Are hunting ranches wrong?

Question

I just recently learned about hunting ranches. For those of you who are not familiar, a hunting ranch is a ranch where the owners breed, feed and raise non-wild animals for sport-hunting in a closed enviroment. People pay thousands of dollars to go to these ranches to hunt rare or non-rare animals like bison or African deer for "entertainment". The kills can be stuffed or eaten for example.

When I first learned of this and started to do a little research, I found myself in a bit of a quandary. I am a meat eater yet I find this concept disgusting. Am I a complete hypocrite? Obviously the meat I ate was killed, but how? Was it killed on a hunting ranch or in the wild? What the difference in terms of what's right and what's wrong? I'm not going to stop eating meat, but should I change my viewpoint about hunting ranches?

Answer 1

Have you ever seen how they process cattle at a slaughterhouse? It's totally inhumane and disgusting and I won't even begin to describe it to you. If you eat meat then don't worry about hunting ranches because animals if not maintained will only die off anyway and possibly from starvation.
Exotic Game Hunting ranches have become an alternative financial resource for the survival of the ranch. You can no longer have a ranch by raising cattle. Believe me the animals killed on the ranch have a much easier death than that steak you ate.
Much of the meat that comes from hunting ranches goes to feed the poor and provides meals for youth ranches and orphanages.

Answer 2

I am an avid hunter. I have been hunting since I was fourteen years old. In Missouri you can buy your first deer tag for "fall firearms season" for seventeen dollars and they get cheaper after that, free if you own land. Buy some zip-lock baggies and some butcher paper and you can process 150 to 200 pounds of meat for cheap... no store compares to that. But as far as ranches go - I really don't like them. In Missouri there are plenty of deer to go around. I eat what I kill but still at the same time find it to be sporting so I don't do it just for the meat. It's a sport because you don't just kill deer, you want clean shots and it can be difficult sometimes. Killing wild deer HELPS manage and control deer populations... that is why the Missouri Department of Conservation keeps track of harvest numbers and places retrictions on those numbers. Now shooting exotic animals on a ranch is not appealing to me. I disagree that they are "use to humans and are tame" but they are diffenetly bigger because they are taken care of, fed, sometimes even given medical shots just like live stock. I wouldn't say that it is any more or less humane but when an animal is fensed in... no matter how big the ranch, it just doesn't seam right. You can shoot a wild deer and help manage heards at the same time (if you are doing it for the meat). If you are not doing it for the meat then why are you hunting a ranch? Probably to shoot a BIG or EXOTIC animal. I don't feel that either of those reasons are good enough reasons to end an animals life. I do admit that I hunt for the sport of hunting as well as for the meat... when was the last time you saw a store that sold dove, quail, duck, rabbit, squirrle, or deer for the price of a hunting license or a tag? You are not a hypocrite. There is nothing wrong with eating meat. Hunting is a sport when you do it in the wild. "Hunting" in a "cage" is not a sport. I cannot understand game ranches. You pay A LOT for the meat and the animal is fensed in! A clean shot is a clean shot no matter where that shot is made. So the only argument I think anyone has saying that game ranches are crule is that the animal is stuck there, it can't keep going, it eventually WILL be shot. But that is the same for cows, they can't keep running either. So if you look at it like they are a cow (just live stock) then it is probably MORE humane than beef. Slaughter houses are horrible. Game ranches do give the animal more freedom than being fattened up in a pin. But still, game ranches are not for me. I can see how some people hate them... I can at the same time see how they are not any worse than a real ranch where some fool would pay thousands of dollars to shoot a cow. Beats the slaughter house but its not hunting.

Answer 3

personally i think hunting ranches are wrong, but not because of the reason you do, i think if you hunt you should hunt them in the wild not where the animal will come right up to you, you are a little hypocritical no offense because thats basically what a slaughter house is except nobody pays thousands of dollars to hunt the animals them selves, and the meat you eat is probably from a slaughter house. and yes hunting ranches are unfair, it dosent give the animals a chance and it shouldnt even be called hunting it should be called shooting a pet, i am disgusted with them as well but its good that you know and asked if you were hypocritical.

Answer 4

Those Game ranches still have to buy a permit from the fish and game or the Dept. of natural resources(DNR) to operate. Even tough the game taken on these ranches are not native the permit money goes to help the local and native wildlife. The Antis make it sound very easy to shoot an animal on one of these ranches. It's not really.....unless you are very lucky. Although it is easier than going out into the woods and hunting wildlife that is free roaming. In the wild the wildlife have many predators. On these ranches there are few predators so the game is less skittish.
But anyone can go to the store and buy a steak. Where is the talent in that? The animals that are raised on a cattle ranch or a farm live a much less glamorous life than wild animals. As a result wild animals and even these animals that are raised for the purpose of hunting have a better quality life in many cases living longer than farm raised animals.

Answer 5

Canned hunts are becoming more and more prevalent as private land is gobbled up. Many farmland in our area once used to be open to hunt if you ask permission. Now a large portion is leased for hunting privileges.

