Any of you lost the urge to kill things?

[Capt. R. Hugh Kidnme]

Had a  license in PA for hunting,  from the time I was 12. Deer, fox, rabbit, woodcock, grouse, pheasant.............When I left PA permanently, I never went hunting again. It's about 25yrs+. Now, I have no desire to have to drag something out of the woods,  or to gut it, so I know I'M NEVER GOING BACK.

 

[Sixgun Sheridan]

I've never hunted.. never found it even remotely appealing. But I'm not opposed to others hunting either, as long as it's safe and regulated. Poachers however deserve to burn in Hell.

 

As for killing things, I have a personal rule that I won't harm anything that isn't harmful to me. Bugs in my house merely get a free ride to the outside... even spiders. Hornets on the other hand, I will destroy their nests the moment I see them trying to build one under my eaves. Nothing personal, but since they won't discriminate against whoever gets near their nest they have to learn to build them somewhere else.

[ShadowCatcher]

Grew up in sub-urban NY, so hunting and fishing (except for blue water on a big boat) was something I didn't

get exposed to very much, like maybe one trip to Maine one time.

 

Living in Arizona and then Washington State (courtesy of Uncle Sugar), I finally had the opportunity to get into

deer hunting for a few years, and fishing as well. 

 

Gave up on the deer hunting as there were too many folks in the woods who enjoyed a six pack and jerky for

breakfast, it felt too dangerous. 

 

Took to fishing for a while as it helped my youngest son focus and relax, so for a few years while he enjoyed it

we went often, trout on the local rivers and lakes.  He decided he lost interest, so that went away.

 

I never felt the urge to kill any animals, but that was what you had to do to get them to the butcher.  Since I don't

need to get food that way, I don't bother.  If TEOTWAWKI happens, and we have to forage for food, then all bets are

off.

 

SC

[Crooked River Pete, SASS 43485]

[Buckshot Bob]

Got him with a muzzle loader this year , I’m more selective now but I still enjoy it and love eating venison 

 

[Cold Lake Kid, SASS # 51474]

I was born and raised in Alberta. My Father started taking me hunting at an early age, teaching me to only harvest what you intended to eat; was a pest or dangerous where it was.

At 78, I still enjoy the hunt and the fruits of a successful hunt.

Mind you, with moose, once you pull the trigger, the fun is over!!

[Dirty Dan Dawkins]

But do any of you take a bite from the heart to release the animals spirit?

[Cypress Sun]

4 minutes ago, Dirty Dan Dawkins said:

But do any of you take a bite from the heart to release the animals spirit?

 

Sorry Dan, I ain't eating raccoon, rodent or fish hearts...not gonna do it.

[Buckshot Bob]

I usually cook the heart up for my dogs. Just never have ate the organs , my least favorite meat is liver and least favorite vegetable is lima beans . Couldn’t come up with a worse meal than that for me 

[Jailhouse Jim, SASS #13104]

I still love deer camp with the fellas but I am very selective in the kill.  If I see a legal animal, my day is complete even if I don't press the trigger.  I do love hunting squirrels still.  Coyotes have to eat too.

[MizPete]

Petey was a hunter when I got him - small animals as a young'un and mostly doves as an adult.  I never liked the idea, even though he had someone who would take & eat every dove he ever shot.  I was so delighted when he started CAS - he could shoot all he wanted & nothing had to die.  We fished & ate what we caught (going back forever - my Dad was a fresh-water fisherman who taught me to cast by placing bobbers for the cats to play with) & I will not say I didn't enjoy every dolphin or bottom fish we ever brought up, but I always kinda felt sorry for them.  Pick a lobster out of the tank?  Nope.

[TN Mongo, SASS #61450]

I haven't hunted in over 20 years.  I loved sitting in a deer stand watching the sun come up, but the thrill of the hunt is gone.  If necessary, in case of the apocalypse, I have deer and turkey in my back yard all the time.  Also, the squirrels in my acreage have no clue how fortunate they are that I've never liked their taste.

 

I do however, love hunting the grocery store ads looking for the best steak on sale that particular week.  

[Wallaby Jack, SASS #44062]

I'm a bit partial to (personally) pacifying the "bambi-ists" by doing my hunting at the butcher shop; where no animals have to suffer ......  

[Doc Shapiro]

I'll admit that I've never had that urge.  That said, if it was the only way to feed my family, I'd have no qualms about it.

[Buckshot Bear]

6 minutes ago, Wallaby Jack, SASS #44062 said:

I'm a bit partial to (personally) pacifying the "bambi-ists" by doing my hunting at the butcher shop; where no animals have to suffer ......  

