[Comblocaddict]

So I hunt each season and the guys are always talking about their kills. Typical, ya.

Sure I kill whats in season, what I will eat. But there are always those folks around here talking about their kills they mount, im talking things they kill just to hang up. Like Bobcat for one.

Recently I was talking about with a buddy about his bobcat he was getting a mount done on. I went on to talk about the "one"(bobcat) I saw about 25 yards from me in the tall grass stalking something. I just watched him till he wondered off and it was really a nice experience. I couldnt bring myself to kill it, they are amazing and beautiful. But the responses I get are, "why didnt you shoot it!!". I guess Im just ranting, I dont know exactly what my point here is...

Other than I just wasnt raised that way, I eat what I kill. Not only that, I enjoy watching the other wildlife. I dont hunt just to kill, I go hunting because I enjoy seeing the wildlife around me.

Is there as many out there like me as it seems there is that hunt just for sport? It seems im surrounded by them and they act as if im crazy when I dont pull the trigger on everything i see.:(

[splattergun]

Some people will eat the meat of predators. Some won't. I don't assume a trophy hunter will automatically waste the meat.

On the other hand, scavengers and lower life forms need to eat, too.

[snakeman]

You must not hunt in sheep country...

[Arkansas Paul]

There are reasons to shoot bobcats, coyotes and the like if you are a serious hunter. It's not about just going out and shooting everything you see.

I have never killed a bobcat, but I will the second I get the chance. They kill animals that I like to hunt like rabbits, squirrels turkey and even fawns. You can walk for days around here anymore and not scare up a covey of quail, partly because of bobcats eating them.

If you don't want to kill them, I respect that and it is absolutely your perogative, but don't assume that everybody that does kill them are just trigger happy sport hunters. There are valid reasons. And I absolutely agree with you about eating what you kill, or giving it to someone who will. I just make an exception for predators.

[snakeman]

Well said Paul

[Comblocaddict]

You do have a really good point Paul. I guess I never thought of it that way because I dont have to worry about it where I am. There is plenty of what im hunting for in balance with the other wildlife. There is deffinately need/reason for balance.

[Snag]

I totally sympathize with what the op is saying.

Although I was never into having things mounted, from the age of 12 to about 30 I'd slay anything. Deer, bear, coyotes, jack rabbits, racoons, porcupines, whatever. The deer, bear, and stuff ended up on the dinner plate but that's about it. With the predators I used to tell myself things like "I better kill this coyote cause he been hanging round the orchard giving the stank eye to the mules" or "this porcupine has got to go before the dogs get tangled up with him" or "racoons are gonna eat the chickens so kill em' all". Preemptive strike kind of attitude. Truth was the coyotes never attacked the mules. The dogs, all the ones I've had anyway, steered well clear of porcupines and I just needed build a better damn fence around the chickens. Fishing it was the same way, I never used to catch and release.

No idea where or when the mind set changed but I don't hunt anymore and I catch and release 90% of the time. The want for dead animal heads on your wall is morbid, to me anyway. Taxidermy is a art form though, I don't have that kind of skill.

I probably stopped hunting because as time went by I watched the rest of the world press in on what once was the middle of nowhere. The frontier attitude is very much alive and things change, not always for the better depending on your point of view.

[wankerjake]

I agree with AR Paul. For many there are plenty of reasons to shoot them. Sport is one of the reasons we all hunt. It's part of it. If it wasn't fun, we wouldn't do it. It doesn't make it wrong, it's just the way nature works; predators kill things.

Not only that, I enjoy watching the other wildlife. I dont hunt just to kill, I go hunting because I enjoy seeing the wildlife around me.

So do I, I love being out there. I love seeing other animals that I'm not hunting. The kill isn't always the best part of a hunt. Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't. But just because I shoot an animal I'm hunting doesn't mean I don't appreciate it. Bobcats are a good example. It's awesome having a bobcat come to a call. I love it. I also enjoy bagging one.

If you have no use for bobcat meat or pelts or mounts, and wouldn't care to shoot one then don't shoot. That's fair. But it's an awesome experience for some of us.

