Hunting

[Jagger69]

Did a search and didn't see this discussed anywhere. A lot of people I know like to go hunting. Personally, unless you are doing it for survival, I think hunting is sadistic and barbaric. The idea of killing animals for "sport" (how is it a sport when the animal is at the obvious disadvantage?) is abhorrent to me. Just curious how others feel.

 

[BigSwede]

As a sport only I´m against it.

 

[Gordar]

As BigSwede already said, I'm against it when it's only for sports. Since you can buy beef & almost any other kind of meat in the supermarket & there is no need for hunting (at least not in the western world) I'm against hunting in general.

If there's a need to bring down certain amounts of animals, nature will take care of it by giving those animals a disease or by increasing the amount of predators. If your cattle is hunted by predators, MOVE SOMEWHERE ELSE!

 

[KungFuDude]

I've never hunted in my life, but I don't see anything wrong with it, as long as its non-endangered animals.

For example, hunting deer in the United States is a must. If we don't control the deer population somehow, they'll start to take over. I can't even begin to tell you how many deer I've almost hit with my car! They're everywhere!

 

[Imagine]

I have no problem with hunting as such. As a form of acquiring meat to sell or eat, it's certainly not worse than a cow being slaughtered (I'd even argue it's a far better option from the animal's point of view). But as entertainment? I would suggest the hunters who hunt for that reason go out in the woods and shoot each other instead of some poor animal whos only error in life was to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. I'd have far more compassion for the animal than a hunter in that situation.

 

[calpoon]

it's not that the deer are everywhere, it's that people are. we take more and more of thier terrority over, and then we are surpirsed to see them around everywhere. I guess they didn't get the memo that humans own every inch of the earth and they are expected to get off of it and die down to numbers small enough to be held in public parks so we can champion ourselves as the great preservers of nature, keeping species that we killed 98% of from the brink of extinction.

 

[member2686]

We discussed this ad infinitum and ad nauseum in the "Dick Cheney Shot a Guy" (or whatever it was called) thread.

Here it is: http://board.freeones.com/showthread.php?t=64629&highlight=Cheney+Shot

lmao It got sort of ugly. :eek: :tongue: lol You wouldn't have known that by doing a board search of thread topics, though. No worries.

I am completely against hunting. It's not "sport," IMO, but I'm not gonna write much more about this because I've already written pages about it in that other thread.

Cheney threads: http://board.freeones.com/search.php?searchid=1629730

 

[Marbod]

Hunting is not a sport, but in some regions you need hunters because of the human living the nature can´t regulate gaya by herself. Foir Example bunnies in Australia.

 

[Imagine]

I'd say nature is quite capable of regulating itself. In most cases where nature needs "help", the problem was caused by human interference in the first place. Rabbits in Australia were, in fact, introduced by hunters so that they would have something to hunt.

Also, unless you're talking about a city or a plant, that'd be "gaia" (which, I might add, refers to nature, or Earth, as a whole and not specifically the fauna).

 

[4G63]

Overpopulated prisons - nuts with guns.

There's an elegant solution there.

 

[Imagine]

Indeed. Throw in a couple of cannibals and you don't have to worry about cleaning up the mess either.

 

[serpentor]

Hunting as a sport is wrong, but if your hunting for food I have no problem with that. And in the case of too many deer, nature did have a way to deal with that unfortunately most of their natural predators (wolves) are no longer around because they also eat livestock. And I'm not saying wolves are extinct only in insignificant numbers to control the deer population.

 

[Ax3C]

We discussed this ad infinitum and ad nauseum in the "Dick Cheney Shot a Guy" (or whatever it was called) thread.

Here it is: http://board.freeones.com/showthread.php?t=64629&highlight=Cheney+Shot

lmao It got sort of ugly. :eek: :tongue: lol You wouldn't have known that by doing a board search of thread topics, though. No worries.

I am completely against hunting. It's not "sport," IMO, but I'm not gonna write much more about this because I've already written pages about it in that other thread.

