DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk K-9 Consensus Do you hunt? Are you against it?

Theres more to the thrill on hunting than just killing whatever your after....i mainly deer hunt...its pretty cool to sit a treestand in them morning...then watch the woods wake up as it gets to daybreak.

Add in the hard work it takes to bowhunt for trophy bucks....speding hours scouting and many days hunting for a deer is rewarding...sure its fun to kill what your after...but its not this barbaric practice of crazy rednecks killing everything they see.

When I was 18...I bowhunted 35 days through October and November for a buck I had seen the previous season...everyday after school I would hunt...then go to work...etc. I finally shot him the day after thanksgiving....its pretty tough to understand if you dont hunt...but it is more than the thrill of killing....the thrill goes farther than that.

Of course I do. It isn't really that I don't care (even though I said that) it's just thats not the reason I hunt. I hunt for the reasons already said above. It has nothing to do with the environment.

I'll admit I dont give a dang about the environment...most of the "enviro" problems are made up for political and money making reasons. I do wanna see the ODNR spend money to reclaim old strip mine land like AEP does and make sure there are always national parks and state forest area.

But as for the environment weenies...most of them have no clue about how nature works or have really been in the woods...which they so wrongly protest to people about.

So your saying "it's the thrill of the hunt"

Yep, and everything surrounding it.....ive had great deer hunts where I didnt get buck..but enjoyed the time off in the woods....getting a nice buck is iceing on the cake for me.

Its also as, I said before...time I get to spend with my dad and friends...

Why Hunt?
Many of us have been asked to put into words the reasons why we hunt. The problem is, the reasons and motivations that compel me and many others to hunt are pretty hard to put into print. This is my first attempt at explaining what drives me to head into the woods each hunting season.

What leaps to mind is a quote from my father. Someone had asked him why he loved to hunt so much; what was so great about being in the woods. His reply was, "If I have to explain it, you wouldn't understand." This really sums up the feeling many of us have. A recent ad in several hunting magazines shows a fellow festooned in camoflage, with the caption "You can't explain it. But nothing would keep you from it." Our lack of eloquence on this subject is a major factor in the "bunny-huggers'" fight against our rights. The vast majority of our populace is open to suggestion on the topic of hunting, and could take it or leave it. The very fact that the anti-hunting crowd often makes their claims public, with little or no rebuttal from us hunters, will sway many of these neutral folks. It's really a debate with one vocal participant, and the claims made, while illogical and faulty, are the only thoughts to ever reach many of these non-hunters. I believe it's time we delved into ourselves and offered our thoughts, however abstract, to the non-hunting public for their consideration.

I started going to the woods with Dad when I was very young. I don't really remember when I first went, but when I was nine, I got to go on a few hunting trips with him and follow him through the woods. He wisely kept these trips varied, and limited the time we spent on any one thing, as my attention span was fairly short. By the time I was eleven, I got to carry an old heirloom .410 double-barrel shotgun, with the action broken open. If I was to spot some game, then by his permission, I could close the gun and shoot. Soon I was allowed to wander the woods on my own for short times, still following his rule of keeping the gun broken. It was at this time that the hunting seed really began to grow in me. There's just no way to adequately portray the majesty of a forest and the creatures within, when you feel like the only man who's ever stood where you stand. It doesn't matter that you're walking on a well-worn trail, and that you spy spent shotgun shells alongside it from time to time. You feel all alone, at peace, fully alert, ready for anything. I never feel closer to God than I do when I walk in the woods, his most wondrous creations all around me, with the challenge of outwitting them on their own terms in front of me.

The hunting instinct is one of the most basic instincts of mankind. After all, we are the ultimate predator. Take a look at "prey" animals. Their eyes are usually on the sides of their heads, affording a wider field of view. They lose some depth perception with this arrangement, but it helps them survive. Predators, on the other hand, characteristically have their eyes set close together, very useful for estimating the distance between he and his target. Beyond this, the urge to kill lies within us all, especially as children. Without proper channelling of these instincts, children often grow into physically abusive and/or murderous adults. Can any of us honestly say that, as kids, we didn't shoot birds with our slingshots and bb guns, or set homemade traps for other critters? I say that if you can say that, then you either never had an opportunity as a child, or you're an exception to the rule of human nature.

