"why I don't hunt anymore"

[natureman]

Stopped hunting when I picked up a camera. Just seemed right for me. Certainly do not begrudge anyone that hunts.

 

[NCHillbilly]

I'm not talking only about you, but about what I've experienced to be fairly common among the "respect and reverence" crowd. You may be an exception. Surely you have heard the fair chase arguments about why baiting deer should be illegal, why crossbows should be illegal in archery season, and/or why inline muzzle loaders should be illegal during firearms season. In Colorado, anglers offer the same "fair chase" arguments about why live bait should be illegal for trout.

I am not part of any crowd that I know of. I don't personally bait deer, hunt with a crossbow, or inline muzzleloader, but I certainly don't have anything at all against those who do. I have shot deer over bait in the past, might again somtime. Just generally not my cup of tea. I can see some situations where it would be the only effective way. I enjoy hunting deer with homemade primitive bows, cane arrows, hand-knapped flint points. I enjoy hunting deer with flintlock and traditional percussion muzzleloaders. I also enjoy hunting deer with modern rifles, including AR-15s. I still have respect for deer.



Thus some local governments are paying $500 a head for marksmen to remove deer in overpopulated areas when market trappers could and would do it for free. Yes, widespread market hunting is often unsound policy. But there are situations where it would be the wiser approach. We still allow market hunting for many furbearing animals. But whether it is a good approach depends on the strength of the local population and the effectiveness of the available management options.

In a strictly controlled and definite situation like that where deer are culled for population control outside of normal hunting, I don't have a problem with selling the meat. Just seems like when money gets involved with anything, it corrupts it. How many areas would be declared "overpopulated" if money were involved?

..

 

[hikingthehills]

Mismatched camo works great.... probably best

I should blend right in then! Some of mine is Walmart, some Realtree and some Mossy Oak.

 

[NCHillbilly]

I should blend right in then! Some of mine is Walmart, some Realtree and some Mossy Oak.

We match, then. If you add in some old surplus woodland.

 

[LittleDrummerBoy]

..

I'll take you at your word that you have a fairly libertarian mindset when it comes to wildlife regulations. My perspective is closer to absolute libertarian. Since the wildlife belongs to the people, the burden rests on the government to show the scientific necessity of each wildlife rule and regulation for maintaining sustainable populations. "Tradition", "fair chase", and unproven concerns of "what might happen" should be insufficient for restricting the liberties of citizens in harvesting and otherwise enjoying the wildlife that belongs to them.

The US has drifted in the direction of Colonial England when it comes to wildlife management. The notion is that the government "owns" the wildlife and harvest is a privilege. Those wanting to harvest have the burden of proof that their approach is sustainable in order to be granted the privilege. That is an authoritarian and backwards approach and should be opposed by folks with libertarian values.

 

[oldfella1962]

okay I made it through a few paragraphs of the linked story and tapped out.
It almost sounds like a born & bred European is relaying third-hand what others have told him about Minnesota, the south, and the outdoors in general. He doesn't sound legit to me. I'm a Yankee and lived (and hunted & fished) in northern Wisconsin for quite a few years and this clown acts like that region and the south are two different planets! He's stereotyping to the extreme. He may as well come right out and say southerners are uncouth savages compared to their intellectually & philosophically superior northern gentlemen.

 

[PopPop]

We match, then. If you add in some old surplus woodland.

Wifey Poo bought me a extreme cold weather Huntin suit from Cabelas, only matching camo I have ever had. When it is not too cold I wear green Wrangler Rigs and Chamois shirts of earthen colors and Filson wool coat.

 

[hikingthehills]

We match, then. If you add in some old surplus woodland.

I wore holes in all of mine and ended up with this other pile of hunting clothes that I found on clearance and in thrift stores. It don't matter none to the deer I bring home every year, they never saw me. It cracks me up going in Cabalas seeing pairs of pants in some new camo pattern going for $160 a pair. The shirt I'm wearing in my profile picture is at least 15 years old and it still gets worn. I don't hate on folks that spend that kind of money on their gear but it's not necessary. Sit still and hunt the wind and you could kill deer in your birthday suit if you wanted. Not that I recommend it!

 

[Dutch]

Wayne D Davis said:
Mismatched camo works great.... probably best

Yep
Nothing in nature matches.

 

[NCHillbilly]

I wore holes in all of mine and ended up with this other pile of hunting clothes that I found on clearance and in thrift stores. It don't matter none to the deer I bring home every year, they never saw me. It cracks me up going in Cabalas seeing pairs of pants in some new camo pattern going for $160 a pair. The shirt I'm wearing in my profile picture is at least 15 years old and it still gets worn. I don't hate on folks that spend that kind of money on their gear but it's not necessary. Sit still and hunt the wind and you could kill deer in your birthday suit if you wanted. Not that I recommend it!

I've been hunting this week in a pair of old Realtree Advantage camo fatigues I bought at a surplus store about 25 years ago for $15, and a Mossy Oak long-sleeved tshirt I bought at Walmart about 15 years ago for $9.99. I've had two bears and a doe from 20 yards to 15 feet of me, hunting on the ground, and they didn't see me. Or my blaze orange hat. (NC doesn't make you dress up in a punkin suit.)

