First deer I ever killed was a doe at 10 yards with a 12 gauge.....right through the lungs and she never even flinched. She went from live to dead in before the smoke cleared so it was not upsetting at all.......I had seen many deer killed before but never by my hands. I was field dressing her out 5 minutes later so I guess I didn't feel too bad.


I feel bad if I do something stupid........I shot a deer once and it jumped at the last second and I hit him far back. Tracked him for 4 hours and finished the job then. I felt bad that the deer was in pain for 4 hours but I felt good that I had the ethics and morals to finish what I started and limit any suffering to the best of my abilities.

My father always said I would quit after my first deer because I have a very deep love of animals and truthfully would rather see a human hurt then a defenseless animal.........I just don't see hunting in that way I guess. I LOVE to hunt and while I do feel bad briefly after the animal has passed.....the feeling of pride, accomplishment and satisfaction are a million times stronger when I have a successful hunt and every time that meat hits the table for me and my family to eat.


Your statement about not caring about killing birds because you "hate" them is a little odd. I think you should feel the same sense that a life was taken by your hands and treat it with the proper amount of respect regardless of how big, small, cute or ugly the animal is.


I know people and have hunted with them that actually just LIKE to kill things.........that scares me. Their is a BIG difference between being happy with your successful hunt and just being happy you got to shoot and kill something...........needless to say I don't hunt with any of those people any more.

I don't hesitate for one second to end a life in the woods........but I realize the magnitude of what I have done and therefore it is something that I take very seriously and don't like to joke or be disrespectful about.

You don't have to love killing to love hunting, but it is part of the game so you won't know how it will effect you until it happens.


Make it quick, clean and as painless as you can.