atlasman

This is always the hardest thing for me to explain to someone about hunting so I'll ask how you guys explain it.

Do you ENJOY killing a deer?


People that know me find it very hard to compute that I hunt because my love of animals is so great that they can't imagine me hurting or killing one. The last thing in the world I want to see is an animal being hurt or mistreated.......but I LOVE to hunt.

On the flip side there are people who just don't understand hunting and they can't get past the fact that something gets killed on a successful hunt........they just harp on that fact and say "Why do you LIKE killing things?"

So how to respond??

I really don't know to tell you the truth........I just know how I feel inside. I don't ENJOY killing anything.....the fact that something loses it's life at my hands has absolutely no appeal to me and is not why I hunt...........I would NEVER kill anything I wasn't going to eat and think that anyone who takes pleasure in killing something is pretty sick.

Having said that I don't hesitate for even 1 second when I see a deer. I take my shot, trying for the quickest, cleanest, most humane kill I can provide........and that's that.

When I approach a deer I have killed I am fully aware that I just ended a life........and that is sad. I am also very aware that the deer will not be wasted and will provide many meals for my family and friends.........this knowledge rinses away the sadness quickly. I do not pretend that I don't feel anything inside when I kill one because I do.......I just understand that it is part of the deal and I treat it with as much respect as I possibly can and move on.

My father always said I would be "One and Done" once I killed a deer myself because he knows my love of animals. He figured when I saw one go down by MY own hands it would bother me too much. Obviously that didn't happen.........and he is still surprised to this day.

So as you can tell it is difficult for me to explain to some people.........they see me bending over backwards to make sure the deer in my backyard have food and taking pictures of them and talking about how beautiful they are............then they see me shooting my bow and bringing back deer in my truck and butchering them in my garage.


How do you guys explain it??...........or am I the only one who feels this way (I hope not)

treehunter

i love seeing deer while they are alive. They are actually very interesting just to watch. I raised a buck about 12 years ago. We found it when it was about a day old after hitting his mother with a car. Brought him back to the house and kept him in a pen for several months. Let him go and he didn't leave for about a year. It was cool. He was like a dog. You could call his name and he would come running. He left around the rut the next year and at the time he had 2 small spikes. Even with that being said, I love to kill them too. Just the thrill and excitement and the adrenline pumping makes it all worth it.

DUCKSTAMPEDE

You have posed the connundrum of all questions for a hunter. My family believes it is a process of darwinian proportions-by that I mean we were made hunters and gatherers and it may take a million years for mother nature to select out the hunting part of our existence. There is no reason to hunt to put food on the table so that need has passed some time ago. We hunt and believe we do so with the intent of putting something on the table and therefore nothing is wasted. We hunt doing everything in our power to make the kill as merciful and quick as possible but nonetheless our effort ends the life force of another living thing. We do not hunt for the blood sport of it although I would take umbrage with those who count trophy heads as the reason for hunting or count Slams as the enjoyment of the hunt. In me there is something absolutely primal about being in the outdoors. I come from a family where for many years the women hunted right along with the men. Today, I can only count 3 hunters out of a family tree that includes 87 people. I did not teach my children to hunt as their mother was against it from the beginning.

I have no answer but share the question with you. It is in my genetic makeup even though pulling back the bow or pulling the trigger still sends a mix of adrenaline and dread with each time. I say countless prayers under my breath during the hunt that the kill may be swift and merciful. I say them again when the meal is served. I am old now, and I find that many times I just pass the shot up and admire the animal but I never doubt for one second that passing the shot was my choice.

Gryan

It is a tough question.

When asked, I usually say that it is weird but the last part of a successful hunt is a kill. Period. It is the goal and it is both fist-pumping excitement and accomplishment and sad respect for taking out something that is beautiful and a symbol of the wild.

I don't appologize for the kill because it wouldn't be the same without it. I know what I'm doing going into it and know that the end result is death. I also tell them that one of the reasons I love and respect the animals so much is because I share the life/death thing with them. I study them, appreciate them, honor them, help them, watch them and try to outsmart them.

You know, after all that, I don't know...but that is what I usually say.

Greg

Hedhuntr

I have seen posts like this before on this site. It is a really neat subject because it is the one thing that seperates us from our prey (we have remorse, they do not). A tiger does not feel remorse and nor does a lion when they kill. Someone once said to me that a lion would not kill just to kill and I found out this comment is untrue, they will and do out of instinct (just like a house cat does and drops it at the door step) If you think about some friendly rivaly between friends on who got the biggest buck or the most deer that year you may see a connection. Or the two guys arguing over who both shot the same deer and then erupts into a fight (sounds close to instinct to me) Also the heavy breathing, dialated pupils, increased pulse and adrenaline rush happens in all mammals that pursue a prey. I believe that no matter how hard the human race tries to surpress this urge to gather\hunt we won't loose it ever. It is what got us here and ultimatly will keep us here. I have to date helped 3 people I know get into hunting and it has changed there life and they cannot explane 100% why. So my advice to explain hunting as a complete outdoor package such as friends, family, camping hiking and most important being in the outdoors relaxing and reflecting.

T/C fan!

My answer is simple, but to me, it makes the most of sense. I hunt deer because I love this particular animal so much. I do all I can to make sure of a quick and humane kill as possible and have passed up many of shot because I thought it was "marginal". I, as a hunter, not only hunt to enjoy the sport I love so much, but to also keep the population in check. I enjoy watching them almost as much as taking one, but if not for proper population management, I'd be able to do neither. Mother nature's natural food supply is limited and could never supply an "open" herd, so it up to us to keep the amount of deer in check in order to sustain the species.

Carter

freezermeat

not meaning to ba a smart a$$ but there is a reason we are at the top of the food chain.

Deerslayer_37

I hunt because of the adrenaline rush i get when put the crosshairs on that deer or settle the pin behind the shoulder. its in our instinct. being with family and putting some darn good food on the table is just a bonus. if it werent for the rush i got when i squeezed the trigger, it would just be another hobby, like reading a book. sure, i enjoy watching deer and studying their habits. but killing them is just a rush that has no equal whatsoever. it carries over with other types of hunting. like turkeys.thers just a feeling i get seeing that big tom strutting in from 120 yards that isn't like anything i feel everyday. its the adrenaline that makes or breaks it for me. wasnt for that, i probably would be doing somethign else, like golf.

slayer

jones123

I enjoy the SUCCESS, not the kill. Plan, sight-in, gear up, drive, anticipate, hike, glass, see, select, stalk, lose the deer. Do it over again. Pass on the next. Do it again. Lose again. Do it again. Stalk succeeds, heart pounds, hurry but relax, deer in the scope, wait, deer turns, shoulder in the scope, hold breath, CONNECT! ADRENALINE! I did what I set out to do!

It's just like when I wrestled. I loved the win, but not seeing the other guy get beat.

BROWNING.308

ya gotta eat