Question about hunting.?

Question

I used to go hunting all the time but then I stopped when I was in the Army for 3 years because I was in Germany and it is almost impossible to hunt there.But after I got home I went turkey hunting and it wasn't the same I didn't want to kill the animals anymore.I mean If my family was starving I would.Did any one else ever have this happen to them.I still love to go shooting and collect guns.And I still like to eat turkey and deer.I think I am getting soft.

Answer 1

I was a very avid and successful hunter & enjoyed it for thirty-six(36) years until one day I did not want to do it anymore & I thought I would never see the day that this change in me would take place.* {never, never, never} I could not believe it was happening to me of all people.* I hunted Cottontail Rabbits with my Beagle Dogs, Grouse, Woodcock, Pheasant, Crows, Squirrel, Groundhogs & Deer with Bow & Arrow & Rifle.* I ate every animal that I harvested or shared it with others.* I can't explain it.* It was never about killing the animal, it was about the pursuit or stalking of game & enjoying watching the dogs work & listening to them when they were trailing.* I do know that because I got away from it that other hunters had an opportunity to harvest & enjoy what I did not harvest had I continued to hunt.> Target Shooter, Conservationists, Plinker, Trap & Skeet, Outdoorsman, Sportsman, Rifle, Shotgun, Pistol, Revolver, Bow & Arrow.* Many wonderful memories of all the hunting that I did do. That is something no one will ever be able to take away from you.*Great hunting & happy trails to everyone.*

Answer 2

Hunting is like any sport that you do for the enjoyment of it. When it quits being fun, don't do it any more. You are absolutely right, in my opinion, to have an aversion to killing anything just to see it fall down. A truly ethical hunter enjoys the hunt but does not waste the animal. For years, I hunted deer and kept my freezer full of venison. Then one day my wife and I were talking about venison and we agreed that we had eaten about all we cared to. It is good meat but we had eaten it for many years and had grown tired of it. I have not hunted deer since because I refuse to kill and not eat the game. Obviously you and I both still enjoy the out of doors and the hunt. Perhaps you could consider what I am looking into and that is wildlife photography. It has all the enjoyment of being in the woods and pursuing the wildlife but eliminates the killing. No, you're not getting soft, if you are no longer deriving pleasure from those things that you used to find pleasure in doing, you should either modify those things such that they once again provide you with pleasure or you should find other venues for finding pleasure. This is not becoming soft, it is gaining in wisdom.

Answer 3

While I've never been in the army, I can say I've had the same situation.

I've grown up duck hunting, and right after my high-school years I started feeling 'soft' as you put it. Hunting has been an ongoing tradition in my family and is something I really do enjoy. I do not enjoy killing for fun, but for tradition.

I've come to sort of a compromise. When I go for a weekend, I only bag one duck and eat it that night. That way theres no waste and I can still enjoy myself. Hunting should be about tradition, not about killing.

I'm not a big game shooter, mostly because it seems like I'd have so much meat left over that I couldn't justify killing a deer.

I wouldnt look at your situation as "going soft", but maybe thinking a little more logically about how life works.

Good luck and have fun.

Answer 4

The talking heads probably have some psychobable phrase or term for this but don't worry; it is very common. My dad served in the pacific during WW II and never hunted afterwards; nor did my uncles. After my time in the service I haven't hunted, either. I do enjoy collecting and shooting old military rifles however. This is not a 100 per cent thing, the not hunting, I have a friend who served seven tours as a sniper and he likes to get a deer and elk every season; and usually does. All god's chillums is different.

Answer 5

I am in a very similar situation but it wasn't due to my military service, it was mostly related to the hassle factor, which basically means I flat out don't have the time for it, and over time have hunted less and less. I still make at least 4 duck/geese trips a year, and about the same for fishing trips. Every couple of years I'll make a deer hunt, but for me, I don't really care for venison all that much, so one deer will last my family for a long time. I refuse to shoot anything I don't eat, so I'm not like a lot of my friends who hunt to subsidies their freezer. For me, it's more about gettng in the outdoors as opposed to the kill. I mostly do a lot of plinking with the .22s on the weekends when I am doing my pre-season "scouting."

Answer 6

"killing' something does not make you a hunter..the killing is just part of what hunting is all about.
I hunt.... for geological formations, animal habbitat, and there forrage resorces, evidence of habbitation, and,.. for a mans realitys, a mountians undisturbed essence, the wind's tracks, a rain's affects, the storys on new snow, a kids invested attention, a friends company, a journeys pathways, happyness near but subtel, teas of joy,
gifts from the heart, [given or recieved], and shelter from [or for] stormy times.
A hunter need'nt be a killer.. he can be a provider, a dependable comradand companion, a reliable sorce, a survivalist, compassionit, concerned, self relient and generous, and never 'kill' any thing.
You sound more a sportsman, than what i knew to typical 'hunter' to be, fixated on the death of or the shooting of there hunting.
Personally, You got my admiration.
I hunted all my life, and one day, my ideas of 'life' changed, i 'knew' a familuairity with the animals i 'hunted'.. and i felt the life of them,.. and realized they loved the life they lived, every bit as i loved the life i lived.
"Killing' somethin just makes you a sucessfull killer... hunting something, makes you learn all there is to know about what you are hunting, in order to find it.
Be the best hunter you can be... the world needs a few more 'hunters' just like you.

Answer 7

One year I found myself between jobs and kept meat in the freezer to feed my family with venison, wild pork and wild turkey so I think this experience made me a life-time hunter. However, like you, now I find hunting is just not the same.

One matures and hunting becomes less of a 'game' and more of a serious business. I'm no longer interested in experimenting with diverse calibers to see which one is 'better' at dropping game. I have regrets like having experimented with the .223 as a 'deer' rifle. Now I go with the tried n true rather than have to shoot anything more than once. I am more selective about game I hunt also.

H

Answer 8

I wouldn't call it soft. I look at it like we have grown older and wiser for the experiences and fantastic memories, and in a sense for no real reason or reasons unknown, we realize that our lives have "come full circle"... The passion for the hunt will always be there to a degree, but the responsibilities that life throws at us make us put it further down on our list of "priorities"..than it was when we were younger, and care-free without families to take care of,or children.........

I find for me personally, that I get more pleasure and enjoyment now, watching younger hunters just starting out and getting to witness their accomplishments and successes, following that same path of wonder,excitement and astonishment of the outdoors and what it offers us all. I still love the hunt, don't think I don't, but I'm not personally driven to it as I was when I was younger. I feel like I have had my own "personal" share of memories and it's time to share others memories with the newest generations now. It's no longer just about me and what I want or need to do, or what I need to accomplish.I don't feel the need that I have anything to prove to anyone. It's about letting someone else have their "TURN" at the happiness and pleasure, ands menories. I've already known.....As I said in the beginning, It isn't about being soft..It's about going full circle in ones life...Getting pleasure from knowing that it's our turn to pass the knowledge and wisdom we've laerned on..To pay it forward.......

Answer 9

No, just growing up. You may even decide to hunt again. I've always said I'd stop hunting when I stop regretting the kill. It's the natural end to a hunt, but the emotions should be mixed if you have respect for your game.

Answer 10

Never hunted during the entire decade of my 20s. Busy with school, work, girls, partying, travel, 'finding myself' by rejecting my youth and distancing myself from my family and family traditions, etc.

One of my best hunting friends had a 'gross out' at 16 after taking a mulie with his dad and became a "Veg" for like 15 years. In his mid 40s, he's quite the opposite and makes the best venison-pork sausages you have ever had.....Go figure.