Does Anyone Else Here Hunt?

zoeysmom · Oct 11, 2008

Originally Posted by GailC

One of my BIL's get some of his venison smoked and then they slice it really thin for appeitizers. Or have you had jerky made??

Many people do not realize what the overpopulation of deer do to the ecosystem. Wisconsin usually has 1 million deer over the DNR"s guidelines.
The deer are quite destructive in the forests in northern Wisconsin. And to many crops/orchards. This is not counting the number of people killed and injured in deer/vehicle accidents. There is also chronic wasting disease which needs to be controlled.

Also many people who not not have use for the venison donate to the local food pantries. As the economy gets worse donations to food pantries decrease and this venison is a much welcome source of meat for them.
Wisconsin hunters donate thousands of pounds of venison to the pantries and I'm sure other states have similar programs.

So one may be opposed to hunting but there are many benefits that the deer provide.

I have to agree with this somewhat. While I could never personally hunt, I would rather a deer be killed by someone shooting it for food, than for it to be hit by a car and be left by the side of the road. Which is one of the things that happen when an area is overpopulated.

I don't know what the laws are like in the US, but here in Ontario we have pretty strict regulations about hunting. Every year, those with hunting licenses can buy "tags" for a deer or moose. The number of tags a hunter can get is based on the population of the animal in the area at that time. I also don't think you can just leave the animal there once it has been shot. You have to attach your tag to it and take it with you. There are still some people who don't follow the laws, but if they get caught, there are pretty stiff consequences.

russian blue · Oct 11, 2008

Originally Posted by GailC

Many people do not realize what the overpopulation of deer do to the ecosystem. Wisconsin usually has 1 million deer over the DNR"s guidelines.
The deer are quite destructive in the forests in northern Wisconsin. And to many crops/orchards. This is not counting the number of people killed and injured in deer/vehicle accidents. There is also chronic wasting disease which needs to be controlled.

Also many people who not not have use for the venison donate to the local food pantries. As the economy gets worse donations to food pantries decrease and this venison is a much welcome source of meat for them.
Wisconsin hunters donate thousands of pounds of venison to the pantries and I'm sure other states have similar programs.

So one may be opposed to hunting but there are many benefits that the deer provide.

Totally agree. Again, I'm not favouring sport hunting AT ALL. I'm talking about responsible hunters who actually know how to take down an animal properly and abide by the laws and keep within their limit. I know there are many 'hunters' that go out to drink and shoot with no regard. Those are the ones who give others a bad rap.

Not to start an argument, but meat eaters who go to their grocery stores, how do you think that animal was treated it's whole life? Do you think it had a fair natural life before you bought it for your consumption? I'm more against commercialized meat production than responsible hunters going out once a season.

You really have to think about which actions are more responsible/ethical.

2dogmom · Oct 11, 2008

I do not hunt (I don't have the patience and I'm not a good enough shot) but hubby does. We can certainly use the venison and what a lot of people don't realize is that we have a deer overpopulation problem. Their natural predators are gone, and unless they are thinned out by hunters, some die a slow death by starvation. I'd rather see them shot and die quickly.

If only they were territorial and didn't wander for miles I suppose they could be managed by a type of TNR program.

whiteforest · Oct 11, 2008

Originally Posted by Russian Blue

Not to start an argument, but meat eaters who go to their grocery stores, how do you think that animal was treated it's whole life? Do you think it had a fair natural life before you bought it for your consumption? I'm more against commercialized meat production than responsible hunters going out once a season.

You really have to think about which actions are more responsible/ethical.

Thank you for bringing this up. I was thinking the same thing. The commercial meat industry is FAR more inhumane than hunting. I think it's rather hypocritical to eat meat, but disagree with hunting. I won't go any further on this topic as this is the Lounge, and not IMO.

I will say that if it weren't for hunting and fishing there would have been many years growing up that my family didn't have much to eat.

abbycats · Oct 11, 2008

I used to be totally against hunting until I sat through a hunters safety class when I lived in Colorado. I got my hunters safety card

I was very impressed by the people who taught the class. Even though I got my hunters safety card I still can't pull the trigger on any animal. I don't like to see them dead in the back of a truck either. They should be covered up for respect of the people who don't hunt. Hunters that hunt for food and respect the life that was given to feed them I don't have a problem with. I don't like trophy hunters. On my drive to work I see a lot of deer and turkey in the fields. During hunting season I see the hunters trucks out in the fields and It's hard for me. There is a over population of deer where I live in Nebraska and the herds do need to be thinned to prevent disease and overpopulation. Their natural predators are becoming fewer. I see many deer that have been hit on the highway going to work and it's so sad. One day last year I saw a young buck in the middle of the bar pit on the highway who was injured by a vehicle and he couldn't get up. It really tore me up all the way to work, When I got to work I called the State patrol and reported it.