Bobcats are very tasty by the way, I've eaten both the ones I've killed. They also look nice on my wall. I hardly consider my shooting a bobcat a waste at all. Great memories and great table fare. Two of my fondest hunting memories are the two bobcats I've killed. One's on my wall (pic attatched), the other is at the tannery due back in a month.

People ignorant to hunting always ask me what i'm doing over the upcoming weekend and I'll say "I'm going to look for elk." The typical conversation goes something like this:
Them: "What are you doing this weekend, Wanker?"

Me: "I'm going to go look for elk on Saturday morning."

Them: "oh you're going to shoot some elk? I thought it wasn't hunting season right now."

Me: "No, I'm going to look at them. Because they are neat."

Them: "Oh. Why would you do that if you aren't going to shoot them? Wait, you are just going to look at them?"

My conclusion is that most people who don't hunt, don't really care about wild animals. They certainly don't go and view them, they just say things like "I love elk, I could never kill one." The only time they've ever seen an elk is from the highway:rolleyes:

Hunters, including sport hunters, have a greater investment in the overall well being of wild animals. I hunt for many reasons. I love everything about it. I eat just about everything except coyotes. Regardless of what I'm hunting, sport is a big part of it. Everybody has a little different way of doing things and everybody should only do things they are comfortable with, but I've learned that what may not be appropriate for me is a great opportunity for someone else. And vice versa.

[buck460XVR]

Comblocaddict....what you are seeing is the difference between a hunter/sportsman and a shooter. Many times it is a progression in a hunters life, as Snag so artfully put it. While I still hunt, I don't do the killing like I used to. I too enjoy watching animals in the wild doing what they do, and have found many times that enjoyment received from not shooting and letting them live to watch them another day is more than the enjoyment received from pulling the trigger. This is true of predators also. This year I shot two coyotes that came into my calls/decoys while turkey hunting. I also let two others go after watching them embarrass themselves by attacking a piece of foam on a stick. I figure taking 50% was enough predator control.

Sometimes that "shoot 'em all" attitude comes back to bite you in the backside. Several years ago the state of Wisconsin was issuing unlimited antlerless tags for $2 a piece. Many folks were shooting everything they saw, to the point they were letting the meat go to waste since the local food pantries had already taken all they could handle. When asked why they continued to shoot, these folks replied "cause we can!". These are the same folks the last few years are crying cause there's no deer left in the areas they hunt. Of course it's the DNR's fault and of course, those damn wolves.:rolleyes:

As a hunter, I have much more respect for those hunters that will pass on an animal that they don't need to shoot as opposed to those that shoot whatever they have a opportunity to. But for young hunters and those new to the sport I give them a pass to shoot whatever they want, as long as they do it legally and ethically. My experience is that many of those that have never grown outta that "shoot 'em all" attitude, are the ones that feel the need to bend or break regs to get the job done.

[jmr40]

Do you eat the roaches, mice and rats you kill? Some predators have no natural enemies and human sport shooters are the only thing that keeps their numbers in check. When predators start eating your dogs, cats and attacking your small children you'll understand why it is necessary to kill some animals for purposes other than eating them.

They also kill and eat rather large numbers of other animals that we do hunt for food. Deer and turkey populations are way down because we have too many coyotes here. Crows eat millions of dollars worth of grain raised for human consumption.

[Snag]

My conclusion is that people who don't hunt, don't really care about wild animals.

I think that is an unfair assumption. Perhaps if it said people who have never hunted I might agree.

[wankerjake]

How about:
My conclusion is that most people who don't hunt, don't really care about wild animals.

Of course it was a generalization and is not true 100% of the time.

[X-Rap]

I would say to consider the huge biomass that is removed/consumed by hunters each year either for food or for sport and what the world would look like if these various species were to be allowed to run amok.
There are some species like wild horses that have somehow gained protected status and are now consuming huge resources that would otherwise go to native animals both game and non game.
Other domestics like feral hogs, cats, dogs, and reptiles are devastating wildlife then there are wild animals that if not kept in check over populate and eventually succumb to disease of starvation while endangering both humans and animals.
Nature has been changed by man and we have an obligation to try to keep things in balance.

