Anyone against hunting at one time but then think one day that they might want to try it?

Question

I was thinking of trying it. I think I would cry but I also think I should do it. I think it will help me keep in touch with my ancestry. Anyone experience this? Killing a deer?

Answer 1

I been around that block already and I would strongly recommend you DONT do it.

Due to a lot of rifle practise and excellent marksmanship I was lucky enough to score a single shot instant kill.
If you arent that experienced, you might not be that lucky, and frankly:
Seeing something like a deer struggle and slowly croak and having to finish it off using a hunting knife or a handgun isnt pretty and its an experience you could do without - I suppose.

Anyways: Though I been lucky with that clean kill I still regret fiering that shot because it proved nothing at all and I couldnt help feeling bad for taking an animals life without the actual need for food or survival.
It doesnt prove even anything at all you would fight something like a bear with a knife.

Oh...and there is more to it.
The killing isn't just all - the "fun" part (no way around it if you are serious about the ancestor thing) is skinning and gutting the carcass.
I mean, its not just the actual smell and the warm blood but also having to dig in that mess arm deep ..
Just not MY thing, but whatever floats your boat

Answer 2

I took hunter's safety as soon as I turned 12, and then I just spent a couple of years plinking around with guns so that I could hunt properly. I've been deer hunting for a while now, and I was pretty upset when I couldn't hunt my first year of college because I had to study for an exam that I had right after break ended. I've hunted deer and birds, and I feel bad about it killing another creature, but if you respect the animal and don't waste it, you'll be ok. I think it's a good experience. If you're worried about hunting, you should go with your friends who already have experience hunting. Maybe it would be better for you to start out with small game hunting before moving up to deer if you think that you may have issues with it. I'm not sure what the rules are for other states, but I know that in my state, people born after 1973 have to take a hunter's safety course. So, make sure you take that if you need to, and it will help you become more comfortable with hunting too.

Answer 3

Kudos to DJ. Took the words right out of my mouth. Perfect.

my own two cents, how did we survive before the modern age? We hunted for what we needed. You didn't kill you didn't eat. Now you don't HAVE to kill, but if we hunters don't how many more people die by hitting a deer? How do we control the deer population? The overpopulation of deer eating farmers crops prevents vegetarians from getting their meals. It's part of the chain. I would say try it. You never know you don't like something until you try it...within reason of course. Take an experienced hunter with you to help you. And if you don't want the meat or can't bear to gut you can give it to him/her.

Answer 4

the actual kill isn't all there is to hunting but if you do eat meat someone killed it for you, so with that there is a sense of accomplishment to taking game a providing for yourself and family, that you cant get at the market, theres also the bond with your hunting friends and time spent in the outdoors, but practice practice shooting because a quick humane kill is always what the hunter wants for respect of the animal taken, also it seems inevitable given time you may wound an animal and have to finish it, this can be avoided as much as possible by learning shot placement at different angles an using a laser range finder an practice shooting, a successful hunt doesnt mean a game animal was taken there are the friendships a memories that can only come from hunting camp, only way to know is to try it. ive hunting since i was twelve the legal age in pennsylvania im thirty now and would not have missed it for the world ive taken many animals, they are beautiful creatures but they arre also food, and from a management stand point nature controls population through disease(suffering) and the government with sharpshooters paid to kill.

Answer 5

I know exactly how you feel. I was raised in a hunting family, but I think I may be a little too soft for it, for lack of a better word. I hunt for one reason that you mentioned, it keeps me in touch with my ancestry. I love spending the time outdoors with my Dad and several family friends during the fall. You develop very close bonds with the people that you hunt with. My grandfather used to hunt to support his family, as his dad was killed when he was 13, and his mother worked as a teacher 30 miles away, which was a big distance back in the 1920's. It fell to my grandpa to take care of his brother and sister, and the way that he kept food on the table was by hunting. A love of the outdoors is something that's very strong in my family and, thankfully, me. That's one reason that I hunt.

The other reason that I hunt has simply to do with overpopulation. There are too many deer in Minnesota, especially where my family has its land. It's intensive harvest there, meaning that each person can take 5 deer. There is a reason for that. The biggest natural check on deer populations, the wolves, we all but eliminated from this state from the late 19th to mid 20th centuries. I feel that it is our duty to keep the deer in check, as we killed off the animals that did that for us. In a small sense, it's righting a terrible wrong.

Still, hunting and killing are two different things. It's impossible to describe what it's like to kill to someone who hasn't done it before. With deer, it's all at once elating and depressing. Mostly, I feel terrible. I'm not ashamed to admit that it makes me cry every time. I can't help but to wonder what right I had to take another animal's life. It really tears at your heart, but I know that it affects me more than some people. My father always tells me that this is how you should feel, that it never gets easier, but that that doesn't make it wrong, either. I may have killed one animal, but I undoubtedly saved one more from starvation or death at the hands of a car. And I for one, would much rather be killed instantly by a rifle round than by slow starvation. And that is the way it is. Every year we find at least one deer that has starved to death on our property, which is why I keep doing it, despite the heartache that it causes. I've recently switched over to bow hunting, as you must be closer to the animal and a far superior hunter to take a deer in that manner. And it can be equally painless for the deer.

