Sounds like you did a good job to me. You' ll find that 90% of people who are anti-hunting base their opinions on nothing more than the " I could never kill an animal" excuse, or something similar to it. Very rarely will they ever attempt to give any sort of factual basis for their dislike of our sport. After you lay out the facts and key points of why they should in fact support hunting they usally either change their tune or stick with " Whatever, I still don' t agree with it" and walk away.

There' s nothing more you can do other than to stick up for yourself and for the sport of hunting by using facts and reality to combat the anti' s fantasy land in which beef steaks and pork chops grow on trees.

Keep up the good work.

I had a similar situation in a grocery store when a woman in line noticed a bowhunting mag I was buying. One thing I pointed out was rising insurance rates due to collisions with deer. Maybe when your coworker gets his Honda smashed by a deer, he’ll understand the overpopulation issue better. You did fine, good for you.

Thanks everyone for the responses--it makes me feel a little more reassured hearing that I handled myself accordingly

Excellent!! [:-]

I had my encounter with ANTI' s too (well, maybe not an over-the-edge, whacked out, ANTI - but just someone who was confused)...

In my admin office, one of the ladies learned that I am a hunter. She made the comment, " You? I didn' t know you did that kind of stuff. You don' t seem like the type" .

...seem like " the type" Let' s try to analyze that phrase... What TYPE is she referring to? Like, there' s some stereotype to hunters? I casually replied, " oh yes... Don' t let this suit and tie fool you. I may be a computer geek by trade, but on weekends, I enjoy being in the woods wearing camo. Hunters come from all walks of life and are very respectful with strong morals and ethics."

Butch

Ah the old, " Why don' t you just get it at the grocery store" argument. We all know that meat comes from nice little plastic wrap packages don' t we.

I love when anti' s try to use that argument. It' s so easy to shoot that one down. There really is no way to defend when you ask what the difference is. Especially if you throw in a comment about how they are paying someone to kill for them. Shuts them up every time.
A couple years ago a woman wrote into the local paper saying stuff about how can hunters kill animals when the good lord has provided supermarkets full of food.
I wrote back and pretty much said the same stuff you did. And I wasn' t the only one. Man, did she get it. There were letters in that paper about that for a good week.
It sounds like you handled it great. One for the good guys!
Good job!

I' m in advertising which seems to be full of tree hugging freaks so I get it all the time. As the others said, I think you did great and stuck up for our rights to hunt.

I drag out the car/deer crash stats (here in MI for ex, $32mil damage, 11 deaths, 1,000 injuries last year) and start in with population control along with the angle of urbanization.

The other angle I go at it is the fact that God put these animals on earth for us to be stewards over, combining this with our fastly dwindling constitutional rights angle. This is when they leave. Commies!

I give a lot of the same answers that you did. But, I also add something that some of you may not agree with. I have said to some of the Anti' s that there is an undeniable element of brutality involved in killing an animal. I think deer are beautiful and fascinating creatures. I am a carnivore. I use my mastery of technology to feed myself. I buy meat at the grocery store just like you. I also go out in the woods and kill my own food. I am intimately connected to the whole process. I go out into it' s home. I kill it. I clean it. proccess it. cook it, and eat it. I also share it with those I love and admire. My children have helped me process the animals and they understand where their food comes from. I am not going to change. and I am not going to allow you to change me.

My stepson' s grandmother is an " Anti-" . I don' t rub it in her facebut I don' t apologize either. I conducct myself as though her position is imature and silly. and it is. I have taken to boy squirrel hunting with me. I plan to take him on at least one deer hunt this winter.


David

Good job...

I would just like to add a point to the end, something you may want to say in passing...conversation something like this...

" So, you say you don' t like hunting...do you, your family or your friends enjoy public campgrounds, state parks or state forests?"

The response is almost always, " Yes, except during hunting season. We are afraid for our lives!"

" Well, did you know that hunters taken together would rank in the top 20 of the Forbes list for money spent? Do you realize that sportmen' s and hunters comprise up to 90% of the budget for the federal and state conservation departments? Do you realize that it is these very departments that keep your state and federal lands maintained? Do you now understand that it is hunters, like myself, which in essence pay for these public lands? Do you now understand that hunters, like myself, only get to utilize these lands a short amount of time and pay for you to enjoy them year round?"

Usually to stunned silence, to which I allow to linger before continuing...

" You can condemn hunting, sportsmen and everything we stand for...but just remember the next time you are out with the Audobon Society viewing a magnificent bald eagle pair that has moved into a state forest, that it was me and my kind that footed the bill."

Again usually silence, now mounting into mumbles and stuttering...

" And oh, by the way, ask all your buddies when the last time was that they were actually harassed by a hunter on public land. Seems we always foot the bill, and get harassed, but never really do anything about it. Kinda' ironic isn' t it?" With which I end the lecture with, " there are two sides to every issue, but if you are gonna gripe about the other side, at least understand our point of view. You are obviously greatly confused about hunting, hunters, and everything we the hunting community stand for..."

I can guarantee they leave and then do some internet surfing. Once the anti realizes that everything we hunters buy---from camo to guns to ammo to licenses---is either directly deposited or taxed, with the revenue going to the feds or the state DNRs, usually really makes ' em think. They may never take our side, but it usually makes them understand that we do foot the bill for their outdoor adventures and enjoyment---and usually reduces the amount of grief that I have to hear

All very good answers. I like to ask them, if I know them, where they got the leather for their shoes, purses, briefcases...etc. If I could find big bucks to give up their lives as easily as the cows/pigs that committed suicide for them to be fashionable I wouldnt have to freeze my rear off in a stand. Again this is for people I know that may question it. Although to be honest in Wisconsin I never have had anyone strongly resist my hunting. My fiancee wasnt too keen on it for a few years, now she hunts side by side with me. She has learned the values of hunting and has come to enjoy venison. Last year was her first real year hunting and she took a mature doe, made two good shots on it at quite a distance the second one was 176 yds, the first was much closer. Both shots an inch apart. Now she is looking forward to it coming up again next week. I say instead of arguing, educate them, you may gain a partner outta the deal!

Kevin you are very right when you say we need to educate them, the last thing we need to do is verbally attack/insult them. There used to be 2 antis who would write anti-hunting editorials in my local newspaper, fortunantly our paper presents both sides of an issue and I replied to a number of these anti editorials with both historical and present day facts about outdoorsman and these two have not sent a single anti-hunter editorial in since. I am sure that although may not have changed their beleifs, I did educate a lot of folks who were on the fence about hunting though. We need to be mature when we explain hunting to the non-hunting public, we have the facts on our side and when we present them properly we win many fence sitters support who one day may vote in our favor in huntng legalation.