I live in the middle of cow country and I see the way cows are treated in the nasty feed lots and the way they herd them up in the trucks to go to slaughter. It is awful. I live 30 miles from the tyson plant they wrote about in "Fast Food Nation" It is horrible.

I work for a large Sportmans outfitter that Started here in Nebraska back in the 60's, I work in the call center and I deal with hunters all day long on the telephone.

rubsluts'mommy · Oct 11, 2008

While I do not hunt, one of the managers at our store does, and she bragged some weeks back about bagging a deer. Now, mind you, she doesn't use guns. She uses a crossbow (I think, just not guns) and wears no shoes, just several pairs of socks. This cuts down on the noise she makes.

I don't mind responsible hunting. It's something our ancestors have done for centuries, before mass market meat packing plants. If I couple handle killing something, I'd do it, but I have neither the means nor desire to start up. Besides, I hate guns with such a passion. If I could handle a crossbow, I might... but then there's the whole killing thing. I despise trophy/sport/fun hunters...

I believe if you are to hunt for your meat, do as the Native Americans did. Use as much of the animal as you can. Do not waste. We waste in the meat packing plants... which is such a shame. The NA's used every inch of the inside and outside of a kill. They also respected the animals and the land... which I think responsible hunters today do as well...

fuzzles · Oct 11, 2008

Originally Posted by zoeysmom

I have to agree with this somewhat. While I could never personally hunt, I would rather a deer be killed by someone shooting it for food, than for it to be hit by a car and be left by the side of the road. Which is one of the things that happen when an area is overpopulated.

I don't know what the laws are like in the US, but here in Ontario we have pretty strict regulations about hunting. Every year, those with hunting licenses can buy "tags" for a deer or moose. The number of tags a hunter can get is based on the population of the animal in the area at that time. I also don't think you can just leave the animal there once it has been shot. You have to attach your tag to it and take it with you. There are still some people who don't follow the laws, but if they get caught, there are pretty stiff consequences.

The county that I hunt in in Texas is a "one buck county" That means that one person is allowed to shoot and tag one buck. There are strict rules. You cannot shoot 30 minutes before sunrise and 30 minutes after sunset, because it's not fair to the deer. You also cannot use a spotlight to hunt with at night obviously since it blinds them. Each county is different on how many you can harvest depending on the population. Thanksgiving weekend you can also shoot a doe without a tag, but you still have to have the hunting license. Sometimes the game wardens will give out doe permits/tags if they think there are too many does in an area. My family has a share in a hunting club down in a river bottom and every year a wildlife biologist goes around with a spotlight at night and takes a count of how many does and bucks there are. If there are too many does then they will issue the correct amount of permits to help out the population and keep it more in balance.

If you were born after 1975 then you have to take a hunter education course before you can purchase a license, which I had to take since I was born in '84. It teaches firearm safety and I feel that it really is beneficial to have in place, especially for young kids.

I've had jerky made before, but it's kind of expensive for how much you get back. Plus they always want to use the backstrap for it, and I think it tastes better in steak form. The jerky is really good though. I had to yell at my boyfriend one year because he ate a whole package of jerky in one sitting (we only got 4 or 5 bags of it out of that one deer). I should've made him pay for it

. He said it was just so good he couldn't stop eating it. I forgot that my dad usually gets summer sausage made along with his smoked sausage. That stuff is pretty good too but I just can't eat a lot of it. It's too rich for me, I guess.

I get mad because my boyfriend's rich, and I mean has a 5 million dollar house rich uncle shoots 3 does and 3 bucks a year on a managed ranch somewhere around San Marcos that has the 8 foot high fences around it. Basically he pays to be able to harvest that many a year and is guaranteed that many. It's pretty crappy to me. I just don't agree with it. And then the fact that he just goes hunting only to kill stuff. Like one time he went hunting in Montana to kill prarie dogs just for fun because apparently they are having overpopulation problems with them, but still. He gives most of the deer meat away to family members instead of eating it himself, but I never take any of his because I already have my own. I'm actually glad I have my own so they won't try making me take any of his. I really don't like that man sometimes. He also went pigeon hunting down in Argentina because it's legal there.

fuzzles · Oct 11, 2008

Originally Posted by RubSluts'Mommy

While I do not hunt, one of the managers at our store does, and she bragged some weeks back about bagging a deer. Now, mind you, she doesn't use guns. She uses a crossbow (I think, just not guns) and wears no shoes, just several pairs of socks. This cuts down on the noise she makes.

