What Are Your Views On Hunting?

Question

Deer hunting to me is cruelty, I hate anyone who does it. I just don't understand why people would take away an animals life just for the pleasure of it. There are many people who hunt but some do not, what do you all think about it? I feel very very strongly about my decision on hunting because it is a bad thing to do to an animal. Tell me what you think about it and I will be thankfull. Thanks alot!

Madison T.

Answer 1

I really do wish the general population could spend a little time on a farm and understand where meat comes from. I've got cows, fish and pecans, which I raise specicially for eating; in fact I'm letting my 12 year old daughter pick out which cow she wants to have butchered this year. As a side note, she picked out a real pretty steer named "blaze" which she has known since birth. It is a cold reality, but stuff dies to feed you, me and everyone.

I heard Ted Nugent on a show last year and the host was giving him crap about hunting. Ted informed the host to "not be fooled, but that leather he was wearing was nothing but a fur coat with a hair-cut" or something to that effect. The only people who really aren't exploiting animals for personal gain are hardcore Vegans, but who the heck can eat that much tofu??????? If that is their choice, I apauld them for their convictions! Otherwise, I think most people should realize that hamburger you had for lunch was once a furry bovine who was capable of nuturing affection for her beloved offspring. She lived, she died, she was ground up and she was mighty TASTY. Get over it because you're the end user of killing too.

Now as far as hunting goes, I hunt and am teaching my kids to do the same thing. My 12 year old just killed her first deer just before Thanksgiving. I'm teaching them to respect nature, to not take game recklessly, and to appreciae the God-given beauty that surrounds us, ( oh and to exercise their 2nd amendment rights). We don't hunt just for fun; We eat what we kill when hunting. And the first thing my daughter did after walking up to the deer was thank it for giving its life to feed our family. And feed it did!!!! From that one doe, we processed 40 lbs of meat!

Hunting teaches a new respect for nature and anaimals, and anyone who thinks its just easy as walking around and pointing a gun is sadly mistaken. There's nothing (to me) quite as unique as being out on a lake as the sun rises and watching the ducks move in and the world wake up around you. Or being up in a stand, or down on the ground by a tree, and the animals come right up too you. From eagles to mice, you get to see nature as a whole and get a new perspective on the order of the world. By the way, I see that order as "eat or be eaten", and all animals have their place, some are predators, some are prey.

Now, sometimes I do kill without eating my target. That is called predator control, and I do it daily on my farm. Otters, beavers, cormorants, mice, all of these can be very desructive. Unless I control them, I face financial devistation and the prospect of loosing my farm and homelessness and hunger. Do I enjoy killing? No, but it is a must do thing.

Come to think of it, the deer and wild hogs on my farm have a lot better chance of survival than my cows do, their fate was pretty much determined from birth.

Answer 2

Dear Madison T, you sound like a gentle soul so let me be as gentle as possible replying to your question. Hunting, Madison, is the natural order of things. Man is a hunter/gatherer. That is how it is. Animals are hunted all the time, by other animals. Bears hunt, big cats hunt, wolves hunt. Even tabby cats hunt. They are not gentle when they take their game. Is this cruel, existing in a world where fang and claw rules? No, because those are the only tools these animals can hunt with. Man, on the other hand, uses a high powered rifle (or weapon) that terminates game more cleanly & less painfully.

Do you eat or use any animal products Madison? Perhaps you are a vegetarian but do you wear leather shoes, carry a leather purse, wear a leather belt, jacket, etc. Does you car have leather upholstery? Is your home or office furniture leather? Where do you suppose these animal products come from? Do you know where your Mickey D's burger or the Colonel's chicken comes from? Think: Slaughter house.

At least a hunted animal has the opportunity to get away, domesticated animals herded into slaughter house do not. So you think hunting is cruel? No Madison, it is the natural order of things.

Best.

H

Answer 3

Well Madison,

I'll tell you the same thing I told my Mother some 30 years ago when I started hunting, I do it for the food, I like the tastes of wild game, it is not cheap nor easy. Now when it is brought up, (about my hunting) I ask her when you hit a deer on the road way to or from Andy house (her second son and who by the way lives in a small town 2 hours from the cities) you'll ask yourself, why can't something be done about all of these deer.

Answer 4

Madison,
I was born and raised here in Montana, I hunt for food, my family eats nothing but wild game. Don't get me wrong I do enjoy hunting, not the killing part, but the hunt. It is awesome to get up early in the morning plan out my hunt. There are many parts of hunting, planning, weather, moon phases, its not like I drive 5 miles out of town and shot some poor deer standing in a field. I really enjoy the exercise, and being out in the fresh air, but besides all that if we do not shoot some of the deer they would become overpopulated and starve to death. for those of us that are true hunters and true sportsmen we take hunting very seriously, I respect the animals that I hunt, I do my very best to make a good clean shot so the animals do not suffer. I think it comes down to where and how people are raised. I have high blood pressure and a few years ago my doctor told me I could only have 5 ounces of beef a day, but I can have all the wild meat I want. Wild game is way healthier to eat.
Anyway hunting is not always the way it seems.

Answer 5

I'm willing to bet no one you know is a hunter. You may have met a few slobs with guns but no hunters. How can you hate someone you've never met? It's like turning your mind off and believing the tales spun by politicians. Meet some and spend some time with them out in the field. It will be a real eye opener for you.

I am a hunter and I eat what I kill. Is it wrong to enjoy the time spent out in the field? Your objection seems to be the smallest part of the hunt. The kill near the end if there is one. As others here have stated everything dies. By the time you get that far you've made sure that it will be clean and that the animal won't suffer unduly. Much better than can be said for the animals that provided the meat from you local supermarket or restaurant. Deaths in nature tend to be violent or painful ones. Be it from a predator, accident or starvation. Which is better?

Hunting is a natural process. You seem to have left that behind an moved into a unnatural and unsustainable urban existence. The habitat of the wildlife (and by extension population) has been reduced to monoculture farmland, oil well field or a mining operation to provide the living quarters, food, and energy you use to berate those who choose more natural options. You're going to need a dictionary. The word you are looking for is hypocrite.

Answer 6

I think that while eating any type of meat, or a majority of plants, will cause someone or something somewhere to suffer. The only way to live a cruelty-free life is not to eat at all, and even that's likely to make someone or something suffer.

In all seriousness, though, a deer has a much better life than most, if not all, livestock, and killing it is far more ethical if the hunter has a sufficient round and a good shot placement.

Without hunters, parks and wilderness trails would be far less maintained, if there even were so many as there are now. Money from licenses and tags go back to keeping the outdoors clean and accessible, as well as keeping park rangers paid and equiped.

Don't forget, without wolves as the deer's natural predator, and with all the cultivated crops we plant to feed ourselves, the deer have an unlimited food supply and nothing to keep their population in check. That's why states issue just enough deer tags to keep the population from getting out of control, eating too much, spreading disease, and generally causing trouble.

Answer 7

Humans have been hunting and eating animals since the beginning of time. It IS part of human nature, and is part of human culture in America. All predator prey relationships are inherently somewhat cruel. But, nature in itself is cruel. The alternative to controlling animal populations by hunting is starvation, which is a more more cruel way for any animal to die. I live in Michigan, and we have a deer population of approximately 2 million animals. Without hunting, deer would starve. That isn't opinion, it's fact. Ending hunting would simply sentence a million deer to starvation within two years. Human activity has made any natural existence for almost any animal species impossible. Most areas lack natural predators like wolves, bears, or cougars. So, the choice boils down to hunter, or starvation. I'm a wilderness camper, and have personally seen starving animals. To see a deer so malnourished it lacks the strength to even stand, and lays down and dies, is not a pretty sight. One last point. I'm certain that the life and death of a wild animal that is killed by a hunter, is a better life than that experienced by domestic animal raised commercially, and butchered for your dinner. You just don't have to see, or think about what is done to those animals so that you can have dinner or big macs.

