Saddness upon killing an animal

[YORNOC]

Well, here's one to ponder for you seasoned hunters.
 I have an unending YEARNING to hunt. To scout, track, learn, explore, play the big chess game with the animals I hunt. I have to. I enjoy when the hard work pays off, the gods kick in a bit of mojo, and I get to take my well practiced shot. I love to accept the personal struggle of gutting, skinning, dragging out game in exchange for my well placed shot.
  But MAN, call me a wussbag.  I was looking today at a buck I took years ago , and couldn't help but wonder about his life before I ended it. What did HE learn? What battles did he fight and win? From button buck to his massiveness when I took him....no one will ever know. It all happened without anyone seeing it. What would he have endured if I hadn't taken him?  
I'm proud to have taken every animal that I have with the recurve. Black bears, whitetails, bull and cow elk, bison, wild boar, rabbit, pheasant, grouse, beaver, red stag, raccoon, fox, squirrels, etc. etc.
 But I have a sadness that hits me with every kill. Bison to squirrel, they had their struggles in life that no one knows about, and I respect that so damn much. It hasn't stopped me from loosing an arrow yet, but it is always in my mind.
 Even years later looking back on different hunts, I smile, I relish the fond memories but feel sadness also.
Such a strange thing we hunters are a part of. The animals feel no remorse upon their kills or dominance won. Hyenas feeding on a LIVE cape buffalo stuck in the mud from the butt end forward, is a good example.  But as humans we( some of us anyway) suffer slightly inside when we take a life. But we have a burning desire to attempt nothing less again and again.
Not looking for answers, just my thoughts this afternoon.
 We are a very lucky bunch to get to hunt for enjoyment as well as food, instead of hunting for sheer survival like the critters we pursue.
 I need to go sit in front of a good fire for awhile, I'm one lucky SOB.

[LKH]

Yup, I get sad.  Sad that I no longer have an open tag.

[YORNOC]

Heh, yeah that too!

[30pointbuck]

I feel that sadness sometimes as well. espically right after the harvest.

[The Whittler]

If it don't bother you, then something's wrong. And the older I get the more I think about it. But it don't stop me from hunting, oh well.

[Andy Cooper]

I have some of that sadness when I kill. The kill causes me to realize I've ended the life of an animal who had a life of freedom that I can only dream about. The sense of accomplishment is accompanied by sadness of a free and wild life ended.

[maineac]

I am not sad, so much as feel the hole I have put in the ecosystem.  I know the animal will be replaced, but each one has its place, and I have taken it out of the circle.

[rastaman]

We are a very lucky bunch to get to hunt for enjoyment as well as food, instead of hunting for sheer survival like the critters we pursue.

My thoughts exactly sir!    

[4 point]

David, I think everyone feels it. I've know people that started hunting with a camera because of it. I think it shows the respect we have for the animals we hunt.

Travis

[kleine]

The same goes here and then I go into a depression because the hunt is over.
It's always the chase that drives me not the kill.

[Bowwild]

Whether "wuss-like" or not, killing is usually, when I do it with my own "hands", a solemn thing. It was no different when I was 16 or now that I'm 57.

I love most aspects of the hunt, especially the preparation and the moments immediately before the shot. As cliche as it sounds, I kill to have hunted -- not every hunt but every season.

I tried hard-core trophy hunting in the early 1980's. I found that I was slowly losing the joy of hunting because the liklihood of my taking a shot was very remote (in fact, I didn't shoot an arrow for  two entire seasons--passed up 110 bow-range opportunities).

I find making correct decions and executing my practiced skills in a way that brings a quick kill, is a profound responsibility. In fact, that "fear" of messing up is what I think "buck fever" is for me. It's not missing the animal, spooking it, etc. it's the real possibility, no matter how competent I am, that things will go badly.

I don't attribute human emotions or characteristics to the animals I hunt. I know there is a huge difference in me and the deer, etc. I pursue. However, my duty is to be a proper steward of creation and I take that role seriously.

All things will die. To die from a hunter's arrow is one of the quickest ways this can happen for our prey.

When I see someone "cuss" or claim "victory" over the animal they've shot, it bothers me greatly. However, I know it is just a sign of immaturity for most.

[waiting4fall]

http://www.youtube.com/user/W8N4FALL?feature=mhum#p/u/24/RyGKf9x-ia8

[GRINCH]

It just says you have an appreciation of life.

[MJB]

One does not hunt in order to kill; on the contrary, one kills in order to have hunted.

by Jose Ortega Y Gasset

[snow leopard]

what you expressed in your post comes from wisdom, david; and respect.  and i respect you for saying it.

[sawtoothscream]

im never said for killing the animal im after. Im out thier to take it and im happy when i do. i enjoy its meat and use what ever i find a use for.

only time ill feel bad is if i injured it and it suffered for a long time

[Duncan]

That twinge of remorse just means you are a normal person. I've looked over my mounts and photos occasionally and have had the same thoughts as you. Why did I hunt these wonderful animals? To immerse myself into their world and learn their ways and then harvest one to feed my family. I tanned their hides and mounted their antlers so I could honor them and relive those days. Even the remorse.
Heck, I could have gone to the grocery store and bought some meat and rubbed elbows with the remorseless masses who want their meat to be bloodless.

[findbows]

I have some saddes,I've ended the life of an animal.When I no longer fill sadden I will become a killer not a hunter.

[Ben Maher]

I know how you feel .
I hunt even more now ... but drop the string less.

[Spectre]

Originally posted by The Whittler:
If it don't bother you, then something's wrong. And the older I get the more I think about it. But it don't stop me from hunting, oh well.

Really? Come on, man, thats pretty presumptious. I don't think any different after a harvest while hunting than I do after killing and butchering chickens out of the yard. This means that somethings wrong with me?