As this "movement" becomes more and more prevalent the smaller amount acreage or ground open to all decreases and hunting pressure increases. Some people opt for a guarantee of the canned hunt.

I don't have a problem with the hunting ranches that raise exotics, and sell hunts for profit. I've seen ranches such as the Y-O in Texas with a long history of raising exotics for hunts. Some of these ranches have been integral in bringing several endangered species back from the brink. The Y-0 played a large part in recovering several games species back from near extinction levels to a healthy population and have played a part in restoring populations back to the wild. This courtesy of the expenses paid for "Canned hunts"

BTW Bison is not a rare species. And Game ranches have breeding herds and harvest animals based on healthy culling practices.
Buffalo "hunts" are becoming more common, Many ranchers have opted to raise Buffalo as it's meat is leaner and healthier then beef. Some of there harvest is sent to packing plants and other's held in reserve for "hunting"..

I don't know. I consider it shooting not hunting. Big difference.

I believe the "hunt" is about being in the "wild" and stalking the game that is wary.
I like Buffalo, I've yet to "Shoot" one, I buy Buffalo meat from a friend who owns a small packing plant and processes the "Farm raised" buffalo..

Rarity is an illusion when the animal is purposely raised and breed for that purpose.

Release and shoot is immoral, Ranch raised animals that are wary and roaming wild, is no different then chasing whitetail in the fall.

Answer 6

Personally, I would not hunt a game ranch. However, I don't think that it's "wrong" so to speak.

It may not be the same thing as "real" hunting, however, I'm not one to tell another hunter that taking an animal in a perfectly legal situation is wrong.

I have a friend who recently took his disabled brother on a hunt at a ranch recently. His brother was an avid hunter, but after a head injury, he was unable to get out and do any real hunting in the woods. My buddy's bro had a blast hunting at the ranch. With this in mind, I feel that "canned" ranch hunts have their place.

Answer 7

There is nothing immoral or disgusting about Hunting Ranches*. Would you rather they die of old age & disease?* What about the cattle, pigs, chickens, fish, turkey, seafood, horses, sheep that are slaughtered every second so people can continue eating them.* Millions & Millions.* You cannot compare or separate or make a distinction between Wild Hunting, Ranch Hunting, Domestic Hunting, because these are just different forms of Hunting.* Hunting requires killing whether its Domestic Animals, Ranch Animals, Wild Animals. It is what it is & you are in denial if you do not acknowledge that fact.*

Answer 8

I have participated in "hunting" on a preserve in PA. I would say it was not true hunting, but I would not have been able to afford the cost of a hunting trip and other fees associated with this. We enjoyed ourselves and we took our meat home with us. There are some animals that I will never have a chance to hunt or see in their native habitat.
This just gives some people a reasonable chance to "hunt" animal thaat they would probably never have a chance to do.
Wheather it is right or wrong it doesn't bother me, I just had a good time with some friends and brought some meat home for the freezer(it still tatses good).

Answer 9

Yes, hunting ranches do raise game animals for the hunter. However, not all game ranches have their animals enclosed in small pastures waiting to get shot by a well heeled hunter. I cannot afford to hunt these ranches but I have had the privalege of being a guest on two hunts on two different game ranches in Texas. The two ranches that I hunted had raised exotic game as well as trophy white tail deer. They had very large areas of one to three square miles enclosed in game-proof fence in which the animals were located. Huntiing them in this environment was no different that hunting them anywhere else. Plus, the rancher had some very strict rules of what you could kill and what you couldn't. These ranches are regulated by the state and are bound to "fair chase rules". It wasn't like shooting fish in a rain barrel, that's for sure. Of course, there are unscrupulous game ranch operators who pen up animals or simply release them in view of the "hunter" who then kills them. Now, that's shooting fish in a rain barrrel. In my view, it is unethical and immoral at best AND it is illegal in most places. Places such as this are operating withour state approval and licensing and are illegal. Anyone who opeerates such a ranch and anyone who hunts on this kind fo ranch are both subject to the full weight of the provisions of the applicable laws. Believe me, you don't want to run afoul of game laws in Texas. You can kill someone and get off with having your wrists slapped but if you break game laws you can loose all of your gear such as your gun, your vehicle, etc and be stuck with a severe fine and possible jail time.

I agree that "release and shoot" ranches are immoral and I am opposed to them but the well regulated and properly run game ranches I have no problem with.

Answer 10

ima say this....im 20 years old now, ive been hunting all my life...ive had my fid and first license since i was 15..as ma state law requires..and ive watched this stuff on tv..hunting the ranches, it depends on how they are hunting them..if there sitting in a big *** box blind on the ground, or evin on a tripod blind stand..i think its wrong, because its not hunting..here in mass, uyou work for your deer, or pheasant, or wat ever the case may be. But some of those ranches like in t exas, many of them are huge, the deer breed on there own, its just the way they are hunted that i am against. Just my opinion though.