Cheney threads: http://board.freeones.com/search.php?searchid=1629730

Yeah ... and it led to one of our many arguments away from the Board, too!

Hunting - as a "SPORT" - is inherently wrong and cannot be justified or reasoned away. There is no glory or honor in killing an animal, stuffing it, and hanging it on your wall as a visual reminder of your so-called "man-hood".

Hunting / Fishing for the purpose of food is acceptable as I am a hunter ... a bow-hunter, specifically. Man has hunted animals since time began. Man has also abused that privilege as well. However, if it means starvation versus killing an animal ... you best believe I'm gonna grab the nearest weapon - rock, axe, hatchet, machete, stone ... whatever - and kill meat for myself and my family.

'Nuff said. :hatsoff:

 

[nothingandless]

as a sport, i think hunting is terrible. to kill animals JUST for their head or skin/pelt, antler, tusks, fins, etc. is wrong, imo.
but, to hunt and use as much of what you can from whatever you kill is fine by me.

 

[Caleb14]

Hunting is a sport being a sport depends on the definition of a sport. But to actually hunt something, using a bow, a rifle, or something like a bloacpowder gun, takes skill. One, you have to be able to track the animal without it being alerted to you being there. Then you actually have to be able to hit your target succesfully, which is not as easy as it would seem.

Another of example of why hunting is not totally barbaric would be something that occurs in my home state, the hunter are able to take one white tail deer during the season, only one a hunter. This is done to control the population, becasue of a lack of predator in the area. This prevents acutally helps the deer because it prevents disease, and over-population, which means there is more then enough food and space for these animals. The same thing occurs with are local dove population. I am sure these are not the only examples, but they are the two that I can think and have experience with.

Most hunters I know have a lot of respect for nature, as well as animals, and are not the crazy redneck gun nuts that people make them out to be. Again these are the ones that I know and I can only speak as to what they are like. I am against animal cruely, poaching and the like, but to shot a deer during hunting season I simply have no problem with.

 

[Mayhem]

I'd like to gently point out a couple things.

I have never met or heard of a hunter who just took the pelt, antlers, horns, etc. and left the meat. I'm not saying that it has never been done, and I allow for the possibility that there is a moron or two somewhere that does, but it just plain does not happen to any perceptible degree. In fact, there is an organization called Hunters Against Hunger that donate the meat that they harvest to homeless shelters and soup kitchens.

Instead of crying for deer, ducks, moose and geese, check out the lives that animals destined to be veal and foi-gras (sp?) lead. Think about all those millions of tons of carved up chicken that's in the worlds freezers at any given moment. Do you really think they all came from some pastoral Foghorn Leghorn barnyard?

If I'm going to be against anything, I'm going against any non-vegetarian that calls hunting barbaric. Those that buy meat in the store are just paying to have someone else do their dirty work for them. Hunters spend their money, walk the miles, and their results are far from guaranteed.

In the same vein, hunters spend literally billions of dollars every year. Their money ensures that animal habitats don't get bulldozed for subdivisions and shopping malls. Whether you like it or not, the world (including the natural one) is ruled by the almighty dollar. The land and the animals have to pay for themselves or Dupont, Chevy, Starbucks or the XYZ Land Development Company will be glad to foot the bill. Pick the animal you like best and thank hunters for supplying their rent.

I saw some of the Cheney thread. I'm not going to get into a pissing contest that this issue has so often caused. These are my views, I researched them, and I'm entitled to them. Disagree at your leisure, but lets not have just another gun/hunting thread, please.

 

[redlago]

I have to agree with Mayhem on this one.

I live in a rural part of Minnesota, and I hunt about everything there is to hunt. I eat the meat, let the other animals eat the bones, turn in the hides for gloves, and donate rare finds to places like Cabela's. I have on occasion shot a sick kitten, or puppy. And I have shot stray dogs in my yard. I don't do this all for enjoyment, but for many reasons including self-defense. (Bears in the trash can) I can't help that the land developers out there are destroying millions of acres of homeland for these animals, but the population needs to be controlled. I complete surveys for the University of Minnesota, and in these surveys they want to know what is going on in all parts of the state. Population, regulation changes and whatever else I feel like telling them. Hunting IS a sport to some extent, and the right to bear arms is a right. I would rather see people killing animals for food than other people for fun.

