Topic: to hunt or not to hunt - that is the question.

[Jake]

Hunting season is upon us. When we got the cabin last year I was looking forward to my first deer hunt. My wife got me a nice hunting rifle too. But as months passed it became a real moral dilemma. We are teaching (and showing) our kids that hurting other living things for no reason is not good. This is broad, and it not only encompasses other people and animals, but plant life as well. The kids know where meat comes from - my son often asks me what animal did "this come from" when we're eating meat. And I tell him. And he sometimes watches shows with me like "Alaska the last Frontier" where they hunt and kill things pretty much all the time. And he asks me why. And my reasoning is they kill animals for sustenance. That is their life style. Some people hunt to survive.

So why would I hunt? It is not because I need the venison in the freezer to survive the winter or my family will go hungry. It would be for sport...and nothing else. And that I cannot do. So the answer to my post is NOT. I can see doing it and justifying it if times where tough and money was tight - but we're blessed in that respect for the moment. I would like to learn how to process (skin and butcher) game - I think it is an important survival skill to have "just in case"

Additionally, hunting with a high powered rifle seems soooo unfair. I mean, come on. These super scoped rifles are pretty accurate up to 300 yards...I don't see taking down an animal at that distance as something to brag about. Perhaps, if I ever do hunt, it will be with a bow. Seems a little more native.

Anyway, I just thought I would share this with you because it really is a big deal to me. This hunting season (which is 9 days in WI) we'll be staying in Chicago

[micah]

I don't see the moral dilemma in hunting. After all, our ancestors have been doing since long before recorded history.  It is how we sustained ourselves until the modern era and it is a natural part of the life cycle.  I don't think adding modern technology to an age old practice makes it any less fair.  I would presume that in many cases its more humane than traditional methods.  And it certainly a lot more fair then farm-raised slaughter. 

That said, you wouldn't catch me doing it. Icky.  I don't even like to fish.

[KnuckleBuckett]

Hunting as I see it is a necessity to cull the herds.  In that man has mostly eliminated the natural predators who would normally deal with controlling/balancing a healthy population.  Further the populations are at or nearly at historically high populations.

300 yards with a deadly weapon beats a car accident, disease, etc. any day.

[ober]

Yup. I have no issues with hunting. Even for sport. I don't do it anymore partly because I don't have decent access and partly because it really didn't do anything for me. Some guys enjoy it. I'd rather program something.

[KnuckleBuckett]

Always enjoyed using the rifle.  Competed off-hand silhouette for a couple years.  Hunted deer to use as food more than just the hunt.  Sitting in a blind in the winter motionless is not my idea of fun.

Shotguns and handguns are fine and I tend to do well with them, but there is just something cool about a good rifle.

I have hunted deer, foul, rabbits, varmints galore.  Always had a blast mowing down woodchucks!  Somebody would spot one and we would race to our rifles, load up, and see who could pop it first.  Loads of fun.

Guns, hunting, reloading were just a part of growing up for me.  Learned to understand, handle, care for, and shoot before I was a teen. 

[charlie]

Jake, do you end up eating the meat of the deer you kill? If so, I don't see how it should be a moral dilemma for you. All you're doing is replacing the meat from one animal (the cow raised on a farm) with another (the deer you shot). It shouldn't matter that you can afford to go to the store and buy meat, it's still meat from an animal that was killed.

If you're not eating the meat or using any of the animal at all, then I can see how you might lean towards the "not". But otherwise I don't see a problem doing it for sport.

Of course, I also don't see a problem with not doing it, either. There are plenty of sports, your kids will be fine if they grow up not witnessing and participating in this one.

[Betazep]

I would hunt for the meat for sure.  And I have never done so. 

[micah]

Always had a blast mowing down woodchucks!  Somebody would spot one and we would race to our rifles, load up, and see who could pop it first.  Loads of fun.

This is where it gets questionable.  Hunting for sport and using the food or pelts is totally cool.  But arbitrarily blasting small creatures, even nuisance ones, seems... i dunno, kinda wrong to me.

But then again, I don't like killing anything bigger than a spider, so maybe thats just me.

[ober]

We regularly killed small animals on the farm.  Groundhogs in particular.  Those bastards dig holes that can and have destroyed farm equipment that dip into those holes.  If groundhogs went extinct I don't think anyone would miss them.  I also have no problem with small game hunting for sport.  There's nothing wrong with thinning the population.  Those animals will just end up running into the road and causing accidents anyways.

And when I did hunt deer, we did hunt for meat just as much as sport.

[Mike]

>  If groundhogs went extinct I don't think anyone would miss them

But they are cute little bastards

[micah]

>  If groundhogs went extinct I don't think anyone would miss them

But they are cute little bastards

https://www.google.com/search?q=baby+groundhogs&tbm=isch

[micah]

Now possums, those are some ugly f*ckers.  There was one in my driveway when I came home the other night.  Scared the crap out of me.

[KnuckleBuckett]

Groundhogs are destructive, long lived, fast breeding, nasty, rabies carriers.  Culling that population is a must.  They are exceptionally dangerous to farms/farmers, foundations, roadways, etc.  I can't think of a single real benefit to the species.

Woodchuck is some offshoot of a Native American name for them.

[Mike]

2-3 years is long lived?

[KnuckleBuckett]

I can guarantee they live at least 9 or 10.

Update 9 to 14 years.