Reflections On Deer Hunting

“Karo: hehe.. I always use ground venison for my beef on BP trips..

Dayhiker: LMAO... sorry John.. you will NEVER make an Alabamie fan outta me.. in spite of Fulmer's idiocy.

Joe Pye: Ruger makes a good firearm, no doubt. I have a Ruger 22 also.”

“Dahmer: Granted a 30.06 has more knockdown power.. but i luv the trajectory for a 25.06.”

“I go to the same park just about every day on my lunch break. I've seen deer there many times. Today I was close enough to a doe to actually see snot drip from her nose.

I'm not against hunting by any means, I've even done some in the past, if you want to shoot rabbits or squirrels fine, a wild boar ok, but I think deer are some of the most athletic creatures around.

My $0.02?, I may just be a big sissy but I don't think I could look at a deer through the scope of a gun and bring it down.”

“If you think about how overpopulated they are and how many of them will starve to death through the winter does it make it any easier? I'd much prefer a quick death myself.”

“sissy.

(someone had to say it)”

“Hey sacco, have you been out yet this year?”

“Inbreeding is a common occurance at Eagle Creek Park in Indy. I've heard stories of a double muzzled deer, and another deer with very short front legs.
Perhaps that was not snot running out of her nose.”

“Humans will always find a reason to shoot game animals.

They're talking about hunting bear again ... who aren't starving by the way ... and aren't becoming a big problem with automobiles smashing into them ... Some people just like to kill animals and of course will use the excuse that it's for their own good. If people can kill innocent babies under the theory "Well, they're still attached to an umbilical cord and I can't see them." then you know the hunting won't stop anytime soon.”

“oh no...don't get me wrong...i know it's necessary...man's irrational, ignorant fear of natural predators and destruction of habitat more than warrant it hunting, i was just saying i don't think i could do it

do deer actually starve to death?...is that a michigan thing?...maybe climate related?...i've never heard of that down here”

“LOL @ Socco...i was gonna post that myself but you beat me to it

oh god, here we go...don't make this into a debate people...just sharing a thought and experience”

“I couldn't shoot a deer either and even worse if I had to gut the thing, I think I'd get sick doing it. We have lots of deer around here and it should be a good season for hunters.”

“wussy! ;-)”

“yep.
i managed to squeeze in about 6 or 7 total days of bowhunting north and south over the last 5 or 6 weekends.

i saw 1 buck, 1 doe. no shot at either.

the back of my property is a huge ravine and once the gun guys get out, sometimes they head there for cover.
so hopefully in a couple weeks i'll get back out for once last chance. (pretty tough to get into bow range on a bedded dear tho)


you?”

“Yep, deers starve to death. I've seen some in Quebec....when the winters were really bad. It's a bad way to go....but at least their bodies fed some coyotes, ravens and racoons etc.

Go hunt a deer....save a cow or pig.”

“Inbreeding is a common occurance at Eagle Creek Park in Indy

it's probably not inbreeding, the deer probably just stepped on a crack needle LOL”

“If hunters were truly concerned about population explosions, they'd hunt with non-killing birth control ammo. That would help future populations also so we don't "have to" kill them each year.

The real reason for killing them is because they think it is fun.”

“My cousin got a 7-pointer Halloween weekend. I haven't seen anything I could take a shot at yet. I'm going to try my luck this weekend in both northern and southern zone.”

“thrifty-

deer absolutely starve to death. well actually, more commonly, they become very weakend and then die of other causes, or become so weak they cannot escape other predators.

i won't lie and say i hunt solely to do my part in keeping the population under control. i just like venison.
deer are truly beautiful and the actual killing is the worst part about hunting, but i don't think cows or chickens deserve their fate either.”

“....when the winters were really bad

so i'm assuming it is climate related...i can see that, i can't see deer just flat out running out of food

now if you guys want to debate about something, there's a raging debate going on right now in our state about high fence hunting (hunting deer confined to a fenced in area)...this is actually going on in our and in many other states...our state is trying to put a stop to it
last edited: 11/18/05 1:44:50 PM”

“how far are you from the southern border?”

““how far are you from the southern border?”
sacco
2:43:04 PM
11/18/05
ignore this user

About 5 miles. The line actually cuts through my town.”

“i'm not a fan of high fence hunting. i used to be very much against it. more recently i've been told that most of the high fence areas are huge tracts and the fences are more to keep out unwanted people than to keep deer in.

don't know how true that is, but it's tempered my vehemence against them a little bit.

canned hunts are a different matter...”

“oh that's very cool zac.

g luck this weekend!”

“Thanks, good luck to you too in the late bow season.”

“The real reason for killing them is because they think it is fun.”


It's not all about killing. I grew up in a culture of hunting and I find hunting fun, challenging (try it sometime) and I happen to find venison especially tasty. Hunting also assists in population control. Deer, like other animals, will eat themselves out of house and home if the population goes unchecked---urban sprawl contributes to this. Here in the north, deer herds can and have been devastated during harsh winters. I have seen dozens of dead deer in the woods that have starved to death. I have also seen doe deer kick the snot out of their own fawns in order to eat.

