The .600 Overkill

[CB Jones]

They kill for the pleasure it brings them, they kill for the joy of killing

If that were the case....wouldn't they kill indiscriminately? Why spend all the time and money hunting for a trophy when simply killing is what brings pleasure?


When I hunt whitetail deer, I don't kill every deer that I see. I'm hunting solely the older mature trophy bucks. I'm letting all others pass. If you feel that I'm heinous and immoral for this then I can't help that.

I grew up hunting and where I live this is culturally accepted.

 

[Flying Crane]

If that were the case....wouldn't they kill indiscriminately? Why spend all the time and money hunting for a trophy when simply killing is what brings pleasure?


When I hunt whitetail deer, I don't kill every deer that I see. I'm hunting solely the older mature trophy bucks. I'm letting all others pass. If you feel that I'm heinous and immoral for this then I can't help that.

I grew up hunting and where I live this is culturally accepted.

Ok, twisted logic at play here once again in that first part...

But I'll ask: are you also eating the meat, or just nailing the head or the rack onto your wall? I will assume you are hunting within compliance of your local hunting laws.

 

[CB Jones]

But I'll ask: are you also eating the meat,

I am.....but the meat is not the reason I hunt.

I hunt because I enjoy hunting.

 

[Steve]

The Crucial Role of Predators: A New Perspective on Ecology

Predators are very important to the ecosystems. Too many predators is also a real problem, but the article above mentions the re-introduction of wolves in Yellowstone. There's an interesting YouTube video regarding that very thing, which I recommend watching. It's informative.

Point, though, is that balance is important. Most hunters (all of the ones I know) eat what they hunt. I live in a semi-rural area, and the butchers around here are very good at processing game, as are some of the hunters. My friends who hunt enjoy it. They look forward to it.

And unless one is a vegan, I don't know that there is a lot of moral high ground to be had.

 

[Flying Crane]

I am.....but the meat is not the reason I hunt.

I hunt because I enjoy hunting.

Thank you for your honesty.

What do you enjoy? The process of stalking and out-witting a wary animal? Or the killing? Or both? Which one more? Or something else?

 

[CB Jones]

The process of stalking and out-witting a wary animal?

And the satisfaction and excitement of taking that Trophy buck.

I guess it is a combination of both

 

[Tez3]

Around where I live someone is killing cats, domestic ones, is that acceptable? In a town not far from me, two men were found guilty of cruelty because they drove a nail into a dog's head and then buried it alive, how is that worse than killing an animal and slicing it's tail/antlers/hors off? We have people here illegally chasing hares with dogs, digging up badgers, all illegal, they do it for fun, for the thrill of killing, it's illegal because it's cruelty and these people disgusting, how is it different from killing an animal for fun?
I can understand enjoying the tracking, outwitting the animal etc but why must it end in the animal's death? Isn't it enough to know you could kill it rather than actually killing it just for the antlers/horns? I have a lovely set of antlers in my house, they fell off a red deer, I didn't need to kill it.

 

[Flying Crane]

And the satisfaction and excitement of taking that Trophy buck.

I guess it is a combination of both

I appreciate your honesty.

 

[CB Jones]

Tez,

To answer your question....no there isn't the same excitement and pleasure from just simply seeing the animal.

There is probably a cultural difference in play here as many people here where I live hunt for the pleasure of hunting.

 

[Steve]

At least we know where people stand. I see a huge difference between nailing dogs' heads to the ground and hunting a deer. The two just aren't related in my mind. But I also don't see any similarity between fishing and nailing a dog's head to the ground.

Fishing is like hunting. The only real difference in my opinion is that fishing is done with hooks, spears and knives and not a gun or a bow.

Question, is fishing for trophies just as cruel, or are we only worried about animals with fur?

 

[Xue Sheng]

At least we know where people stand. I see a huge difference between nailing dogs' heads to the ground and hunting a deer. The two just aren't related in my mind. But I also don't see any similarity between fishing and nailing a dog's head to the ground.

Fishing is like hunting. The only real difference in my opinion is that fishing is done with hooks, spears and knives and not a gun or a bow.

Question, is fishing for trophies just as cruel, or are we only worried about animals with fur?

