Fox72

Wow! What a thought provoking question. I imagine that I must enjoy the kill or I wouldn't do it. Using archery equipment brings it much more " up close and personal" and causes different emotions than longer range implements, for me anyway. I respect all forms of wildlife, but the bottom line is I/we are apex predators. The rush of adrenalin up to and until impact of the arrow is why I hunt.

The most interesting part of this thread is that I have often been asked why I hunt if I do not kill a deer etc. I do not believe I have ever been asked point blank if I enjoyed killing.

jmbuckhunter

I personally do enjoy the kill, it wraps up the deal. If I didn't I would just take my camera or video recorder. It is a sense of accomplishment to make the kill. A lot of people can get close to deer, but it takes that extra something to close the deal, to overcome all of the obstacles and make the killing shot.

MidwestJ

I don't know really. I don't get all worked up and crazy eyed over the killing part of it. I am very cognizant that I'm killing something but that's really not the part I relish.

I enjoy the overall experience. Simply seeing a deer while bowhunting makes a successful hunt to me.

To me, hunting is not just simply about the killing. It's about the overall experience. Do I enjoy it? I don't know. I guess I do a bit as it's the culmination of the experience but again I say as I've said to myself many times before...I'm not going out there simply to kill an animal.

Killing a deer doesn't bother me; I'm not sad for the deer after I do it because it's all part of the food chain/web and keeping a balance in nature BUT,I amrespectful of the way I do it and am thankful to the Lord for providing that animal for me.

Nice avatar by the way.

MidwestJ

To follow up after reading some of these responses...I have killed many a animals (deer/pigs) with a knife to the throat too and that didn't bother me at all either. I didn't get all wound up over it, it was simply business and I wanted to do it quickly to humanely put the animal down.

I went on a pig hunt with a bunch of guys once and there's always"that one guy" in the group who is just a bit "off". Anyways, this guy shot a pig in the rear flank and just left it out there for a few hours for somebody else to go help him out.

Shortly before I caught up with him and heard about this, I had just drilled two hogs with fatal vital zone kill shots. The pigs probably ran 30 yards eachand dropped. They appeared to still be breathing when I got to them so I promptly stepped on their snouts and did what I had to do with my knife. I wasn't squimish or sad but Ididn't relish it. It was simplya necessary part of what I was there to do and I am thankful that my father had taught me long ago ofhow totake care of this properly.

I was DISGUSTED with the other guy leaving that pig out there to suffer and I still think about it from time to time.

Colorado Luckydog

This is one of the best threads I've ever read. It sure gets you to thinkin'.
Although I've felt remorse after the kill, I still seem to enjoy it. It seems the more killsI make the less remorseI feel. I'm not sure why.

aeroslinger

That's a provocative question. I enjoy the total experience. I don't consciencely think about whether I do or don't but I do assess every kill as much as possible before attempting it. Sometimes I've got more time to do this, sometimes not. As others stated, I don't feel remorse for small game but seems every deer I've shot I had a small twinge of sadness that may last, oh... a milisecond. While I absorb and love the total experience I also hunt for meat. I shot 4 deer this year and it doesn't seem like much meat. I look at the killing part as a natural thing. The animal I killed may not have lived much longer anyway. Under the best circumstances they may have lived a few years longer than they did. I alway strive for quick clean kills but if I have to finish one off it doesn't really bother me. I've lost 2 deer I was pretty sure I mortally wounded and THAT is what bothers me, not the kill. But I don't relish the kill, neither. It is what it is.

popeandyoungchaser

When i think about the many deer i have killed with both gun and bow, i seem to remember each and everytime i had a moment of silence eithout even thinkin about it. When i approach a downed animal i always feel a sense of accomplishment but at the same time i feel as though i some how taken the soul of that deer and have begun to carry it with me, because in my memory i now posses that animals last moments on this earth. So killing? Yes, but not forgetting, forgetting is murder.

