.

Originally posted by Cocasinpry Society is responsible for the mass murder of these animals; and yes it is murder, it just doesn't feel like it until you're the one slitting the animal's throat.

Not me, not any more - I eat what I kill or trade it to neighbors for other things I use. I don't; kill my own beef just cause I think the butcher can does a fine humane great job at it when he comes out and I'd waste a bunch in processing since I don't know the cuts.

Originally posted by CocasinpryI think humans should assume responsibility.

All people should raise their own food or at least try and get it from local farmer co-ops rather than the factory farms. Horrible conditions.

reply to post by dyllels


dyllels,

What really surprised me, was the amount of people hunting as a substitute to buying 'mass-farmed' meat in stores. That's amazing. If it is done with the best intentions then I applaud you. The only way I'd eat meat is if I had it in me to do the same, but as said earlier i do not

What really surprises me is that someone should be surprised that people hunt for meat. People also buy mass-farmed fish in the stores too..but many prefer to go fishing for themselves. Particularly those of us who live near the sea shore. Here we can fish fresh as well as salt water. We are just hunting for fish.
I notice the drop in quality of meat in the stores over the years now. I dont think the cuts in many places are a good as in times past. It could be just me..have any other of you readers noticed this as well??
And there are peoples who do not like store bought and farm raised meat. If they want to hunt for meat..no problem by me.
My personal preference is to fish.

Thanks,
Orangetom