? about hunting animals? how do you feel

[loneviking]

But, what about the pests, like mice? I can't imagine eating 'em,  but the darn things sure need to be kept under control. And they sure do value their own life and fight to stay alive.

A story about that. I have a small, outside shop and one summer night I was putting out sticky traps to catch mice. Well, living in the desert we also have Gerbils.  I set a sticky trap down outside to go inside the shed to fix a spot for it. I came back out to find that a Gerbil (aka 'Dippy') had mangaged to get caught by one hind leg and part of his tail onto the sticky trap.

I picked up the Dippy and went to try to free it. It hissed and growled at me! I didn't know a Dippy could do that!!  with some help from my daughter, and a small stick to keep from getting bit, we managed to free the dippy from the sticky trap and it careened off into the night, seemingly no worse for the experience.  So, what about these little rodents?  

I do understand your girlfriend, as lots of folks today don't seem able to understand how you can like animals and hunt animals. They don't understand how (or why) some are killed and some aren't.  And, it's not always easy to put into words the reasons for what we do!

[Killdeer]

I would hope that someone who loves shooting frogs would respect my decision not to. Not because of their flavor, their looks, or the texture of their skin, nor their usefulness in the environment. They were one of my doorway critters, who invited me into the outdoors. I have a pact with them and doves.

Emotional arguments always are silly. Can't hunt this because it's pretty, can't hunt what you can't eat, can't eat that because it is ugly, pretty soon, if you adhere to all the arguments, you can't hunt anything, which is what some people wanted all along.

Marriage requires respect, both ways. So does coexistence among hunters.

Killdeer

[Mudd]

"Marriage requires respect, both ways. So does coexistence among hunters." -Killdeer

Amen!(translation-"So be it") Kathy

God bless,Mudd

[Izzy]

Although its not my reason for hunting, if you leave the pretty animals alone there will soon be none left to gawk at. I think most animals are beautiful especially coyote and deer but someone or something has decide that I have to kill them when the time is right. Yeah I said it, you can't convince me that there's a critter alive that a prime winter yote can't beat in a beauty contest but its hard to find anyone that has great reservations killing them.I respect your ladys opinion though.      

[Stone Knife]

Genesis 1:26
Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

Some things I wont kill but that is my personal preference, I try to use what I kill. I judge no one else for their actions.

[SEMO_HUNTER]

Well said Killy, and I don't shoot frogs or doves anymore either, mainly cause if I were depending on shooting either of those 2 creatures for survival I would surely starve!
I can't hit neither one.   :rolleyes:  

I guess I haven't been completely honest?

I have no desire to hunt any African species unless it's something that taste like a whitetail deer or a turkey. Ostrich may be in trouble if they taste like turkey!    
I also might enjoy hunting a few of the exotics they have on ranches in Texas I'm sure. I've never had any oppurtunity to hunt any so it's hard to say what I would like?
I'd love to go after some Javelina, that would be awesome.

I know many people do it and love it, but I have no desire to kill a bear. It may sound stupid but after seeing one skinned out it looked too much like a person and sent chills up my spine.

BUT......I would never hold anything against anybody for killing anything that's legal, including bears. If there's a legal season for it, then it's your right to hunt whatever you want to.

My dream is to hunt Elk someday, so I'll give up my one lifetime elephant tag if I can take a bull elk with my bow.  

[bobman]

I think hunters go thru stages of life and like everything else your point of view changes as you age. When I was a kid I killed anything "targets of opportunity" would be a good description.

Now I'm almost 60 and only kill deer and edible game birds.

I never kill them without feeling a pang of regret, if I ever lose that respect for life I will quit hunting.

[Cyclic-Rivers]

You have a girlfriend who is ok with hunting? Sounds like a keeper. Marry her!

You can still hunt rabbits  just skin them and quarter them away from home. Eat them when she is not home! -Purely out of respect for her.-  

I spent years trying to make my wife understand the importance of hunting for my soul. She gets it now but we had a few arguments over the years.

There is nothing you will say to her that will change her viewpoint. There are better things to do with your time, like hunt!  

Oh and to answer your question, I never kill and let lay unless it is a diseased animal.  I always find a use for them even if only for the pelt.

[KSdan]

We kill stuff everyday like bacteria and insects.  Some of those are beautiful. What one calls "beauty" is not a good argument for killing or not killing.  

We have been given a mandate to care for resources. Some of that involves killing; some for food, some for management. All things live and die. What we kill at the end of an arrow or bullet is minimal.

Dan in KS

[Bill Carlsen]

Tatrer: You need to rethink shooting raccoons. We lost 15 chickens to them. They are ruthless killers at times. In addition, our local animal control officer asked me to shoot as many as I could just to keep rabies in check. I have little regrets taking out feral cats.

[7 Lakes]

Strange how a man's ideas about hunting will evolve over time.  

I once kept every editable fish, big enough to fillet.  Now all the bass & smallish flounder go back while I keep all Crappie for the frying pan.

I once decided to hunt/kill only large antlered deer.  Now I kill does for food & could care less about antlers.

I'm an avid Quail, Dove & Woodcock hunter but would never dream of shooting a Robin or Jay. In fact Woodcock have those big doe like eyes.  My dog knows I'm not much of a shot, so she forgives my many "misses" on Woodcock.

I kill all the mice I can catch but the Chipmonks in the back yard have a home forever.

Rabbits are my favorite wild game animial to eat but they have those big rabbit doe eyes, So unless I'm out of meat I'd rather watch em run and listen to the dogs than kill them.