 

 

LOL

 

Like buying 'RSPCA' approved chicken......... 'No Chicken was harmed in getting these chicken breast schnitzels into this packaging for you to eat'.

 

[Utah Bob #35998]

[Wallaby Jack, SASS #44062]

 ...'Zactly

 

 

<emoji with halo not around my neck

5 minutes ago, Buckshot Bear said:

 

 

LOL

 

Like buying 'RSPCA' approved chicken......... 'No Chicken was harmed in getting these chicken breast schnitzels into this packaging for you to eat'.

 

 

[Silver Creek Jack]

I have always had the urge to hunt, started with squirrels and rabbits in Oklahoma and since then I have been fortunate to hunt all over the U.S. including Alaska and a few trips to Canada and Mexico. I guided for Rand Creek Outfitters for 7 years out of Wapiti Wyoming for elk, mule deer, pronghorn and black bear. Elk is my favorite animal to hunt and never pass up a chance to go when I draw a tag, the most exciting experience in hunting in my mind anyway is calling in a big bugling bull elk and taking it with a bow and arrow, it never gets old! I have also been a taxidermist for the last 48 years and have met every type of hunter going I guess and my least liked of them all are the killers, guys and a few women that just have a lust to kill with no respect for the animal or the wilderness they live in, I’m glad to say they are not the norm by a long shot. Now my Grand kids are starting to hunt and that is my main focus, our land here in Kansas is loaded with deer, turkeys and small game, my oldest granddaughter took a big buck last year and my grandson took a big buck this year, mounting them up for them was my great pleasure and now they are hooked! They both thanked the good Lord for his gift of the bucks and the bacon wrapped back straps slow smoked over mesquite wood coals was excellent!

[Sawhorse Kid]

I have not hunted in years, but. ....No.....I have never lost the urge. 

[Buckshot Bob]

To me hunting isn’t just about killing things . It’s about hunting, the experience , getting to see how nature functions. I’ve bow hunted since I was a child, it gives you allot of opportunity to interact with animals. And the time you spend with friends and family is fantastic. Plus the meat you get is as good as it gets. Look how much people pay for all this non gmo free range stuff. It’s participating in natures cycle . Too many people don’t realize where dinner comes from, it’s the same type of enjoyment/pleasure/satisfaction you get from having a garden . I guess it’s hard to put into words , it’s natures bounty, the harvest.

[Cold Lake Kid, SASS # 51474]

5 hours ago, Dirty Dan Dawkins said:

But do any of you take a bite from the heart to release the animals spirit?

No, but having some FN blood running in my veins, I will admit to honouring the traditions of some of my ancestors, by placing a last bit of grass in the mouth of my harvested animal and giving thanks for it giving it's life to sustain me and my family.

When I get back to camp, I honour the traditions of my Irish ancestors and have big drink of Irish Whiskey.

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

On 12/20/2021 at 7:36 PM, Buckshot Bear said:

 

I'm using a camera and a telephoto lens these days.

Did that for awhile, too.

 

Pentax Spotmatic II. 35mm camera with a 150 lens and Kodak Ektachrome high speed (128?)film.

 

Don't feel up to getting out a doing that anymore, either.  Still have the rig and know where to get film,  just in case I ever get the urge again.

[watab kid]

yes , less and less as the years have gone by , as a kid i hunted daily , once in college i only hunted a few times a year , after i probably got in a single hunt , 

later life the company hosted or another company hosted and those were years apart , now ive seldome even thought of it save for all those hunters that come through the gunclub durring deer season sight in , 

 

lets suffice it to say that if needed i could kill something but with my upbringing of shoot it/clean it/eat it , im going to need to be feeding myself and or family to do so again anytime soon , 

[Michigan Slim]

14 hours ago, Dirty Dan Dawkins said:

But do any of you take a bite from the heart to release the animals spirit?

No but my mom used to pickle a deer heart once in a while. Sliced thin with a piece of cheese and a spicey mustard! My wife won't do that. My dad was a chef as a younger man and could make deer liver and onions actually really good. That's hard to do!

[Michigan Slim]

9 hours ago, Cold Lake Kid, SASS # 51474 said:

No, but having some FN blood running in my veins, I will admit to honouring the traditions of some of my ancestors, by placing a last bit of grass in the mouth of my harvested animal and giving thanks for it giving it's life to sustain me and my family.

When I get back to camp, I honour the traditions of my Irish ancestors and have big drink of Irish Whiskey.

My tradition is to thank the animal, the Lord and then my Pa. Then the work starts. I'm not a religious man, but I am a spiritual man and the woods are my chapel. 