[420Stainless]

If I see a bobcat and am not too worried about spooking the deer I'll take it just for the mount. After that I doubt I'd take another, but as long as they're common I don't have a problem with others exercising predator control. I've seen several, but its always been at first light and I don't want to disturb the stand set up that early.

[snakeman]

We have sheep. I shoot predators on sight. I do it to protect our livelihood and the deer and quail populations. This iis somethign that most people don't understand.

[der Teufel]

We have sheep. I shoot predators on sight. I do it to protect our livelihood and the deer and quail populations. This iis somethign that most people don't understand.

I have a couple of places where I hunt hogs. The landowners are friends, and they're happy (delighted!) to have someone they know trying to take out the hogs. These people raise crops and cattle.

In both instances, when I was initially given permission to hunt hogs, they added "Shoot every coyote you see!"

[Comblocaddict]

Let me clarify. I may have come across over exagerating it. I completley understand thinning out nuisance animals and protecting your livelihood such as crops and farm animals. Specifically hogs, I understand how damaging those animals are to land and crops.

[cottswald]

Hunters, including sport hunters, have a greater investment in the overall well being of wild animals. I hunt for many reasons. I love everything about it. I eat just about everything except coyotes. Regardless of what I'm hunting, sport is a big part of it. Everybody has a little different way of doing things and everybody should only do things they are comfortable with, but I've learned that what may not be appropriate for me is a great opportunity for someone else. And vice versa.
Down right well said Wanker!

[Snag]

Shoot every coyote you see!

I just can't bring myself to pull the trigger on something that hasn't proven on an individual level to be a threat to me or my property.

[MCgunner]

My cousin-in-law is a trophy hunter, flies to Alaska and Africa and here and there shooting trophies, the meat usually going to indigenous people. He keeps the head, has an envious trophy room in his house. He's a podiatrist with a successful private practice and has more money than sense, but he has a good time. :D I don't begrudge him hunting how he wants. He doesn't like game and, frankly, what little venison I've eaten from him (he has an expensive south Texas trophy lease), he doesn't prep the meat worth a toot, gamey as hell, so I can see why. :rolleyes: His boy hunts their place near Seguin, Texas and kills a deer now and then, they just leave the hogs lay for the buzzards. That's quite an acceptable thing in Texas. He thinks I'm goofy for trapping and eating hogs off my place. No biggy, but hey, I love 'em. I love to BBQ hogs. Try that with venison and, well, boot leather comes to mind. :D I make most of my hogs into sausage, though, love my smoked sausage, hat to brag, but, well, no I don't. :D

I've seen lots of bobcat I could have shot, but I don't. I have a thing for cats and they're just way cool to watch in the field, but then, I don't keep livestock on my place, either. I have shot feral dogs and coyotes off the place. The coyotes were targets of opportunity and, at the time, I just wanted to kill something. :D Dogs, feral dogs, are the most destructive animal out there and I've found deer skeletons in tact I suspect dogs killed because a coyote or cat would have scattered the bones, but, could have been someones errant shot on the place next door or something, who knows? But, I hate feral dogs. I'd shoot a bobcat if I wanted to mount the rug, just hasn't ever been a particular desire of mine. And, I really don't go after predators as a sport, not my thing. What I REALLY enjoy above all other hunting is wing shooting, waterfowl and doves mostly. I do eat 'em, but it's the hunt that I do it for. :D The meat is just a bonus. So, being I'm rather illogically hooked on wing shooting, how could I begrudge someone who's illogically hooked on predator hunting? No, I wouldn't and most don't eat cats and song dogs, but there's no law you have to eat what you shoot, not even an ethos unless you just dreamed it up to justify your love for killing....okay, that's a might strong and PETAish, love for the hunt. :D

[Sniper66]