 

[cself]

The real issue is hunting PR and Hunter recruitment. It's just a thought and not gospel truth but it seems to me that hunters are suffering from the same danger as most of the worlds endangered species, habitat loss! It seems like I have to drive an hour to give my daughter the same outdoor experiences I had as a kid her age when I walked out my back door. I do live in one of the fastest growing countys in the nation and I know that doesn't help. That being said it has been my home for 36 years and the home of several generations on both sides of my family so it's home for now. I know many of you haven't seen the same change I have but I'm sure most of us can agree that finding places to hunt or just get outdoors away from modern things gets tougher as we move along in life. People often look down on lifestyles they don't understand and how can they understand our prospective if they have no exposure, if our attitude is to say I don't have time for those liberals! Believe me when I say I will stand shoulder to shoulder with any of you when the attack us but we may need to remember the old "catch more flies with honey" saying. Most of our beliefs have been widdled away by liberals sneaking their ideology into kids not by out right attacks on adults. In the article the guy made a statement that hunters started change while he wasn't paying attention, I feel like we sometimes go to the woods to get away and forget to pay attention. We are a community whether we like it or not and meet hunters and Horn hunters should be friends and we should not add to the ammunition that the antis have against us by bickering amongst ourselves. I understand what some of you guys mean by saying "I don't waste time reading articles like this" but I think it's good to look behind enemy lines and see what their game plan is. This guy may not be welcome at any of our camps and it's probably a wolf in sheeps clothing and was never one of us to begin with however the next person you try to recruit into the woods maybe reading articles like this and forming an opinion about you before you even have a chance to show them how wonderful our way of life is. Just thinking out loud!

 

[cself]

Yes I know how to spell meat correctly please forgive my proofreading failure!

 

[Bigga Trust]

That article was all about the author trying to paint himself as a superior "deep thinker". Just another morally superior "elitist" trying to capture the moral high ground for his ego. The only people that would buy in to his attitude are other elitists, liberals or antis looking for afirmation of their self proclaimed superiority.

I can't imagine being so insecure in the way I live and my pursuits that I would abandon them just because other folks I don't even know are following some trend. Think about it. What possible affect can it have on you if somebody else has a sticker in their window or a lifted truck? What a joke.

I agree. That article, because it was posted here, has been read more than any of his other leftist leaning writings combined. He is a college English professor that probably never really hunted.

 

[NCHillbilly]

I agree. That article, because it was posted here, has been read more than any of his other leftist leaning writings combined. He is a college English professor that probably never really hunted.

He hunted, but he didn't inhale.

 

[Bigga Trust]

Maybe if the author hunted more, he wouldn't worry himself about those scary stickers on other hunter's trucks.

 

[NCHillbilly]

I'll take you at your word that you have a fairly libertarian mindset when it comes to wildlife regulations. My perspective is closer to absolute libertarian. Since the wildlife belongs to the people, the burden rests on the government to show the scientific necessity of each wildlife rule and regulation for maintaining sustainable populations. "Tradition", "fair chase", and unproven concerns of "what might happen" should be insufficient for restricting the liberties of citizens in harvesting and otherwise enjoying the wildlife that belongs to them.

The US has drifted in the direction of Colonial England when it comes to wildlife management. The notion is that the government "owns" the wildlife and harvest is a privilege. Those wanting to harvest have the burden of proof that their approach is sustainable in order to be granted the privilege. That is an authoritarian and backwards approach and should be opposed by folks with libertarian values.

You keep on with that line of thinking and you won’t have any wildlife to worry about in a couple generations.

 

[livinoutdoors]

I don't think having a respect for life has anything at all to do with "elitism." It just shows that you are a person with some empathy and compassion. And, you realize the hard truth that you are alive because you take the life of something that wants to be alive just as much as you or I. I also don't subscribe to the "dominion over the animals" concept. I think we are a part of the overall picture, no more important than any other part to anyone except ourselves.

And, yes, I do have mere respect for a wild deer that belongs here than a domestic chicken or some invasive exotic species that is destoying our environment. I have killed a lot of all three. Killing a deer brings out very different emotions in me than axing a chicken or killing a carp. Whether or not that's good or bad, that's just how it is. Respect for life extends to domestic animals, though. If you've ever spent a year raising a hog or steer, feeding it and tending to it every day, that moment when you're standing there with the .22 and a bead between its eyes isn't easy; even though you know that's the way it works and that you and your family rely on this meat.

I will not apologize to anyone for respecting the life of animals and honoring their death at my hands with some respect. If that makes me some kind of "elitist" in your eyes, so be it. But nothing makes me more nauseous than watching one of those hunting shows where the feller shoots a deer and starts hollering "I smoked him!" at the top of his lungs, dances a jig, and then goes over there to where it's laying and hollers some antler number and keeps carrying on and doesn't even notice or give a flying durn about the dead deer under the antlers. I'm just wired up differently than you, I guess.

Well said.

 

[Mark K]

Speckled trout and black drum...come on man, thats a no brainer!! Trout wins!

I am thankful for every animal killed. I do have a moment where I thank God and the animal (mainly deer and turkeys) but make no mistake, I enjoy the hunt and the kill. There’s times a young doe comes down the trail and I don’t see a deer, I see back straps and tenderloins on the grill! And if a shindig is coming up a yearling will fit on the grill almost perfectly.
I think I can still show respect and reverence towards an animal with my mouth watering at the same time.

 

[Bjrink]

Hunting is a privilege that we are blessed to have the opportunity to enjoy. Be thankful and screw the haters.

 

[reflexman]

I don't care how you hunt as long as its legal I don't shoot young deer that's just the way I am. But I don't put down meat hunters what so ever believe it or not. We are a small minority of the country as a whole and have to stick together for whats coming down the pike. And as my oldest son likes to say this guy can kick rocks.