TJF

I don't enjoy the actualkilling from butching farm animals, trapping or hunting. Itis something that just needs to be done andis a part of it. I enjoyfiguring outplaces to make sets for trapping and ambush spots for deer. I enjoy stalking andstillhunting deer. I enjoy seeing what makesan animal tick to better my chances at being successful by understanding them and the sign they leave. I enjoy the anticipation when coming up to my trap setand how a hunt goes. I enjoy theaccomplishment ofcatching an animal in a trapand walking up to a downed deer.

When I killan animal in the trap there is no enjoyment but something that needs to be done. When I am taking theshot ona deer... for that instant... I feel no enjoyment. To me it is good cause it calms the hype fromanticipation formeso I can makea good" thinking "shot.

Throw me in the boss's sunflower field with a shotgun and a case of shells. I enjoy killing blackbirds with much vengance and malice with the horrid damage they can do. It is not hunting but killing. The more the better in the endless flocks of thousands. I enjoy killingskeeters and wood ticks. [:@]

Tim

sandilands

That is a very hard question to answer. ...... Diplomatically!
I enjoy the hunt and the kill is inevitabley part of that. Hunting means to me that I am bound to take another animals life for the sake of food and pleasure. When I arrowed my first deer I was exstatic. I have thought about that moment ever since. It also wasn't the same as a rifle or muzzleloader hunt. The game was generally closer and I was more excited. That young buck bawled for 50yds and then fell over stone dead. I didn't feel too good about the noise that he made, but whenI found him dead at that distance I felt good. It felt good to make a good (decent on this one) shotandTO KILL QUICKLY.
I have lost game when hunting. 2 deer to be exact. One was mine and one was a friends.We trailed these deer for miles until it became too dark and then rtn'd inthe morn.My deer had been eaten by critters. My friends we never found....... it had snowed 6" overnight and I still was marking her trail for another 300yds B4 we lost her in the morning. I beleive this is the hardest thing to deal w/ when hunting. LOST GAME. I had limited satisfaction in my deer.... the fact is it only went another 100yds B4 bedding down and dieing. It was just too thick and too far in the bush to go any farther.
I also got satisfaction from the fact that I/we did the right thing and went back in the morning to search for my friends deer even though it had just snowed. The satisfaction also came b/c I had found her trail and worked it for another 300yds, losing it on so many ocassions that I can't count and then back-tracking to find it again. No blood just hundreds of deer trails and only one dragging a front leg in the snow. Consolation prize during this tracking job was the fact we had jumped a REAL nice 5x5 from his bed in a clearing.
Do I enjoy the act of killing. No Itake satisfactionin the act of killing quickly and efficiently.
And by the way my cats name is FINN, and I got him the yr he passed away..... I'm a big fan of his work and think that he was a true outdoorsman, scholar and a gentleman. I greatly miss his work.

Rogue

To say that I enjoy killing would be completely out of context.
For me the kill is the grand finale the hunt is not complete with out it.
These things are easier to explain to other hunters than anyone else to some extent we understand each other. Just yesterday a flock of geese landed in my pasture and began to feed. My wife and I watched and noticed that one goose only had one leg. It would hop forward and set down to feed and then do it all over again. My wife asked if I could hit that goose with my bow, I said sure not a problem and never made a move. I didnt feel the need to kill that goose I wasnt hunting.

While hunting though I feel no remorse in the act yet I do feel a tremendous ammount of responsibility. I do want a quick clean kill as all predators do, the quicker prey dies the less chance that a predator is injured and the fewer calories used to secure food the better.

There are several aspects that I enjoy about the kill. The feel of antlers against the palms of my hands, the musky smell of animal hair, the warmth of hide and the taste of meat that was earned.

I too fall into the category of "I dont hunt to kill, but kill to have hunted"

As an after thought I will say that I have taken pictures of 380 class bulls and not had the adrenaline courseing through my veins near as much as standing full draw on a spike.

Rogue