I don't mind responsible hunting. It's something our ancestors have done for centuries, before mass market meat packing plants. If I couple handle killing something, I'd do it, but I have neither the means nor desire to start up. Besides, I hate guns with such a passion. If I could handle a crossbow, I might... but then there's the whole killing thing. I despise trophy/sport/fun hunters...

I believe if you are to hunt for your meat, do as the Native Americans did. Use as much of the animal as you can. Do not waste. We waste in the meat packing plants... which is such a shame. The NA's used every inch of the inside and outside of a kill. They also respected the animals and the land... which I think responsible hunters today do as well...

Oh, I forgot about that. If you hunt with a bow, it cannot be a crossbow. It has to be a compound bow or I guess you could also use a recurve bow. That's another one of those strict rules they have. At least in Texas you cannot use a crossbow.

rubsluts'mommy · Oct 11, 2008

Originally Posted by Fuzzles

Oh, I forgot about that. If you hunt with a bow, it cannot be a crossbow. It has to be a compound bow or I guess you could also use a recurve bow. That's another one of those strict rules they have. At least in Texas you cannot use a crossbow.

She may just have a bow and arrow... I've never really asked her about her hunting... I just overhear what she says... but to bag a large bear takes some serious force. She used to get bears a long time ago, but hadn't gotten one in years... so she was SOOO proud.

Amanda

skippymjp · Oct 11, 2008

I used too, as a boy. It was just part of growing up around here. But over the years I just seem to have really lost interest. I still have a shotgun and a couple rifles, but don't even honestly know if I have any ammunition for any of them

They've been locked away for years.

kittkatt · Oct 11, 2008

Originally Posted by CoolCat

I respect your opinion my friend,.....

But in my case I donÂ´t like the hunt...

I know that some peeps enjoy the sport of hunting, and it is a necessary to put food on the table (for those who eat meat, that is), but I myself just couldn't kill anything.

tara g · Oct 12, 2008

I'm not a hunter, and neither is Rob. We target shoot with our guns (he has a Mossburg 500 tactical pistol grip 12 ga shotgun, I have a Springfield XD9 subcompact 9mm). My uncle hunts A LOT though, and my cousin Marie used to. I don't think she goes much now that she's in college.

I dont think I'd be able to shoot a deer, bird, etc.

tab · Oct 12, 2008

i am a vegetarian and would not be able to pull the trigger to kill any animal or bird.

having said that, although i completely agree with the comments regarding factory farmed animals, personally i would much rather know that an animal has lived a good, happy life and the end was fast and as humane as possible.

we will never life in utopia where no animal is harmed or killed so i champion free range farming.

bloodsports however, i abhor. to me that is murder for pleasure alone.

essayons89 · Oct 14, 2008

In Michigan you can hear this song on a lot of the radio stations when deer season opens.

Ted Nugent: Fred Bear

theimp98 · Oct 14, 2008

by the way, i hate trophy hunters. If you not going to eat it, DONT KILL IT

Moz · Oct 15, 2008

Originally Posted by theimp98

by the way, i hate trophy hunters. If you not going to eat it, DONT KILL IT

EXACTLY.

I couldn't go hunting; I'd feel too bad for the animals, even if they are killed for food. However, I do enjoy target shooting with compound bows.

krazy kat2 · Oct 15, 2008

I have gone hunting, but we didn't get anything but cold and dirty.
I did shoot a deer that had been hit by a car and all its legs were at horrible angles, but that was only because it was suffering horribly and would die soon anyhow. It was a bad feeling, much worse that shooting that guy that broke in my house.
I think I will stick to shooting targets and buying meat on little square trays.

abbycats · Oct 15, 2008

Originally Posted by krazy kat2

I have gone hunting, but we didn't get anything but cold and dirty.
I did shoot a deer that had been hit by a car and all its legs were at horrible angles, but that was only because it was suffering horribly and would die soon anyhow. It was a bad feeling, much worse that shooting that guy that broke in my house.
I think I will stick to shooting targets and buying meat on little square trays.

Thats because the guy breaking into your house had intentions of doing you harm in one way or another. The deer was an innocent animal that was hit by a car.

Did the guy die that you shot?

Does Anyone Else Here Hunt?

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