Hunting is fun, to me, but not the only reason I hunt.
last edited: 11/18/05 2:11:38 PM”

“I don't have a problem with people hunting for food. My family is from Minnesota and I grew up eating venison, quail and duck. But I don't like those hunting shows on OLN. The people on the show pat themselve on the back for a "nice shot" and then profit from filming the whole thing.”

“aye.

those OLN shows are to hunting, what WWF is to wrestling.”

“I'd like to see some of those guys on OLN try there luck in my area. I could see it now
"You mean we have to walk all the way over there."
"How come the deer aren't hanging out in this wide open field?"”

“I did see one where a guy was hunting mule deer with a recurve bow. Most of the show had the deer catching sight of the guy and running off. He even took a shot a one deer and missed. It was the closest thing I've seen on TV to real hunting.”

“Year after year watching 30 deer eat every ornamental shrub & flower in my yard to the point of near extinction, I could use a 50 cal machine gun or grenade on them. My only problem would be getting rid of the carcass because it would stink. This is noted because everybody I know has hit one causing extensive damage to their vehicles.”

“Wisconsin rifle season starts in the morning. Not a safe time to go in the woods, hunting or not...even before the Birchwood massacre. Just wait til the season is over and slip out after dark and plunk one. Canned venison. Yum, yum.”

“Cats, send the carcass to us. Birch can't hunt this season due to lack of vacation and school. We ate our last bit of venison last month.

If you look at the gutting and processing from an anotomical point of view (try to identify the different parts), it's not so bad. Unless it's a gutshot, then it's bad. Very bad.

What's fun about hunting is sitting quiet in the woods while the world wakes up.”

“Birch can't hunt this season due to lack of vacation and school.

hunting near a school?...that's just wrong ;)”

“I have never hunted deer or any other animal but don't see a problem with it as long as it is for food. The deer population in Tenn is high. You will see lots of them laying by the road where they got hit by cars. I like vension when I can get it so if anyone has to much let me know. i will gladly take it off your hands.”

“This is a sincere question for you guys that like to kill other living, breathing lifeforms... just out of curiosity, does it ever occur to you that a deer, just like your dog, is a living entity that has some sense of physiological "feeling"... and that it suffers when you take its' life?

I'm not a "touchy-feely" radical, folks like Violin & Buddha Bear probably think I'm slightly to the right of Ghengis Khan, and in fact I used to bow-hunt when I was younger, but I'm not sure I could go kill something today "just because" it's "sport" and fun.

Just curious, not judgemental, go do what you want, I'm just curious if you ever think about the pain you're causing those creatures.”

“Within the last 30 minutes, we finished off a plate of venison fajitas.

Tomorrow we go into the northern Wisconsin woods before sunrise and start to try to shoot four more deer before the week is out. Last year we harvested three.

Yum. Yum.”

“mmm venison fajitas”

“Just curious, not judgemental, go do what you want, I'm just curious if you ever think about the pain you're causing those creatures.”
wanderer2
7:22:12 PM
11/18/05


Ideally, we prefer the animal have an instantaneous death, but I do realize it doesn't always happen that way. I would feel terrible to know that I caused an animal to suffer which is why I put in the time to make sure that my hunting equipment and my skills are exemplary. Having said that however, I personally cannot equate an animal's "feelings" if there is such a thing in an animal, to that of a person.

Whether we choose to kill our own game for food or pay someone else to do it for us via the grocery store, an animal still loses its life. We are all responsible for the death no matter how it comes about. It's the food chain, and we all choose our place in that chain.”

“I used to have some issues with it - then i saw the sheer number of deer out there when you take a drive at night, and that's just the ones near the road. There's just no significant predators for them. I guess you've gotta find some way to control the population, and this is far better way of doing it that paying a bunch of guys to shoot them.

It's not something I want to go out and do myself, I'd rather be out there with a camera 'shooting' wildlife, but I don't really have a problem with others doing it.”

“wanderer2, I am well aware that some of the deer I have killed have suffered, some more than others. I strive for a clean quick kill. I have no desire to cause any undo pain in the process. I have NEVER wounded a deer or shot one that got away. I dont bowhunt anymore only because I cant dedicate the time I need to be as accurate and consistent as I need to be to insure a humane kill.

Each deer I have killed has brought on the same emotional responses. Excitement at the success of my hunt and my abilities ( I dont hunt bait or use artificial means to lure a deer, I hunt where they are or hopefully will be), satisfaction that I provided my family with food (similar to gardening) and sorrow that I took the life of one of the most graceful and beautiful animals on earth.It is never easy. I recognize however that I am a carnivore and chose to be a predator. I know that I will eat meat, most will be killed in a horrific factory churningout a product. But for the few days i hunt I join my ancestors, I become ancient man. I become involved today with what we have done since the earliest days. I chose to be an active predator immersed in the process. The knowledge of my quarry, their habits, patterns the observation, the hunt and ultimately the kill. I also butcher the deer (I cant see the point in paying for something so simple and vital), sometimes with family or friends often alone. Its another step in the process.