I am 65 and some of my peers, both older and younger, have stopped hunting, but still buy and shoot guns. I have heard at least 3 friends say they don't like killing anymore. But, most old friends stopped hunting because they don't like the discomfort of a duck blind during a snowstorm or the cold wind in a winter tree stand. That has not happened to me yet and hopefully won't, but I respect my friends' decisions to go a different way, just as they respect my hobby of shooting prairie dogs and other varmints. I have gravitated toward p-dogs, fall squirrels, spring turkeys, doves...you'll notice these are all fair weather hunts. I will shoot bobcats, feral dogs, coyotes, coons, and possums on my family's farm because they have killed lots of their cats and chickens and have raided the cats food stores if they get the chance and coyotes have killed some small calves. All the other stuff I eat or give to someone who wants it. Actually, I have never killed a bobcat, but have shot several coyotes around the farm, mostly when I am checking cattle with my niece's husband during the birthing season. He checks cattle and I ride shotgun.

[Texan Scott]

Just my personal view....

I don't think animals have rights. I do believe people have responsibilities to their families, their communities, and to animals in their care.

There is a strong statistical correlation between animal cruelty and violent crime. People who abuse animals for 'fun' often make little or no distinction between animals and people as objects of opportunistic abuse.

I don't believe hunting (even for sport and trophy alone) falls into this category, even if it appears that the hunter has no regard for the animal's life, death, or pain, precisely because the hunter clearly does distinguish between animal and human life, and because the animal's suffering (which good hunters minimize for practical as well as ethical reasons) is secondary to the purpose. The hunter is not trying to cause the animal unnecessary suffering, only its death. Whether hunting the animal is necessary or not, the animal's death is a necessary result of hunting it.

I personally don't collect heads for the wall. (as in Silence of the Lambs: "Most serial killers keep some kind of trophy from their victims." "I didn't." "No, you ate yours." :evil: ) Personally, I have no qualms about killing anything that A) I intend to eat, or B) just needs to be killed for some reason, e.g. population control, disease, danger, damage to property, or depredation of crops or livestock.

Some people hunt for the challenge alone. I don't. My life is challenging enough, tyvm. I may not understand people who hunt for trophies, but I cast no moral aspersions on them, either.

[T.R.]

I was raised same way. God's animals must not be killed for vanity. I've taken a few trophies (mostly luck) and had them mounted. But the real trophy has always been on the dinner plate.

I'm not against trophy hunters; just doesn't match my values.

TR

[Loyalist Dave]

Some people hunt for the challenge alone. I don't. My life is challenging enough, tyvm. I may not understand people who hunt for trophies, but I cast no moral aspersions on them, either.


Yes I agree, I don't understand the need seek out a game animal as a trophy to mount on the wall..., any more than my close friends who do just that can understand why I don't want several trophies mounted on my wall. :D

I do take photographs of some of my deer harvests..., is it because I am Scottish and frugal (or as some of my friends say, "cheap")?? :eek:

I know that folks who spend lavish amounts of cash to go overseas to harvest dangerous game for trophy purposes spread a lot of cash around in areas that can use the money. I don't begrudge folks who do that..., it just isn't my "thing". Heck anyplace where one goes today and spends money on a trophy hunt can use the cash, eh?

I think "we" need to be careful that folks who do not comprehend the hunt, or who are openly against hunting, don't succeed in breaking us into small groups that are then not united in favor of hunting, i.e. by getting us to label ourselves as, trophy hunters, vs. meat hunters, vs. bird hunters, or some such tactic. ;)

LD

[jmorris]

I have killed things I wouldn't eat. I have even killed friendly animals but that was mostly to prevent suffering. To each their own i guess, the older I get the more I tend to buy food and enjoy conversation over packing meat when I hunt with friends. That maybe why I enjoy dove hunting so much, you can clean they days bounty while the AC cools down the truck. Too bad it takes all season for enough to have a cookout.

[Art Eatman]

The main reason I'm not an active hunter is that my son's in Germany and my wife and I have the lower metabolisms of old age. Hard to eat a whole deer, anymore. :D And danged if I'm gonna do the post-shooting work of cut-and-wrap and give the meat away.