I'd have a hard time pushing the button to execute a condemned man but no problem killing the same man to prevent his crime.

I'm sure we all have several unexplainable ideas about killing.  Even if we don't understand someone else's way of thinking we need to accept and respect them.

[magnus]

Remember. Nothing in nature goes to waste.

[Molson]

I've got this possum that keeps getting in my trash.  He likes to climb up in the can and kick back.  He seems to be hiding in there everytime my wife takes a bag out.  She screams, runs inside, then points out the window at him and yells at me to do something about it.  This has been going on for a month.  I like that possum...    

[Crash]

There are several animals in North America that I have no desire to kill, bear and mountain lion to name a couple, simply because I don't want to, no other reason.  One, bobcat, I would give up a dear piece of my anatomy to kill with my longbow, because of the challenge and the beauty of the creature.  

It is the responsibility of each hunter to abide by the laws governing their area and to abide by their own personal code that lives within them.  Violate the first and you could face a penalty of fines and or jail time, violate the latter, and suffer a much greater penalty.  This is where mutual respect for our fellow hunter comes into play, we don't all have the same personal code and just because the next hunter may not have the same code as me doesn't mean that I am better or they are worse.

[SEMO_HUNTER]

I live on a dead end road near 3 cemeteries and it's a constant battle to keep up with unwanted pets being dumped off at these cemeteries. We are the nearest house with a light on out front and it's the most obvious place to go. It breaks my heart that people do this and that I sometimes become the executioner at the end of the road. I don't like it one bit, but I can't keep them all and the cats especially quickly become wild again and breed like rats. Without some form of control I wouldn't have a single rabbit left.
There is no animal control in our county so it's my responsibility to keep things in check. It's just a necessary evil when you live where I do and I really don't have a choice in the matter. I have given some of the dogs homes and found homes for them a few times, but rarely does the outcome turn out that pleasant. I'm a dog lover and it tears me up inside when I'm left with no other choice. If I could, I would put surveillance cameras around the cemeteries and prosecute the people who dump their unwanted pets to the fullest extent of the law, but then they would just take them somewhere else.

Sometimes killing isn't by choice. Just something to think about.

[Pullonmylimb]

The only creatures I have a desire or willingness to dispatch are those that are free ranging and have all faculties and senses in tact.  However, having said that I once shot a little y-buck that had an injured leg to "do him a favor".  The guys I was hunting with said "he would have been fine".  After skinning we discovered gangreen in the leg.  I still think I did him a favor and would do so again if I could.

Hunting for me gives me a sense of accomplishment.  I have felt lower coming back from a hunt by lowering my objective mid-hunt than coming back empty handed and sticking to my goals.  I for example have decided that at this point in my life I would rather shoot nice doe over a small but legal buck.  My goals may differ from other hunters, but that doesn't make any others goals less meaningful.  If another's goal is to take a legal animal.  I will be glad for that hunter if they complete what they set out to do.  

I mostly hunt for meat but understand respect and believe in management and conservation and feel proud if I have contributed to the effort.

I respect others opinions whether I disagree or not.  I will offer knowledge to those that seem ignorant of facts I am aware of.  I will listen in order to continue to learn.  

I take a moment to reflect and honor any creature i dispatch.

I will live so that I can respect myself and one day I will die.  In the meantime I will hunt alongside any that has respect for the living creatures they hunt and wish a good hunt for all whatever that may mean.

[Stone Knife]

 Tatrer: You need to rethink shooting raccoons. We lost 15 chickens to them. They are ruthless killers at times. In addition, our local animal control officer asked me to shoot as many as I could just to keep rabies in check. I have little regrets taking out feral cats.  

Any animal that is destroying personal property needs to be stopped by any legal means.

[gregg dudley]

Well thought out responses here.  7 lakes-great comments.  Killy-as usual, great thoughts in concise packaging.

The thing that always strikes me about these conversations is the thought by some that man is somehow an artificial participant in the predator/prey relationship.  As a species we hunted and gathered long before we farmed and ranched. Somehow that fact escapes many people today.

As capable and thinking human beings we have the responsibility to make informed choices about the way we manage our resources.  Science should be the leading contributor in our decisions.  As we evolved as a species we forever changed the face of the planet. The old predator and prey relationships were often disrupted leaving only man as the dominant predator.  As such, we have an inherant responsibility to fulfill that role.  There really is something to the old adage, "eyes in the front, born to hunt; eyes on the side, born to hide."  It is in our DNA.  Unfortunately many of our modern peers are conditioned to ignore the instinct.

There is someone near you that will happily take the game animals that you shoot if your bride-to-be is not interested in eating them.  We share the bounty of our harvest with local families all of the time.  Trust me when I say that there are many people that will enjoy the taste and financial relief that such a contributiion provides.  That goes for hogs in Georgia and Elephants in Africa.

Your girl is very lucky that you so obviously love her and respect her point-of-view.  I am sure that if she iss half the girl you think she is that she will do the same for you.

[gregg dudley]

Crash, man, lol...I know you realize the contradiction in your zeal to kill a bobcat and reluctance to kill a mountain lion!       I understand and respect your choice and your following comments.

In re-reading through these posts I can't help but notice that the animals that most people say that they would not shoot are not in their back yard.  It seems that we are most likely to revere and romanticize animals that are somehow exotic and foreign to our experience. If we have never seen one it is easier to believe that they are somehow scarce or sacred.

[straitera]

Good to see clear concientious thinkers. If I don't eat it I don't kill it...other than flies & mosquitoes & roaches & rats. 6 Canadians on the lake this morning. Glad I don't eat them.