I think you have a very good, and very legitamate question, especially considering your background. I would be that most everyone that reads this appreciates your giving us the opportunity to explain our side, instead of simply bashing the sport and going on.

Every hunter, just like everyone else, is an individual and hunts for their own reasons, but I can give mine. It's in my blood for one thing. I have a natural desire to hunt. It's not a macho thing, it's just something I really enjoy. I love to be in the woods, I love to watch nature, and I enjoy trying to out-smart the animals. I get a kick out of the startled reaction from a bird or squirrel that all but sits on me before they realize I'm not a tree or bush. I love to see the animals doing what they do when they don't realize they are being watched.

You said you didn't care to hear about the food part, but that is an intregal part of it, at least for me. I love wild game, and it cannot be purchased in a store. Wild meat has no additives or preservatives, it's very low in fat, and it plain tastes good.

I'm not there just for the kill, but the kill is part of it. If you eat meat at all, whether it be beef, pork, lamb, fish, chicken, etc., it was all alive at one time and someone killed it so it could be consumed. At least when I take my own, I know how it's been handled, I know it's clean, and I know it died humanely.

One thing you might consider--wild animals practically never die a peaceful death, especially the ones we hunt for food. Being food is their purpose for being here. Being killed quickly and cleanly by an arrow or bullet is probably the most peaceful way these animals will ever die. Preditors, disease, and starvation are not peaceful deaths. Preditors often begin feeding on an animal before it's even dead. Those afflicted with disease or starvation will often become victims to preditors before they die.

Whether you believe in God or in evolution (personally, I belive in God), man is a preditor. Our eyes are in the front of our heads. Our teeth and digestive system are made to ingest meat. We aren't cattle or sheep, and aren't built to survive on vegetation.

Sorry I'm not better at putting my feelings into words, but hopefully this will at least give you some idea.

Chad