The kill is the fulfillment of the hunt. We hunt to be alone, to observe wildlife without being observed ourselves, to face one of the greatest challenges in this world: to take a wild animal on his own turf, using our brain and little else. Forget the wild tales you may have heard about "automatic" guns and telescopic sites. When it comes right down to it, those things are no good unless you can create an opportunity to use them. We don't swagger into the woods and slay Bambi when he meekly peeks from behind a tree. We have to use every sense, every bit of experience we have, and when we accomplish our goal, it's a milestone. I once watched a videotape on hunting that theorized that, on the average, if you are hunting and get a chance at a deer, that chance will last 7 seconds. In my experience, that's not far off. Sometimes you'll have longer, sometimes not that long, but 7 seconds is just about average. Think of what it takes to be alert and ready, and to make an honest, clean shot on an animal that always believes there's danger behind every tree! In those 7 seconds you must verify that it is, indeed, a legal animal, find a chance to shoot (not easy when you're in brushy country), and you must usually remain undetected by those roving eyes and swivelling ears. What a high! The adrenalin rush I get from it is like nothing else in this world. The fulfillment of long hard hours of hunting is definitely worth it!

I read a quote from a famous writer once, though I can't recall his name. The quote went something like this: "We do not go hunting to kill. We kill in order to have gone hunting." Without the kill, you aren't hunting. That doesn't mean that you have to kill every legal animal you see, but hunting is not hunting if you're not there to kill. But to return to the quote, one does not go hunting expressly for that purpose. Hunting is freedom, a tie to our ancestors, peace, contentment, happiness, joy, sweat, close calls, exploring, hiking, stealth, boring, exhilarating, tiring, satisfying, challenging, and a thousand other things. It's there for you to discover, and judge for yourself if you want to take part in it. But please, "don't knock it until you've tried it." That's the only way you'll ever know for sure.

- Russ Chastain

Speak for yourself, I like to KILL!! KILL!! KEILLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!

Im not so sure people are gonna take this as a joke!

j/c

I hunt. Deer and rabbit to eat. Woodchuck just to kill.

I love the time out in the woods or along the ditch banks. I also enjoy the kill. If that makes me a barbarian, well, so be it.

Venison is awesome - my wife made wet burritos last week with venison. Rabbit is good as well. I don't care for squirrel, therefore I don't shoot squirrel.

I also "hunt" spiders, mice, flies, and fish. I eat fish. The others? Not really.

Coyote hunting. Yup. I must not be very good though, as I haven't ever gotten one. You think deer are tough to get? Try a coyote.

Oh, one other thing. I went out deer hunting 4 different days last year. Over the 4 days, I hunted with 4 other people. Each of those 4 got a deer. I did not. I really only had 2 different shots at a deer - and each time they sprung up from dense grass, 40 yds. or so away from me. In the second or 3 it took me to get the gun up, the deer were just too far away for me to comfortably shoot at, plus they were running away - which would've meant a butt shot, IF I hit them.

I'm not in the mood, ever, to clean a deer that has been butt shot.

While I had fun last year, not getting one was a dissappointment to me, AND to my wife and daughter, as they love deer meat as well.

Hunters, most anyway, aren't out ONLY for the kill, but as someone else said, hunting without a kill, while fun in its own right, is a let down.

And, for all the anti hunting folks out there - I hope you don't eat beef, or chicken, or fish, or frog legs, or shrimp, or lamb, or lobster, etc etc....if you do, you are 2 faced in my opinion.

Dead is dead. If I shoot a deer in the woods, did it suffer more than the steer that is strung up by it's legs, hung, shocked or shot, and then gutted? No.

Quote:

---

Dead is dead. If I shoot a deer in the woods, did it suffer more than the steer that is strung up by it's legs, hung, shocked or shot, and then gutted? No.

---

No! and I dont agree with all that that person said, only some of it. ....I am a verry old fasion hunter, if that is the right word?
I do not have a thrill in the kill, But I do love the feel in my stomach at supper time I have passed up more then my share of buck's waiting on the right year and size of doe that may come my way. I hate those that just hunt for the rack!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That to me is not hunting. It is more of a bragginng thing to them. the hole boone and crocket thing, or Pope & Young is just not right! Have I harvested some of those deer? Yes, But in the end It all come's down to meat, and the time ive spent watching these wonderful animal's.

