Curious Conversation at work.

[Can Hahaka]

I had a similar conversation with a vegitarian. I pointed out that these vast plots of land that have been leveled, poisoned, and cultivated to provide vegitarians with their food were once lands that provided food, shelter and security for wildlife. I was told that "that is different".

I did mention that Hitler was a vegitarian and Himmler a vegan, but she thought that was not common enuf to place her in that group of beliefs.

GENSIS 27:3 says it best.

[fnshtr]

"A soft answer turneth away wrath."

Great conversation!

[kat]

Great patients with the uninformed.

I can't help but thinking how fast Human Resources would have been on you if the initial statement  had been reversed.

[BowHunterGA]

Sadly, I am usually not as composed as you were.

I have been known to say "I don't understand why you feel that way, but to show you there are no hard feelings I am going to dedicate my next kill to you." (and no I don't tone it down to use the word Harvest. Harvest is what you do to crops where I am from!)

[NJWoodsman]

If someone has an emotional bias against the violence of a human killing a wild animal, you won't win them over with a rational argument. You may get them to grudgingly accept it if you eat what you kill, or maybe on the grounds of population control. Those are also my own personal justifications, and I tend to agree with the Dalai Lama to some extent beyond that and find the trophy mentality distasteful.

[Pon]

I always told them "Hey lets all go vegan"............................ then we will have to kill animals because they are competitors for food or we will just destroy all the habitats in order to cultivate more land to support food for everybody  

[b.glass]

What Rob said x2. Rob W. and Rob S.!

[NJWoodsman]

There's a mis-perception about cultivated land use for human food. I don't recall the exact numbers, but raising beef cattle, etc. takes much more land and feed than feeding people directly. That is, it's not very efficient- even with feeding cattle corn (which they're not designed to digest)grown with petroleum based fertilizers. In that context, wild game is much more efficient- until you try to scale it up to supply the huge American appetite for meat.

[mcgroundstalker]

Reminds me of a tee-shirt that read: "If I Need To Explain, You Wouldn't Understand." Most anti-hunters are caught up in their emotions when they see you with "two heads". Not the (best) time to teach them about hunting or yourself...

Explain to someone how you prepare the meat and spice it up for the table and ya' may get their attention... Works for me.    I turned an entire department of anti-non-hunters around by feeding them venison a couple times.......

... mike ...

[MI_Bowhunter]

Well done. Sometimes you can subtly make people see the hypocrisy or fallacies in their own arguments.

Occasionally that is enough to plant a seed that will make them start to question their own beliefs or sometimes they just close themselves off.

My guess is that in this case that seed has been planted and you will have further discussions regarding the pro and cons of hunting. Hopefully in the least she will acknowledge that hunting may not be as bad as she perceives

[Autumnarcher]

Using Dolly Llama  to back their anti hunting agenda is one I hVent seen before. Thats funny. I'll stick with the Book of Genesis. Thats all the justification necessary. The is but one God, and not the one DollyLlama follows. So his opinion means absolutely Zilch.

Genesis 27:3, 9:3.

[maineac]

I always try to have an intelligent conversation with those against hunting.  Many come to it from an entirely emotional side and they are usually not able to fully hear any arguments, but I wold rather leave them with the impression of a reasonable human being, rather than an ignorant idiot that the anti hunting organizations have done so well portraying hunters as.  

I get to have this conversation fairly regularly as a 7th and 8th grade science teacher with lots of pictures of me with animals I have taken on my computer slideshow.  This is an age where they really start to try to figure out how they fit int eh world, and often have older sisters who have gone the vegan route. There are lots of analogies that point out the falicies of many of the ideas they have been introduced too.  It is easier to convince them if I am reasonable and use a bit of humor.

[Tdog]

Charlie, Well done. I too get this at work.Plus with being a trapper. You stayed focused and calm and you know that facts. The truth has no agenda.

[Jock Whisky]

Assuming she eats meat, poultry or fish she may not have blood on her hands but she has blood on her money. I choose to do some of my own killing so I don't forget where meat comes from.

JW

[GRINCH]

Well done Charlie by not be rude or foul to her you have presented your point and given her something to think about.

[robtattoo]

I have this conversation on a daily basis. Being married to a very understanding vegetarian, with not so understanding vegetarian friends can be a challenge. Surprisingly to most folks though,  Jules (The Wife) is firmly in my corner. Being a hunter is simply being a responsible carnivore. She won't eat meat because she can't stand the thought of an animal dying to sustain her, while she has an alternative & I completely respect that. If I can't bring myself to kill an animal, I believe I don't have the right to force that responsibility onto somebody else & I shouldn't eat meat.
The fact that I enjoy the hell out of hunting & fishing is a total bonus & I never use it as a reason, during these debates.

God, Buddah, Jaweh, Allah etc..... aside, I only ever get irate at this topic if I'm having this discussion with another carnivore. 99% of the vegetarians I've debated this topic with are very understanding. They may not agree with my sentiments, but they can at least respect & understand my choices. The real rabid, irrational opinionated morons who won't even listen, all seem to be meat-eaters.

[Rob DiStefano]

Originally posted by robtattoo:
... The real rabid, irrational opinionated morons who won't even listen, all seem to be meat-eaters.

amen to that, brutha rob, amen.

[ronp]

Good job Charlie.  I have been questioned about hunting and killing at my work place (pharmaceuticals), too.  I tell them "Look, our job here is to produce anti-biotics that are designed to kill things.  And we are good at it."  Most of the people can't make the connection.  They think it's OK to kill living things like bacteria, insects like mosquitos, flies and fleas but it's not OK to kill animals for food.

[Beanbag]

I guess it all goes back to who's teaching who. A few years back when my nephew was in 5th or 6th grade,his class had to draw a picture of what they did over thanksgiving vacation. Well his dad had taken him dear hunting that weekend. They got a nice 8 PT. He drew a picture of it hanging on the meat pole with him and his dad cutting it up. The teacher went ballistic. School meetings, psychologist,Dept of children. A few months of BS because there was something WRONG with him because of his sadistic picture. After the school could not find anything wrong with him or the family they backed off. Beware who is with your children all day and what they are instilling their heads.

[Rob DiStefano]

Originally posted by Beanbag:
I guess it all goes back to who's teaching who. A few years back when my nephew was in 5th or 6th grade,his class had to draw a picture of what they did over thanksgiving vacation. Well his dad had taken him dear hunting that weekend. They got a nice 8 PT. He drew a picture of it hanging on the meat pole with him and his dad cutting it up. The teacher went ballistic. School meetings, psychologist,Dept of children. A few months of BS because there was something WRONG with him because of his sadistic picture. After the school could not find anything wrong with him or the family they backed off. Beware who is with your children all day and what they are instilling their heads.

if that wasn't so maddeningly and pathetically true it'd be funny.     :mad: