Yeah,I hunt, and I fish too...and I'm proud of it...Humans were always hunters...the animal rights problems started when most of us stopped hunting...insofar as competency in hunting is concerned...anyone ever watch wolves on a kill? I have...and believe me...they arent pretty...effective, yes, but not pretty...statistically, Hunters..., all hunters, are about 12 percent effective, meaning one kill for every7-8 true attempts, and this holds true for whatever SPECIES is doing the hunting...eagle,tiger or man...lions and wolves and other cooperating species are a tad more effective, but still in the 12 percent range...
The only known exception is the Cape Hunting Dog...which as a group can be up to 60 percent effective...So MAN is not the killing machine the non-hunting world would have us believe...no species has ever been hunted out of existence, unless Habitat destruction was also involved...


oh...and Pitman-Roberts Taxes PAY for most of the Conservation efforts in the US...this is a voluntarily-imposed tax on Hunting and fishing gear that has existed since the "30s....hunter and fisher [SPAM] suggested and shepherded it thru the congress...

one last thing...I would rather eat the flesh of an animal that has lived its life uninterfered with,that's had a chance to reproduce, that hasn't been warehoused birth -to- death <ever been in a production chicken house?>and I've been known to eat road-killed deer and pigs<javelina> just so they wouldn't go to waste...

Whatever else I may be...I am human...when I die, if the buzzards will have me, they're welcome to me...'til then, we all Vaya where the Diosa will have us go...plant, animal, and Human....

Well, I hunt paper targets.... I forage for food in a supermarket. Actually I am ok with hunting if you cleen and eat what you take and handle your self responcibley. One of our vet's breeds golden retrevers and hunts.
Then hunting is a major support for conservation etc. A good balance for wild life.
Actually shooting is a great hobby. Sometime check out cowboy mounted shooting.

Rus

I am a life member of NRA and a gun owner, I have hunted but haven't had the time to go for several years. I nejoyed the time spent out in the mountains of Montana and spent more time "hunting" then shooting. Just getting out away from town and cares was enough. I take the Native American view on hunting and such... if there's a real need for the meat, and ask for the sacrifice of the animal... then honor the animal who gave its life for you. This i don't take lightly.
Heard a story once about an old mountain man who was living in a cave with a female panther.... hmmmmmm my imagination runs wild.... :rolleyes:

I strongly reccommend everyone to be extremely careful about the words use and about what is depicted in your posts , remember that rule:

ALL CATEGORIES:

DO NOT:

5.1.3 post anything depicting harm to people or animals ie: blood death vomit etc.


I did a brief (very brief) research and I haven't found any post on hunt , that makes me suspicious , how's possible that this argument hadn't been discussed before?

more likely it has but something went wrong.

so again be extremely careful

Nope, and have no desire ever to do so.

I personally would never go hunting lest it were necessary for my survival (e.g. living up in an isolated cabin in the Alaskan wilderness)

i think this is a very thought provoking topic.

im an environmentalist and i understand the need, yes, NEED for hunting from other individuals. The system is fair and monitored, although i dont agree with hunting bears, we need all the carnivores in this country as we can get.

That said, i could never do it myself, and couldnt see being friendly with anyone who did, just because of the different mindsets. I think life in every form is priceless (except spiders-- EW!! haha) and i couldnt imagine snuffing the life out of a living, breathing, wanting, sentient creature.

I know that in essence im doing the same thing by eating meat, and ive tried a life without animal meat, and it truly isnt realistic for me. I understand what i eat was once living. But it is a good part of the human diet and if i had to eat anything id rather it be cow and chicken and turkey than nondomesticated animals. I cant STAND people who get grossed out by raw meat, or bones in thier food, etc. Its like, what you are eating was once alive, deal with it. Its meat.

the only hunting I do is for fish and only catch enough for eating. The rest get thrown back. Though fishing is more of a secondary point as I find it very relaxing to be sitting on a boat or on the banks of a river where the only sounds are those of nature. Also good if it a nice warm day with a slight breese.

i am an absolute gun nut ... but i dont hunt ... i could do it .. but i just dont ... hunting has never been my thing.

I hunt and fish according to the laws of the area. I believe in taking only as much as I need and using as much as possible, of what I take. I don't take my limit just because I can, I take it because it will be used. I will not express my veiws on trophy hunting. They ain't pretty and would probably get me banned.

Well said saddlebum
I usually avoid this thread because I try not to make anyone mad at me--for any reason. Finally have to put my 2 cents in. I do hunt although not as much as I did when I was younger. Old age has tended to slow me down a bit. :lol: However, I am still proud of the fact that I do hunt. First, I agree with everything saddlebum said. In addition, I would like each non hunter to answer this question---you and your child are together and the two of you have run out of food and are starving. Would you rather stand there day after day and watch as your child slowly loses weight and dies of starvation, crying because their belly is empty. Or would you rather see a bullet bring a quick end to her suffering? Well folks, whether any of us like it or not, that is the postion animals are coming to. Every day, more woods are cleared for human habitation, more farms are going bankrupt and turned into housing projects and malls, gas stations, and fast food joints. Millions of illegals are crossing our borders and these people have to have somewhere to live, not to mention all the babies being born evey day. This means that animals are being pushed into smaller and smaller areas. An area will only support so many animals and sooner or later they will run out of food. Then they will starve---the smallest (the babies), going first. Thinning them out by hunting is the smart idea. Take the surplus--the mature animals-- so the rest may live including the babies.
Also, when animals are allowed to keep reproducing until there are to many in a certain area--you have problems. One being that canines--such as fox and coyote get mange. If you have never seen a canine in the final stages of mange---then you need to before cutting down hunters. Also, some animals carry diseases such as racoon and skunks carry rabies. Doesn't matter you say?? Then would your answer be the same if your child were bitten by a rabid animal?? How about the mountain lions in california that are becoming a deadly nuisance because hunting them has been outlawed. Attacks and killings of humans have become more and more frequent as they lose their fear of humans. They are only doing what their instincts tell them you say??? What if it were your child that you just watched a mountain lion grab and start dragging off into the woods to eat? Would you still feel the same???
I am a hunter and proud of it. No--all hunters are not ethical---just as there are non hunters who are not always ethical. Even if you are a non hunter---support legal and wise hunting---you will be doing the animals a favor in the long run. And I hate to be a pessimist, but I am afraid that animals are doomed in the long run anyway----and they will not be done in by hunters--but by the ever increasing human population. The only thing I can see stopping that would be a catastrophe of monumental proportions that drastically reduces the human population.

Well...I see your point but your questions are one sided, of course a parent is going to vote for hunting in those situations, but they really aren't truly realistic questions.
I could just as easily ask something like that with an anti-hunting point of view and it'd be just as one-sided.

I don't hunt, never have. Once my dad did give me a gun and show me how to use it, but I was afraid of it. Since I eat a plant-based diet and my animals do as well, there is definately no need to hunt for food.

Hunters who eat deer should be warned; deer may have brain-wasting disease (similar to BSE/mad cow disease) and in my opinion should not be eaten.

I don't hunt, and I personally think its wrong (especially when you have the people hunting for a sport - sorry, but how can killing an animal be a sport??). But I understand the need to hunt in some circumstances (like keeping population down etc), and of course, I would hunt if it was to stop myself (or friends / family) from starving).

It's just hunting for pure fun, hunting as a sport that I don't like (but as said above, I can understand hunting to keep population down and the like).

I, personally, was for the fox hunting ban in the UK, as IMO, how can a dog ripping a fox apart be painless for the fox? If the huntmen just shot the fox in the head (= instead death) then its a different story alltogether, but why make the fox suffer?

nb - yes, I know the above can be debated - ie - how do I know a dog ripping a fox apart isn't painless. But think about it, if you had to choose one, which would you prefer to be done to yourself - get ripped apart by a dog, or bullet into your head.

Well
Look at the western US. Lack of rain for 20+ years has brought an end to many ranching opperations and many 100's squ miles of what was open range. We not being good care takers of open space will pay alonge with the animals a terrable price.
In the last year I have seen near me 300 squ miles of ranch land go to house lots.
There is no place to get away from people any more. Dont beleave me go to a national park.

in life as more people get forced closer togeather there tolorence for others beleafs or recreation waines. The funey thing is without many different people doing many diferent things we would all have a hard time. I have a neighbor next door this fall he will offer some dear meat. Many years ago I got cought in a massive blizard. The city had drifts over 20 feet. In the block ware I lived I was the law for a week. A job I once had and have taken off and on if there was a need.
My point it takes many trades to make a village or major city.
Hunters are trying to keep open land so we can hike ride camp
In New England many years ago horsemen gave money and land to help save the space for the birds. Now the horses have been prohibited from the same land because they scare the birds.
Just a thought or two

I hunt so think about it this way because there are no predeators left to kill any thing the population would sky rocket then there wouldn't be enough food to support that many animals so they would starve to death and desise would also spread faster. Hunting is also very controlled by the game wardens and fish and game and i don't shoot the first thing i see i have had deer in the cross hairs perfect shot but i did not take it the farthest a deer has ran after i shot it was 25 yards.

This post has been edited by memau on Oct 3 2006, 09:17 PM