That's why I play golf, I'm yet to go golfing and not get to hit the ball.

Then I get to hunt for it.

Quote:

---

I don't care for squirrel, therefore I don't shoot squirrel.

---

Quarter the squirrels and put them in your favorite crock pot stew recipe. I guarantee you'll change your mind. It's so much better than fried or grilled.

I always liked squirrel hunting. It gets you in the woods early in the season, and you can do your deer scouting at the same time. Nothing like getting one in the crosshairs. I have a tack driving 10/22 with a scope....mostly headshots!

I miss my grandma's squirrel pot pie's
Try bow hunting them! a real chalange!

Will someone come shoot the chipmunk harassing my dogs in the back yard?

Quote:

---

Quarter the squirrels and put them in your favorite crock pot stew recipe.

---

Cue puke smiley!!!


Ahhh!!

Quote:

---

Try bow hunting them! a real chalange!

---

I've done that....but those damn arrows are expensive, and I went through quite a few of them chasing squirrels!

Don't knock it. I took a pot full to work one night and everybody loved it.

Personally I could care less about folks catching fish. However, I'm not a fan of sport hunting animals. If your hungry and need food or if you could use a break on your grocery bill then so be it. To kill out of fun is not what I'm about and don't understand it.

Quote:

---

To kill out of fun is not what I'm about and don't understand it.

---

Amen!

So it's ok to jab an extremely sharp jagged metal thing into the roof of a fish's mouth, let it flop around in the water in pain for a while fighting for its life, then reel it in, yank the jagged metal thing from the roof of its mouth and toss the fish back in the water.... but shooting a deer is cruel?

I dont think that is what he ment DC.

If your planning on eating the Deer you kill I'm cool with it. If your planning on cutting off the Deers head and bragging to all your friends on how you killed it (like as if the fight was fair) then I think its a bit back woods to me.

I also can't stand when people say hey look at this beautiful buck I shot and they seem so proud. I'm thinking if it's so beautiful then why did you fricken shoot the thing.

I'm a bleeding heart for animals, so I don't think I could ever hunt.

But I have no problem with other people hunting. Doesn't really bother me in the least.

Some earlier said they dont like hunting for racks...thats fine alot of hunters are not like that. the little 50 acre farm I hunt...I manage the deer herd. I only shoot older bucks and does. I dont shoot young bucks at all....there is alot of deer in the area and actually alot of hunting pressure but usually I can get one chance at a big buck in bow season. My dad shot a 172 inch 12 point last season.

I hunt 3 nights a week in bow season after work...Im not puttin that kinda time into it to shoot a doe...dont get me wrong i started out hunting as a boy w/ my dad taking the first deer I saw...after I started bow hunting...I started soley hunting for mature bucks.

I also hunt public land down near Athens where I've taken 2 bucks over 150 inches in the last 3 years...is it wrong attitude towards hunting? Thats a hot topic to some hunters.

I wouldnt say im a trophy hunter, I just hunt for big bucks...but I dont hunt just for racks...I hunt for the thrill, enjoyment, fufillment and meat. If that makes me a bad hunter, I guess thats each hunters choice opinion of ethical hunting.

So I'm a little different - no biggy. I shoot the first deer I have a good shot at. Why? To kill it. So I can eat it. Some hunters pass up does or button bucks so they can get a big buck. Hopefully they eat it.

Doesn't much matter to me.

Woodchuck? Different story. I shoot them so that the buzzards can eat. And let me tell you, if you shoot one at 6 in the evening, you can go back 24 hours later and all that's left is bones - IF it's in a field or along a ditch. Buzzards know how to clean up!!!

Don't hunt but not against it... as long as we aren't going nuts with it... I like the fact that hunting probably (don't have the research in front me) keeps the number of certain species in check.

I'm not really a fan of people mounting animals on their walls though...

Well I have 3 bucks mounted...and my dad....I beleive still has one in his, at his office.

Whats creepy about a shouldermount of a deer?