Some are harder on the soul

[SteveB]

Grew up on a farm - we and my extended family butchered something about every weekend. Never felt a bit of remorse, sadness, etc - it was just part of what we did to provide food. I doubt our ancestors ever felt these things either - most probably would feel joy at the kil cause it meant they would eat. Never knew this meant I was unhuman, jaded and cold.
My family and friends don't seem to see me that way.

I do respect others feeling differently - unless they fail to return that respect.

[Bobhat]

I'm 43 years old and have been hunting since I was a kid.  Can't say I ever felt the slightest bit of what you'd call remorse in harvesting an animal.  FWIW, I am a compassionate person.  I have a wife and two daughters who probably have made me a more sensitive person than I might have been but still, no remorse whatsoever in taking a deer.  Infact it's proabaly just the opposite.  I feel a strong sense of accomplishment and the sense that I fulfilled the role of a predator.

[pharcher]

Thanks for all your kind words, I grew up watching 2 different reactions, my grandfather who was of native american decent always laid his hand upon the animal in thanks and honored it with a prayer. On the other side of my family my father never expressed any emotion about it. Both men were thankfull and both expressed high moral value and ethics to me. I know that all come will a moment of pause for me, some much more so than others. It is interested to see that there are others that share my point of view some have reminded me of my grandfather (whos method I still practice) and there are a few fellows like my dad. We are all hunters and part of the circle as explaind so kindly in this post. Happy hunting to you guys I am headed to the 53 acre wood lol, my soul needs some soothing as only bow in hand can provide!

[Irish Archer]

I guess if I were to feel that way about a deer that I killed I would also have to feel that way about any steak I ate, chicken sandwich I consumed, or any chunck of ham that I through into a pot of beans. Someone killed them too, right?

Everyone has the right to see their own side and feel what they may. That's what makes this country so great.

But when I start feeling that way, I'll realize that it's my signal to hang it up.  JMO.

[pdk25]

Certainly no judgement on anyone for what they feel.  I'm sure it is right for them.  I rarely pass on an animal, unless it may interfere with me harvesting something that I am more interested in.  I don't feel regret or guilt after killing a deer, or anything else.  The only thing that gets to me sometimes is seeing how much something will struggle to survive and cling to life.  It is the time from right after the shot until the kicking is done that I pretty much hate every single time.  I guess it just reminds me of what I would be doing in that situation.

[xtrema312]

I had no soft spot for killing food when I was younger.  I grew up on a farm and we killed game plus our own animals to eat.  I still kill for food.  It is the best way I know to get free range meat with no hormones, antibiotics and whatever they stick in what we buy.  If I didn't I wouldn't hunt.  I love the hunt, but without the food it is just wouldn’t work for me.  I would take up a camera or catch and release fish for fun in the outdoors.  

I get a little sad now sometimes after a kill due to age and experience.  I don't feel it when the freezer needs filling.  Once that is mostly done I still hunt.   We can always use one more for the year for a better meat supply or to help out some needy relatives, but I start to lose interest in shooting something at times.  All the political correct societal subliminal crap that I have been feed for all these years starts to eat at me a little then.  I start getting a little sentimental and soft at this time of the season.

In the end animals are for eating.  They don’t care about you or other animals other than their young for a short while.  They don’t think about life and death the way we do.  They don’t care if something dies or if they kill something.  They don’t care if some other animal dies because they hog the food.  Life is hard.  Death is hard.  A sharp arrow is a great way to die.

[Doc Nock]

There are a few farm folks who posted. I was raised around farm family my whole life. As one friend put it a few years ago, "Country folks know you have to kill it to eat it, whether it's a carrot or a cow!"

That said, (and put pretty well I think) there are times when things are "unsettled" in my life that I just don't have that killer intinct in me. Then there are times when I feel I have to "make meat" for some odd ancesteral reason or another.  I understand neither emotion nor it's cause.

Jack London's "Call of the Wild" reminds me of those ancient musings that ebb and flow in my heart and mind, uninvited and unexplained to my intellectual mondern self.

Just go with it. There are times when a cross word with a co-worker or friend leaves me with that same "pit-of-the-stomach" sense of regret, similar to what I've also known taking an animal's life.

While reflecting on your post, I'd hazard to guess that I feel it more for smaller game than for deer.  Perhaps it's because I've found that deer far more often outsmart me and elude me regularly, catching that odd tiny motion or just "sensing" my presence in their world and escape before I ever have the chance to decide their fate.

A small creature's life seems so much more in my total control, and therefore, I angst at times over having taken their life.

We as humans come with so many mixed emotions and backgrounds. I find it a blessing to know we'll never truly unravel all the mysteries of our inner selves.

[Covey]

I am definitly not one that enjoys the kill, but I love the woods, the sunrise the sunset and everything that God has blessed me with. I consider the journey alot more important than the destination! That being said, I always feel somthing that I can't exactly put a name to, it's excitment, remorse, fulfillment and so many other words I can't think of!! I'm glad you posted, It's nice to see how other people feel. I do notice, folks that hunt with traditional gear have a differant way of thinking!! Jason

[Bonebuster]

As humans we must be brave. We carry a burden that animals do not.