Answer 8

I hunt and fish because it is enjoyable to me giving me food and relaxation in an enviroment that I enjoy!
Last year alone I ate just over 80 days on wild game and fish!
But those days afield to gather that allow me to enjoy time with friends also to teach a fews children about hunting and fishing.They learn many things other than the kill but this is what most anti's dwell on only.
I will not go into the why's because I think that a few other posters did very well in saying why we hunt or fish!I am not here to duplicate!!

Now to a poster that stated information that is incorrect!
Wolves are top predetors and do not only take the week sick or injured animals!They are the top killers of fawn or young animals in their habitat and will take large healthy animals also with no problem.

You fail to mention that it is the dollars from hunters and fishermen alike that keep those lands and creatures operating or in check!With out habitat there would not be much land for your doe eyed deer to live or for you to camp and enjoy with family.Recreational use dollars is what keeps our lands open and even opens more land up to be saved for wildlife and humans to enjoy.Just camping dollars are not near enough to sustain the needs for the millions of acres for personal uses.
Ok why do you allow the killing of large growth timber to make someone else money so they can sell you a table or anything else.Also most of that timber is exported any ways!
Those dollars do not go to helping keep or lands for wildlife it takes away!
This is a personal choice in which we have because we live in the finest country in the world!
By choice I hunt and fish and yes at times I have to take the life of a fish or deer to give me food.

Answer 9

If you eat meat it is not different.

20 years ago in my neck of the woods nearly 90% of the men I knew went hunting. There was not many deer at all then.

20 years later, with all the hunting, there are to many deer. It's a constant danger traveling the roads with deer out all the time, 24 hours.

We had a late freeze this past spring that destroyed the major acorn crop this year. What few there are is only about the 1/4" in size. This is the whitetails main food source in the fall. They should be building a fat reserve with what food they find. It is to many deer competeing for the food. Many will stave to death if we have a bad winter. Have you ever seen anything starve to death? It is horrible.

God gave us meat to eat. He also gave us dominion over the Earth.

Genesis 1:26
And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

The deer herds need to be thined down inorder to keep the herds healthy.

I am against trophy hunting. My state recently pastd a three point rule. Hunters are no longer able to kill younger bucks. In my opinion they are the best meat, in flavor and texture, over older bucks, older does, and young does. State law forces us to be a trophy hunter. Where are my rights? I want what I feel is the best food for my family.

Answer 10

Its about responsibility. We have long ago encroached on their habitat. We have eliminated their natural predators and so the herd grows unchecked. Eventually there is no food and the deer starve to death. Most wildlife management make sure that only a certain number of bucks and does are taken to keep the herd strong. They know the ratio of kills to permits and issue enough permits to keep the population down to a level that the area and the available feed can support. I believe its MUCH more humane to dispatch a deer or any other animal with a quick, clean shot than it is to let it starve to death. I dont hunt. I dont have that bloodlust. BUt there are lots who do and it does serve a purpose. And dont forget the Robinson Pittman act that takes all those hunting fees and makes your out of doors better.

Answer 11

As a man that has hunted, and/or been involved in the hunting tradition since early childhood, I feel very strongly about what it means to me. There are so many well thought out and verbalized opinions on this board and so I won't go into all the intricacies regarding the realities of the natural world. They've been very well expressed already.

I will argue that anyone that disregards precious life so callously as to pluck it away without purpose is a very low form of life. But, to take game and engage in the hunting experience for the purpose of providing food on the table and feeling a part of the natural world that has slipped from the consciousness of so many people today, is not at all cruel, barbaric or less than human.

To me, being a part of the natural world around me, feeling the wind, smelling the woods and ultimately linking into a primal part of who we are and where we came from... hunting prey, makes me a more complete person than I could be without it.

I respect the animal that I have taken. My family recognizes it's sacrifice for the sustaining of our lives.

I think if you allowed yourself to understand the respect that a true hunter has for his prey, it's life and sacrifice, and the natural world around them, you'ld be more concerned for humanity's constant drift away from our real world. And, ultimately its lost understanding of the process that took place to put any food on your plate.