[Yellowhouse Sam # 25171]

As a youth on the mostly barren High Plains of Texas all we had back then were doves, quail, and occasional waterfowl.  Love shooting birds.   However, where we younguns earned our .22 shells was pest eradication on the farm.  If you planted wheat the jackrabbits would eat it to the ground so shooting them was encouraged by the whole community.  Much the same with prairie dogs  and we killed zillions of rabbits at night by spotlighting.   A modern day counterpart would be killing feral hogs I guess.

 

The last time I visited the farm I took along a 204 Ruger and prowled the roads along my old stomping grounds.   Saw several jacks and lots of pasture poodles but I just watched them.  Theres not so many there anymore.

 

Here in Oklahoma I love deer hunting and yes I appreciate what the deer offers for sustenance and no I don't particularly like the killing part but such is life.

[Buckshot Bob]

17 hours ago, Cold Lake Kid, SASS # 51474 said:

I was born and raised in Alberta. My Father started taking me hunting at an early age, teaching me to only harvest what you intended to eat; was a pest or dangerous where it was.

At 78, I still enjoy the hunt and the fruits of a successful hunt.

Mind you, with moose, once you pull the trigger, the fun is over!!

How did you move them whole ? Horses , or a atv of some sort ? 

[Cold Lake Kid, SASS # 51474]

For the whole ones, field dress them, then, with the aid of a MRS, (Moose Recovery System - a fence puller and some steel cables) and other members of the party, called in to help, load them into the 4WD truck.

We have skidded them out with ATVs when the bush has been open enough.

The ones halved were harvested near the river and loaded into the boat(s), again using the MRS. We all carry a MRS bag in the trucks, ATVs or boats.

[Dantankerous]

I have hunted all sorts of critters with the largest being deer. I very much enjoyed my time in the field whether or not I even got off a shot. In fact, some of my best days afield with wonderful memories had more to do with hiking 15 miles over ground I felt blessed to be on, from dawn til dusk, breathing clean, fresh air and being outside. Being in those places was and continues to be nourishing, even without fresh game.

 

Venison cooked right is delicious. As is rabbit. Pheasant and quail are delectible. But... my favorite "successful" hunting was call hunting coyotes. Ain't eatin' them, but they ain't eatin' any more calves anymore either. Around my parts coyotes can be problematic.  Dead ones aren't though.

[Painted Mohawk SASS 77785]

I hunt but not often , could be years in  between hunts ..going out  in January with my son to get some venison..killing is not a problem but only for the right reason...pork. goat & lamb  are all fattened on our sons property where they are home butchered  better product & far cheaper than out of the shop....

[Slapshot]

Have I lost the urge to kill things?   Nope.......Only the what has changed......

[Snakebite]

Both sides of my family has been hunting here since before the Revolutionary war. It was a necessity, not for fun. Even though we still lived in the country and in the mountains, the necessity to hunt for food after WWII was not as great. However, we still followed the various hunting seasons, took our game and enjoyed it. I've never killed for the pleasure of killing NOT EVER. When I killed a Coyote it was because it had become too bold and started hanging around too close. When I killed a Racoon it was because it was in too close and fighting with the dogs. To keep the Rattle snakes down as well as the undermining of the out buildings, I would shoot ground squirrels that nested inside the compound and I killed Rattle snakes ONLY when they were inside. IMO, hunting is a skill, and I have no issue with hunting for a trophy size deer as long as it is used for food. A quick and humane kill is a requirement. Sometimes Killing is a necessary, sometimes it is a means to supply food, but killing just for the desire to take life by killing something or thinking it is fun to watch something die has never been a part of my life. I don't care for the hunting of Elephants and such. I know that many have a different opinion of killing. God gave Man dominion over the animals, and was directed to not abuse them. JMO.   

[Gracos Kid]

I was the Case Agent on so many murders and death investigations over the course of my career that I detest having to smell the odor of death.  I have not hunted since 1980 for that very reason.  There is an odor of death, be it animal or human, that one cannot eliminate from the nostrils.  It would be different if I were starving, but only then....  I recently used a BB gun to sting a squirrel off my bird feeder, and he turned his head just as I aimed at his hip, and unfortunately got hit in the eye.  I had to kill him to put him out of his pain.  I cried....

[Father Kit Cool Gun Garth]

 

[Hashknife Cowboy]

I was raised to hunt for food.  Dad use to call venison, natures fast food.  I have taken my share of large antlered herbivores, but I am quite content with a cow elk or a younger mule deer.  To me the hunt experience is all about friends and family, the camp and the memories of the hunt. I do not need to kill a animal, but if I do it is all about the food.  To me it is not a competition where it must be big.  At the end of the day it is a living animal that must be treated with respect and dignity if I choose to release the arrow or pull a trigger.  I will not kill just because I can.