We have the ability to procure our food without being directly involved in the death of it..."carrot or cow". Something surely dies so that we may live, BUT we CAN seperate ourselves from it for the most part.(if we so choose) I believe, that to some extent, this is a dangerous thing. Some people may tell us, that hunting is wrong, while they have a belly full of beef that someone else killed. They did not see or smell the guts, and blood, so to them, the animal is less DEAD. They feel less responsible...somehow removed from the true cycle of life.

There is no deeper appreciation of our food than to kill it or grow it ourselves. No greater respect.

You carry the burden pharcher, as do many of the people who frequent this site. Carry it with pride, and feel your "hunters heart".  

[olddogrib]

Now that I'm well on my way to becoming a "longbeard", I feel a flood of emotions that I never knew when I was young and had no grasp of the value of life.  In my humble opinion you are much the better hunter and human for it.  Earlier this season I lost a deer.  I shot exactly where I was looking on a perfect angling away shot,  I just picked the wrong spot!  I was stunned when I got down and discovered I'd shot too far back and got stomach on what I thought was surely a double lung hit.  I made a perfect shot on a big doe later on that same hunt.   Late in the season I had five deer underneath me and let them all walk. I wasted a life and refrained from taking life. Order was restored.  My wheelie buddies don't understand me.  I don't understand hunters who think the season is a contest to see who can kill the most deer!

[razorsharptokill]

Well said. A perfectly natural feeling. I wish more hunters had that kind of respect.

[George D. Stout]

We are the only reasoning predator, and I think what you feel is natural.   I would sooner you feel that way, and I am that way myself, than to see you act like some of those mindless zealots on some TV shows that jump in the air, pump their fists and high-five everyone in spitting distance.

There's a fine line on both ends.  It has to do with respect...if you don't get it, you just don't get it.

[waknstak IL]

"There's a fine line on both ends. It has to do with respect...if you don't get it, you just don't get it."

That pretty much sums it up right there.

[J-dog]

George is right we are a reasoning predator - I do not feel sorrow for killing the animal though? Believe it is life and nature. I do believe one should show the utmost respect as many have said. Give a prayer of thanks to the Lord for the animal/blessing provided. I do realize/feel that when I let an arrow loose I am killing - I want the kill to be clean and quick, no suffering (as all of us). To that end I am highly carefull on shots I take and practice religously(sp?).

We all  have our different ways- nothing wrong with any of them.

Great post

J

[Shakes.602]

"There's a Fine Line on Both Ends. It has to do with Respect...If You Dont Get It, Then You just Dont Get It."   Well Said WakNStak Il!!

[shakeyslim]

all life is sacred to me / i never go to church cause i don't belive in that ,but i say my prayers of thanks over every kill.i thank the animal for feeding me -------- never remorse.
 all predators must kill, my cat feels only pride in her kills (i think)she eats and kills again to eat again, always shows her kill to me just as we show our kills here.theres nothing wrong with killing as long as its done for the reason of survival.

[hayslope]

Very thought-provoking topic......something I've discussed time and again with many of my "non-hunter" friends.

After 42+ years of carrying bows and guns into the woods, I have to say that the day I no longer feel a bit of remorse or sadness for ending a creature's life is the day I will no longer hunt.

I agree with all of you that say it has to do with RESPECT.....this is an absolute!  I am entirely comfortable with my role as a predator and I fully understand the predator/prey relationship......something inside of me remains sensitive to the outcome of that predator role...taking an animal's life.  I hope this remains with me for the remainder of my life.  If it doesn't, I will not hunt again.

I admit to having watched the newly crowned tin-pan heros of horn porn hunting TV shows.  "Puttin' the smackdown on that monster" seems to me to be an alien mindset or attitude.......then again, maybe its just my age or generation.  Something has gotten slightly skewed........!

I grew up in PA farm country and hunting (especially deer hunting) was (and remains) a religion. I believe I was blessed to have a hunting father as a mentor who understood what respect meant.  I watched him time and again place his hand on an animal that he had just taken. I'm sure he was giving thanks as well for the opportunity to harvest an animal. Thanks Dad for steering me in the right direction.

I may be at the top of the food chain (well, at least here in the lower 48), but I will always consider the taking of an animal's life as something that demands my sensitivity...as well as my utmost respect.

I am a hunter and I kill game animals.  I feel sadness when I end their lives.  I cherish and give thanks for every meal they provide.  May it always be!

[waiting4fall]

My feelings on this subject.

 http://www.youtube.com/user/W8N4FALL#p/u/12/RyGKf9x-ia8

[Shakes.602]

VERY Well Said And That Film Says Volumes About YOU and YOUR Character Friend , and Congrats on the "Meat for the Freezer"!
  So many times, I have seen on TV, DVD, and My Own Friends....Doin' the High Five and "TouchDown Dances" with Little to  NO  Respect for the Life they Just Took.
 Then the Knives come out, and they Hack and Laugh and carry on, I must have a Soft Heart, of which I am  VERY   UnAshamed To Have, The Life that was taken might as well have been a Beetle they just smashed, except they can  EAT  this one.
    It Turns My Stomach truthfully. And  YES  I am a  Hunter, and I Grew Up around the Local "Kill 'Em & Grill 'Em" Crowd. I Didnt Quite Follow Their Leads because I was Usually the Youngster of the Crowd.