I've seen cougars. I could bait one in, close here to home. I know from experience they're tasty, just as the old mountain men claimed. But a buddy of mine had money trouble and I bought his cougar skin for the taxidermy fee and it hangs across the back of the couch. So, I don't need to shoot one. Were I in the sheep and goat business, I'd have a different attitude.

[MCgunner]

That maybe why I enjoy dove hunting so much, you can clean they days bounty while the AC cools down the truck. Too bad it takes all season for enough to have a cookout.

Yeah, that's a big bonus of bird hunting, isn't it? :D But, heck, I still have a few dove in my freezer from last season! You should hunt where I hunt, you wouldn't run out so fast. LOL!


I do take photographs of some of my deer harvests..., is it because I am Scottish and frugal (or as some of my friends say, "cheap")??

I'm German/Scottish and can squeeze blood from a turnip. :D I have several mounts, a mallard, a particularly big toothed old Javelina boar, and a not so spectacular, but a high point 8 point whitetail. I like having 'em in the living room. I have a pair of deer antlers over the fake hearth that hold my CVA Plainsman, too, kinda Texas homey, I think. :D A do it yourself plaque is only about 10 bucks, ya know.

[porktornado]

one could find a reason to hunt about anything. i hunt deer because they eat my corn and beans. i hunt coons because they eat my corn (and poo on my porch). i hunt rabbits because they eat my mothers garden. i hunt coyotes because they eat my deer and rabbits. i hunt dove/ducks/geese because they make a mighty fine moving target, which enables me to fine-tune my skills for when the flying zombie invasion starts.

[hang fire]

Wrongo.

[hang fire]

Goofed up

[caribou]

Up here, in Alaska, we have "Meats" and "Fur".
Both are hunted for named reasons :D

Theres no 'sport' involved when you hunt for a living, it comes down to Food on the table and $$Money in the pocket to keep the bills paid and the ball rolling. The best $$ is in finished products, so insted of selling a raw fur to a buyer, make a hat outta it and triple the $$.
Gasoline at 7.85$ a gallon demands such.

Small game can be eaten and skins used, such as Muskrats and some have no use in skin but the meats are good, like Rabbit and Porcupine.

Wolves and Fox are hunted for skins alone, while Whales have every bit eaten to the bones. Bears too are good eating.
So it depends on its use and if you would be wasteing such.

Each animal is different, in use and season.

Caribou have both excellent Hides and meats.
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g71/edwardhailstone/TinmiaqinCaribouParkee.jpg
Summer skins are great for warm clothing, meats are great all year round, and hides are usefull about 8 months of the year , for various things, from bedding to footwear.
There are times when Meat is Prime and times when Fur is prime. In summer we have a pack of Arctic Grey Wolves that den up and produce pups every couple years. They keep their distance, but we see them often in summer, and know them by sight for many years now. We dont shoot them, they dont killl our dogs, but when Febuary rolls around, Im still looking for them as best I can, and it will end in their Death, someday.
I greatly enjoy watching them and their pack in summer, but there is their part in Nature and My part in Nature, and in Winter they are watching out for me.

[dcarch]

I sympathize, OP. It's very hard for me to kill an animal that is presenting no threat to me, even if they are destroying my garden.

[MCgunner]

Caribou, you guys are special. :D Lots of folks here think your life up there is ideal, but me, I don't know if I could handle it. LOL! I'm a wuss in my old age. I do love your stories, though, so KEEP IT COMIN'!

Gasoline at 7.85$ a gallon demands such.

Wow, and we get crazy over 3 bucks a gallon. Jeez, my 15 mpg Chevy Van would get scrapped, let alone my 25 hp Evinrude. I had a pontoon boat with a 70 on it I sold when gas started over a dollar, think got about 2 gallons per mile, LOL! But, I understand WHY gas is that high up there. You guys went any farther north, you'd fall off the edge. LOL!

I guess the old way, dogs, isn't cheap either. I always tell my brother-in-law, a rancher, that his horses eat when they're in the barn. My motorcycles only eat when I'm using them. :D Too, I'm a decent motorcycle mechanic, worked in shops before and ran my own. I ain't a veterinarian, though, and I don't like animals that are bigger than me, though I do like large dogs. These yappy mutts around here everyone owns (chihuahuas) irritate me, worthless wastes of skin and fur. I like hunting dogs. :D

And, I mean, if you're going to go down rivers, an outboard is handy, eh? :D So, even if you went back to dogs, you'd still kinda need gasoline.