Thanks

 

[Member2019]

I've never hunted in my life, but I don't see anything wrong with it, as long as its non-endangered animals.

Same here, for the same reasons as your next point ...

For example, hunting deer in the United States is a must. If we don't control the deer population somehow, they'll start to take over. I can't even begin to tell you how many deer I've almost hit with my car! They're everywhere!

I'm continually amazed at the ignorance of most people in this regard. The seasons and other rules exist to hunters are shooting the population that needs to be controlled for an area.

People -- don't call it a "sport" if you don't like that label. But it exists and it is very useful. Just ask some rangers, they will give you input on what responsible hunting (which is what the great majority of hunters practice) does for the environment. You need to keep them around, but you can't let them over-populate -- not only because of the encroachment of man, but over-population has exterminated many species (read up on real-world examples of this in your local park service literature).

If you're really worried about "fair," then stop driving your car, stop using electricity and live in a log cabin (built somehow without either chopping down a tree or using some synthetic from chemicals) that doesn't burn wood to keep warm! There's nothing I loathe more than judgemental people who are ignorant of how offensive the way they live their lives might appear to others from another viewpoint. Think about it.

"Oh, but how I live my life is more righteous than you!" and no logic seems to change that judgement.

 

[Member2019]

I don't believe in killing, animals or humans. I think we will all pay in the end and I'm not talking religiously.

Then why not exterminate all the carnivorous creatures of the world so there is no killing at all -- at least not naturally occurring? Because that would make things even worse for the balance of the Earth's ecosystem. And still would NOT solve the problem of over-population (and would only make things far, far worse!).

Here's the basic economics of it all -- it's far cheaper for the park service or other widelife officers to let in hunters than to do the killing themselves. The entire rotation and schedule of hunting seasons has been learned over decades for each area and is still based upon pro-active study. I don't see why people think it's wrong -- without stopping to realize that you yourself could be judgemental about many things you yourself do daily!

 

[D-rock]

Oh boy, not this again. I am not in a real long post-making mood so to keep this as short as possible...

Do I kill animals because I like to see them in pain, nope. Do I care if they have to die as long as you are keeping balance within the ecosystem, nope. Do I think of it as a sport. Truthfully I don't know, and being just as truthful I really don't care whether it is or not. While some are more intelligent than others do I think of them as a person, or some sort conscious or sentient being, nope. Do I care if other people take enjoyment in the hunt, nope. Do I care if somebody takes pleasure in an animal’s pain, maybe, but only because people that enjoy giving pain probably have some other issue with themselves. To me they are biological machines that serve a purpose on this world. Is the idea that nature will just take care of itself correct, nope not any more, unless you want everybody on the planet to go back to the Stone Age we have to except the impact people have made and adjust for it accordingly. Even in the Stone Age man had an impact on nature. It's a little hypocritical to take advantage of our manipulation of nature through crops, irrigation, cultivation of trees, dams, and livestock among many others things yet deride the use of it to fix a problem that needs to be taken care of. If people think some disease will just wipe them out just wait until herd after herd of cattle gets bovine tuberculoses or some other disease that wipes out a significant portion of the non-hunting food supply comes along. Just like bird flu, should we just let it play out its course with no human intervention? I am sure nature will just take care of it wont it? We are both outside in within nature, what happens to it affects us. I can’t understand why somebody killing an animal would make anybody feel any worse than seeing some car get smashed outside of sentimental value. Maybe it’s the same reason everybody thinks dolphins are happy because their mouth is shaped like a smile. They want to think of them as more than they really are, an animal. I swear sooner or later somebody out there is going to try to ban flyswatters, because they think it is so wrong to kill a living thing.