pattylyn44

Most of the people I know who hunt those squirrells cook them..lol

Howler

Mountain lion is pretty darn good to eat. I've had suasage and jerky from mountain lion, and both were good.
I went out and blasted a bunch of prairie dogs last weekend. Target practice, you could say. If someone doesn't try to control their numbers, they simply keep spreading, and in doing so, they ruin more and more pasture land. Prairie dogs are also high in the disease carrying catagory. Just like most other aniamls, thier numbers need to be controlled some how, and to poison them is illegal! There is an estimated 10,000,000 blacktailed prairie dogs. No shortage of them for sure!
It cracks me up, that in Boulder, CO. the prairie dogs are protected. Well, this spring, a colony spread into a ball park. In stead of getting rid of the intruding prairie dogs, the city simply shut down the ball park! Ridiculous. "Well sorry Johnny, the ball park is closed down so we can't play ball any more. Well, ya see, these cute little fury critters decided to make a home where you like to play ball, and we can't just tell them all to move, so we'll just have to stay home and watch TV today instead."
Prairie dogs are cute, until they find their way into your yard!!

Jrbhunter

Drew, your statement reminds me of a comedian I saw at a bar once. He said-


"You know I hear 85% of women consider having relationships with another woman but only 8% are gay. You wanna know how manyGUYS think about having homosexual relations? Somebody tell the percentage of gay men and I'll tell you!"

Point being... if you are losing sleep over the legal harvest of animals and find yourself concerned enough to badger other sportsmen then you my friend ARE an anti. If your heart aches for every mangy coyote I throw in a ditch then youareNOT on my team in the battle to support my hunting and trapping rights. If you honestly don't understand the concept of nuicense and vermin control then your grandaddy didn't do a very good job of introducing you to the world of the outdoors.

Real sportsmen don't need an excuse to pursuit their passion... and they don't need to explain themselves to your type.

SaskBushMan

I shoot gophers with my 10/22 as a passion I love killing the little pest. They multiply in herendus(sp?) numbers and 100% of the farmers pasture that we shoot on thank us for taking a chunk out of the population. I don't know if you have ever seen a pasture that is over run with gophers, they destroy it and make a huge mess of it. I also shoot coyotes for the fun of it I don't eat them and I don't skin them out I just shoot them and leave them. They are pest that eat small farm animals and if not kept in check the population will also get way out of control. and believe it or not when these animals have no fear af humans look out in surbuban areas where their are coyotes living among us our small children look like a tasty and easy catch. read the link and you will be suprised how many attacks there really are. http://www.varmintal.com/attac.htm

drewm2

No, I'm not losing sleep over it, I couldn't care less about what you shoot. And no, I'm not badgering anyone, I just asked for the reasons behind it, which I understand a little better now. I said off the bat that I understand killing of nuisance animals. And I grew up in the outdoors, anytime you want we'll go rock climbing, spelunking, river kayaking, snow or water skiing, mountain biking, and/or 3-6 month backpacking trip. Also done quite a bit of fishing.

So I've always been busy enough with other things and never got into hunting. But it keeps coming up and every year I get a little more interested, this year I'm planning a hunting trip. So what is my "type"? I'm just glad other hunters are a little more friendly, encouraging, and helpful with newcomers' questions. Otherwise, someone might think it a good idea to (very stupidly) go out and shoot caged deer with a tranquilizer dart!

Jrbhunter

drewm2

Well let's put it this way, then. Unfortunately, both my grandfathers died before I was old enough to know them. You're fortunate to have had yours. But while your grandad had you out in the woods turning you into an 8 percenter, that doesn't count as outdoors, actually, that's "inside you".

Crew Dawg

Hunting Squirells and rabbits is an enjoyable way to spend the day. There are a lot of them and they taste great. Since there are a lot of them, they are a good way to introduce kids to hunting. They provide enough action so that the kids don't bored and give up. Coyotes are fun to hunt because it can be a real challenge, hunting something that hunts for a living. And Groundhogs(woodchucks)! Have you ever tried to hit a target that stands a little over a foot tall at 400 yards or better?

nctaxi

drew - I live in NC near Winston-Salem, any time you want i'll take you. The reasons I hunt are many, but killing isn't at the top. Have you ever sat in the woods when the sun was coming up, and listened to the world the way it was meant to be, before "we" changed it to fit us? Have you ever had a bird land on your hand because he thought you were a tree? How about a squirrel jump on your knee? How about having an owl land on a limb beside you, so close you can see him blink? Or a bird that is so close you can see him breath? When I was younger, I sat on a deer trail, and 5 doe came down the trail, I decided that I wanted to see how close they would get, holding real still, the lead doe actually kicked my foot. Those are things that you won't ever get to see or experience, without being in the woods. Yes, there is killing, and the adrenalin rush from it is something else. The sheer satisfaction of getting everything right and being able to harvest an animaland have that nourishment for my family, I take pride in. It's kinda sets you in mind like how the frontiersmen had to feed their family. A few years of my younger life, I actually had to feed my whole family with the deer I harvested. 25 years ago, on Mount Morris, Pa I harvested my first squirrel with State Trooper Donald Corbett, and I remember it like it was yesterday. Walk a mile in another mans shoes. If you have the interest I will find someone to help you, I have friends all over NC. If these thoughts keep coming up to you, then maybe you should try it.

Northwind~

You said it very well nctaxi...That's the way I see it.

I respect all the animals I hunt and am surrounded by, and I can't say that there is any animal I would kill out of dislike. I have no problem with hunting for recreation, food or to control pests.Some things just must be done. Have a pest problem?There are ways to handle thatHunting rabbits, squirrels or other small game is a blast. Theres nothing like wild game meat on the table.Hunt for what ever reason you wish. It should always be done with respect, in my opinion. I try to do things as respectfully as possible, and utilize what I can. I don't like to shoot something if I don't plan on eating it. That's just the way I like to do things. We all have our own set of ethics that we follow. I hunt the way I choose, but do not expect others to do things the way I do, as I would not like another person trying to change the way Iprefer to do things.

Now...Just out of curiosity, I wonder how coyote tastes...It can't be too bad. It's always worth a try.