I think this thread illustrates the myriad of reasons folks hunt, though. I don't begrudge anyone's hunting so long as it's legal. I might not do it, but I don't begrudge someone else doing it, just so long as it's legal. Everyone likes to berate some practices as "unethical". They need to remember that ethics is a matter of opinion and various regions have various ethics. It's a big world out there and there are many types of hunting and reasons for hunting.

[icanthitabarn]

I never hunt but have always been licensed.

[rondog]

My conclusion is that most people who don't hunt, don't really care about wild animals. They certainly don't go and view them, they just say things like "I love elk, I could never kill one." The only time they've ever seen an elk is from the highway


I don't hunt, I'm just a gun collector and target shooter. But I LOVE wild animals, love to watch them every chance I can. Saw a spike buck and a yearling bear cub just today. And elk, I could watch elk all day. I just don't have any desire to kill things, other than the squirrels that tear up my bird feeders.

When I was much younger though, I'd hunt quail, doves, and the occaisional duck or pheasant. I wouldn't mind hunting deer or elk, just don't have a place to go, the knowledge of how to do it right and effectively, or anyone to do it with. I DO have the sense to know better than to try it alone, especially at my age and weight. I don't have a horse or a 4-wheeler, how would I get a big dead animal out of the woods by myself anyway? And after two lumbar spine surgeries, I know better than to even try.

Hell, I was brass-picking at the range one night with a flashlight (long story), and a pair of badgers came out of their nearby den all po'd and snapping their jaws at me. My Jeep headlights kinda blinded them, so they coudln't see me, but they knew I was there. I had my .45 on and could have taken both out, but I had no reason to. I just moved farther away and let them be.

[Comblocaddict]

Thank you for all the replies to this thread. I have really enjoyed reading through all the different opinions.

[Sav .250]

Different strokes for different folks. Keep marching to your own beat! :)

[der Teufel]

I just can't bring myself to pull the trigger on something that hasn't proven on an individual level to be a threat to me or my property.

I fully understand that sentiment, but I've seen dead calves and I've heard cows bellowing frantically at night attempting to fend off a group of howling coyotes.

[rondog]

I fully understand that sentiment, but I've seen dead calves and I've heard cows bellowing frantically at night attempting to fend off a group of howling coyotes.

I should clarify that although I'm not a hunter and I do love wild animals, things like coyotes, prairie dogs and wild hogs aren't on my list.

[303tom]

I don`t kill something (just because I can "ie;" For Sport) If there is no reason I don`t kill it................

[Friendly, Don't Fire!]

I think some people are just trigger happy and shoot at anything that moves. There was a guide who took a game warden on a hunt and the game warden lost track of all the stuff this guy was shooting, literally right and left! Shooting just to kill and lay there for whatever.

I believe it happened on a guide in Canada, this would have been maybe ten years ago or so.

I also enjoy watching the animals. When I see a rabbit, I just admire it. I don't kill it, as I know I won't want to skin the thing. I will only shoot something if it is either in our garden eating or may attack the cats in our neighborhood, as many neighbors have been commenting over the years about how their cats come up missing. I had one missing for a week and found it a week later, half in a buried hole, half eaten and frozen there in February. A fisher cat was in the 'hood. I got permission to trap him so I did, and ended up with two of them. The thing was so viscious that it was literally eating holes in the Havahart cage trap! Had I waited one more day to check the trap, this thing would have eaten his way out of the steel cage!:uhoh:

[buck460XVR]

I fully understand that sentiment, but I've seen dead calves and I've heard cows bellowing frantically at night attempting to fend off a group of howling coyotes.

Yeah, and I've been called out as a First Responder to assist farmers screaming in pain injured by cattle. We best shoot all of those too.