One can catch fish with a bow; Bow fishing

 

[Steve]

One can catch fish with a bow; Bow fishing

Of course.

 

[Xue Sheng]

Of course.

I only know because I have another cousin that wanted to try it when I was a kid and I remember seeing the bow and the arrows for it. Have no idea if he ever got anything

 

[CB Jones]

One day I would like to go Bowfishing for jumping Asian Carp.

 

[Steve]

The question remains, is fishing okay? Is nailing a fish to the bottom of a river with a bow and arrow the same as nailing a dog's head to the ground in the UK?

 

[Xue Sheng]

One day I would like to go Bowfishing for jumping Asian Carp.

He would have been fishing in the Allegany river or at Kinzua dam many many years ago.... no jumping Asian carp there...lots of giant carp though at the dam.

 

[Tez3]

There is probably a cultural difference in play here as many people here where I live hunt for the pleasure of hunting.

We hunt here but the difference is we eat what we kill, fox hunting was banned some years ago. I will never understand the pleasure of killing animals. I can kill them to eat or because they were wounded/sick beyond help but never for the pleasure of seeing them die.

 

[CB Jones]

We hunt here but the difference is we eat what we kill,

As do we, but are you claiming that there ya'll kill solely for meat and there is no sport or enjoyment of the hunt involved?

I like venison.....but to be honest, I'm not spending $1,500 - $2,000 a year just for 100-150 lbs of meat. And some years, I spend that without killing any.....like this year. (But I had a great time hunting a large 11 point that refused to move during the daytime)

I can kill them to eat

I'm sure they appreciate that you eat them afterwards. lol

 

[Xue Sheng]

You know, I once new a guy who had a Marlin 444 for home defense..... that I thought was overkill, no pun intended, and rather dangerous for his neighborhood too. But then he also had an authentic crusade era scimitar for the same thing..... so I am guessing he was a little bit crazy anyways.

 

[Flying Crane]

As do we, but are you claiming that there ya'll kill solely for meat and there is no sport or enjoyment of the hunt involved?

I like venison.....but to be honest, I'm not spending $1,500 - $2,000 a year just for 100-150 lbs of meat. And some years, I spend that without killing any.....like this year. (But I had a great time hunting a large 11 point that refused to move during the daytime)




I'm sure they appreciate that you eat them afterwards. lol

I don't think anyone would say they don't enjoy the sport of it, the stalking and outwitting a wary animal. But if someone finds pleasure in the actual killing, vs. simply accepting the killing part as the necessary outcome to acquire the meat, well that is troubling. Seeing the killing as entertainment, that is troubling.

I had a neighbor who was keeping roosters that he entered into fights. It was a cultural thing. This was inside city limits, having roosters is illegal because of the noise, and they would crow all night. I tried to be a good neighbor and mind my own business. I suspected what they were doing, but I did not know for sure, and they wouldn't talk about it. So I looked the other way. Then one day they just admitted that they were fighting the roosters, I wasn't even asking. I was their neighbor for five years, I minded my business over it for about four years. Then I reported them to the police and they were raided and the birds taken.

Making animals kill each other for our entertainment is sick and twisted. I don't care if it's a cultural thing, it's morally bankrupt.

I think that is related. Hunting for meat, doing it humanely and within the local hunting laws and with an eye for conservation, I don't see a problem with that, and I assume there is an enjoyment of the process. And if there is a trophy as part of that experience, that does not upset me.

But hunting purely for a trophy, with no interest in the meat, just for the adrenaline of going after a dangerous and rare animal like a tiger or elephant or such, that is disgusting. And using dogs to herd the anmal into the hunters, like that asshat from the Internet link who was killed by an elephant, well that is especially disgusting and he got what he deserved, good riddance to him.

The type and method and purpose of the hunt matters, as well as what animals are being hunted.

arguably, stock yards and commercial farming are much more inhumane than a lot of the hunting that happens. I don't disagree with that. There is a lot that ought to be fixed there. But shooting an animal just to kill it, just for fun, just for a trophy, just for the adrenaline rush and the bragging rights, without even pretending that there is a legitimate meat issue there, is heinous.