There are three pieces of advice that I have for you if you are considering hunting: one; practice regularly with your weapon. You should never take a shot that is not well aimed that you haven't done at least a dozen times before in practice. You owe that, at the least, to the deer. Two: be careful who you hunt with. Not all people who hunt are hunters. Some just use it as an excuse to get drunk and act like a jerk with a gun. They don't respect the deer, and if you don't respect the deer, you have no right killing it. It should tear you up to take a life, and if it doesn't, you need help. And lastly, if you find that killing isn't something that you can bring yourself to do, try bow hunting, it's far more intimate. If it still is too much, try just taking shots with a camera. It's just as much fun, with none of the guilt. There are things that I have learned in a deer stand that no amount of schooling can teach you, and for the people who never experience it, I feel pity. It's a great time for self reflection, if nothing else. If you have any other questions, it would be my pleasure to answer them. Just send me an email from my contact page. Good luck to you, enjoy the hunt, and above all, be responsible.

Answer 6

I teach Hunter Education classes in Colorado. I have taught over 10,000 students how to hunt and be safe with firearms. Often when the students attend the class, their mother comes with them. When asked if they are taking the class they usually say "No I just want my kids to be safe around guns because their Dad hunts" Our classes run two nights and one "all" day. I would say at least half of the mothers that attend every night end up coming to me on the last day and telling me that they were really surprised what hunting was all about and they ask if they can sign up and complete the class with their children. Which I ,of course, tell them I would be pleased to have them in my class. Too many women and even men have the wrong idea about hunting and what hunter do and feel about their game. There are only a few jerk hunters out there that get the media attention but all of us ethical hunters have to live with the stain on our outdoor sport.

Answer 7

He that follows others, is not a leader or example to anyone.
He that tries to be someone else, fails to be him self.

Trying something new is not bad if you do it for the right reason, because you wont to.

I for one do not like football, and don’t pretend to do so to fit in with others.
The only football games I ever watched was when my son played in school and I never missed one home game.
I did not go because I liked football or was even interested in the game, I went because I loved my son and was interested in supporting and encouraging him to be his own man.
I never prevented my son from watching football or playing, I supported his right to choose for him self.

Hunting is a sport just like all others, but it is not a sport for all.
This is a choice only you can make.

I hunt because I love nature, and being exposed to nature.
I have hunted many days and never fired a shot, not because I was not presented with the shot.
But because I wonted to extend the hunt and get to enjoy more days in the woods.

To me my best hunt is not to fill my tag in the first day, but to hunt all the way till the last day.
Filling my tag does not matter that much to me for I donate most of the meat.
I can not eat 8 deer by my self, and that is what I am allowed to tag each year.

Hunting is not about killing but improving nature, the hunter is a tool of the Wildlife biologist.
Whether sports hunting or meat hunting it all has a place as a tool for the Wildlife biologist.


We all march to a different drummer.



D58


Hunting with Rifle, Pistol, Muzzle loader and Bow for over 3 decades.
Reloading Rifle, Pistol and shotgun for over 3 decades.

Answer 8

Unfortunately, 50 years of anthropomorphic Disney cartoons and the continued "Feminization" of our society have brainwashed many Americans into thinking that animals have personalities, souls, feelings, families, dreams for the future and the like. They most certainly do not.

Killing a deer has no more meaning in the world than smashing a cockroach on your kitchen floor, except that it provides food and is, as has been covered, a lot more work to clean up.

Murder means killing another human. Period. If you think that you would cry after shooting a deer, you probably shouldn't be trying it.

Answer 9

My personal philosophy behind hunting: you eat what you kill. If you took the deer home, felt sorry for it, and fed it to yourself and your friends/family with minimal waste, then that's just the food chain. Nothing wrong with that. I personally hope to do that someday as its a more natural way to provide for your family as opposed to eating a burger from a cow you never saw or had anything to do with its existence, and who probably had a horrible life in a mechanized farm and then was slaughtered.

*added*

If you have ever had a pet, you'd know that individual animals DO have personalities, feelings, and a sense of family. Killing of any kind is regrettable, especially when its not for defense or necessary provisions. The way I see it, its better spiritually to have to find an animal and kill it yourself for food than to buy a pound of pork or beef at the supermarket.

Answer 10

Go for it!

Anyone who eats meat, but is against killing animals is a big hypocrite who should be more honest with themselves.

Hunting is a great way to provide quality meat to your family, with no growth hormones, and of course, all organic! It's also completely sustainable because of wildlife management practices.

You have respect for the animals, so in my opinion you're the type of guy who SHOULD hunt!