When I serve the food I am reminded of the weather, the scent in the air, the bite of the cold november wind the pounding heart, the sudden crack of my rifle. I chose to be involved and to acknowledge what eating meat means, death. Once or twice a year I remind myself of this.

For what its worth, I have never considered hunting to be sport. I cant eat antlers and dont hunt for them. They make thin soup, nearly as thin as hoof prints.”

“Agree with a lot of what's been said. IMHO the worst possible "harvesting" of animals are the slaughter houses. Somtimes my biz takes me up & down I-5 here in CA, when you go thru a sizable portion of the Central Valley of CA it seems like it's nothing more than mile after mile after mile of condensed cattle raising, the odor is horrific, and you pass all those hundreds / thousands of cattle knowing they're being herded into the slaughterhouse. Kinda sad.

Having said all that, non-conformist, it's a documented, scientific fact that animals DO have "feelings", whether you acknowledge it or not, it's fact. Secondarily, just because we are currently in the food chain & "some animals will die anyway" is not really the analysis I was looking for. That's simply a rationale for you to justify your actions. There are multiple reasons why there are a large & growing # of vegetarians around, one reason, of course, is that it's a far healthier diet & many people would like to live longer (and healthier) given the choice, but another reason is that many consider killing animals a tough thing to accept give the various belief systems out there.

I was just curious how many hunters had thought about it. Thanks for the feedback, interesting read.”

“Having said all that, non-conformist, it's a documented, scientific fact that animals DO have "feelings", whether you acknowledge it or not, it's fact. Secondarily, just because we are currently in the food chain & "some animals will die anyway" is not really the analysis I was looking for. That's simply a rationale for you to justify your actions.


I never used that rationale to justify my actions, I was just stating the fact that when we eat meat, an animal must die. I justify my action with the same reasons that birch gave: I enjoy the meat; I enjoy the hunting experience; I provide for my family.
What I was saying was that I choose to take the life myself rather than paying someone to do it. I never said I hunt an animal because it's going to die anyway, I said whether I kill it or the butcher kills it, it dies either way. The only difference between me and you (assuming you are a meat eater---my apologies if I am wrong) is that you pay someone to kill your food.

As far as an animal's "feelings" I'm afraid that even if I were to see the "scientific fact" I would have a hard time believing it. Call me stubborn, lol! But if the facts are there, I'd like to pose your same question to a coyote or a lion or a cat or a dog: do they feel bad when they kill another animal?”

“Each deer I have killed has brought on the same emotional responses. Excitement at the success of my hunt and my abilities ( I dont hunt bait or use artificial means to lure a deer, I hunt where they are or hopefully will be), satisfaction that I provided my family with food (similar to gardening) and sorrow that I took the life of one of the most graceful and beautiful animals on earth.It is never easy. I recognize however that I am a carnivore and chose to be a predator. I know that I will eat meat, most will be killed in a horrific factory churningout a product. But for the few days i hunt I join my ancestors, I become ancient man. I become involved today with what we have done since the earliest days. I chose to be an active predator immersed in the process. The knowledge of my quarry, their habits, patterns the observation, the hunt and ultimately the kill. I also butcher the deer (I cant see the point in paying for something so simple and vital), sometimes with family or friends often alone. Its another step in the process.

”

“
; )


”

“LMAO!

(Birch has a pet dog, not a pet bird.)


Dang! Now I can't remember that guy's name! Who is that cartoon character?”

“Captain Caaaaaaaaaaaaaaavemaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!”

“Yes! Now I remember! Wow.....that was a long time ago....back when Saturday morning cartoons were still good.”

“"We've got to kill these deer so they don't die. Don't you see boys?"
"Yeeaaaah, we're environmentalists."
----Ned and Jimbo, South Park

Take the deer down with your bare hands you cowards. Or better yet, give them a gun so they can fire back at your ass.

First thing I think of when I see a beautiful animal is, "Wouldn't his head look nice hanging on my wall?" Hand me my shotgun pardner.

How come everytime I pass a hunter on the trail he acts guilty and totally unfriendly?

Anyway, trophy and "sport" hunters suck. Having antler soup for dinner tonight! I'm out.”

“How come everytime I pass a hunter on the trail he acts guilty and totally unfriendly?Calhiker
10:29:20 PM
11/18/05


What?!? Guilty?? Of what?? LMAO! Unfriendly? Maybe the rest of your post might have something to do with that?”

“"There are multiple reasons why there are a large & growing # of vegetarians around,.." -wanderer2

It's been proving that plants have feelings too...so all vegetarians are killers too.

The western indians have a name for vegetarians.....Kubullawasi....it means "Lousy Hunter". ok, ok....it's a joke. :o)”