Having been a farmer, and being a sportsman and a conservationist, I understand fully the need to control predators in today's society. But 'yotes, wolves, bears and cougars are not the spawn of the devil, nor are they always killing domestic stock for fun and pleasure. They evolved over millions of years hunting these same prey animals, that we as humans have only recently domesticated and claim to own. They are only doing what God intended for them to do. We are the ones that eliminate their natural prey and replaced it with animals that we have dumbed down with selective breeding. We are the ones that have moved in on their territory and now expect them to leave or to be eliminated. Predators within reasonable numbers still have a place in today's world. They generally do more good than harm by controlling overpopulation and controlling nuisance animals that most of us don't hunt. They also enrich our lives just by their presence and the sometimes rare sight of them doing what they do. Many folks try to justify their love of killing by making their quarry evil and claiming they all need to be killed. This is simply not the case.

[788Ham]

I've shot a lot of P'dogs in my life, mostly to help a guy who'd lost cattle, or a horse to P'dog holes, breaking a leg, then coyotes getting them before he could salvage them. Helping clean out some of these P'dogs isn't in my mind reckless, I'm not a trophy hunter either! Most of the P'dogs I've shot were too blown up to have repaired to be up on the wall. YMMV

[303tom]

I've shot a lot of P'dogs in my life, mostly to help a guy who'd lost cattle, or a horse to P'dog holes, breaking a leg, then coyotes getting them before he could salvage them. Helping clean out some of these P'dogs isn't in my mind reckless, I'm not a trophy hunter either! Most of the P'dogs I've shot were too blown up to have repaired to be up on the wall. YMMV
That`s a good reason................

[grubbylabs]

I am in the camp that if there is a reason (even if that particular critter in your sites is innocent and the present siting) for killing a critter then it needs to be done. should we just go and blindly eliminate a species? No I don't think we should, but we really need to look at the big picture, if fox's are eating a vast majority of the pheasant I want to hunt them I am going to shoot every one I see in pheasant country.

[MCgunner]

I shoot starlings and cow birds for the shear pleasure of it. Something to do off season.

They're invasive pests and legal in Texas to shoot as such, but it's fun to shoot 'em on the wing with a pistol, 10" .410 TC Contender.

[Snag]

Having been a farmer, and being a sportsman and a conservationist, I understand fully the need to control predators in today's society. But 'yotes, wolves, bears and cougars are not the spawn of the devil, nor are they always killing domestic stock for fun and pleasure. They evolved over millions of years hunting these same prey animals, that we as humans have only recently domesticated and claim to own. They are only doing what God intended for them to do. We are the ones that eliminate their natural prey and replaced it with animals that we have dumbed down with selective breeding. We are the ones that have moved in on their territory and now expect them to leave or to be eliminated. Predators within reasonable numbers still have a place in today's world. They generally do more good than harm by controlling overpopulation and controlling nuisance animals that most of us don't hunt. They also enrich our lives just by their presence and the sometimes rare sight of them doing what they do. Many folks try to justify their love of killing by making their quarry evil and claiming they all need to be killed. This is simply not the case.

^^ Pure awesomeness.

[Davek1977]

grew up in rural South Dakota, and although I was taught you don't kill things for fun, there were exeptions to that rule. First and foremost were prairie dogs. When i was younger, there were several dog towns around, and I spent hundreds of hours in them with my .22 rifle. I killed thousands of them, only being limited by the amount of daylight left after school got out and the amount of ammo I could afford or that was given to me. Those afternoons on the dog towns taught me more "real world" info on wind drift and holdover than any amount of time studying basllistic tables would have. Coyotes were also fair game, but were rare opportunities compared to prairie dogs. My wingshooting practice often took the form of wild pigeons that would make our calving shelters home. In fact, the very first shot fired from my shotgun...that I got for xmas when I was 13 and still use today....took down one of these pigeons with the first shot I ever fired from it. Killing to kill isn't something everyone can stomach, and I certainly DO NOT believe in a "shot everything that moves" philosophy. However, I don't have a regret in the world for any of the coyotes, pigeons, prairie dogs or other nuisance critters I've shot. Sometimes, things need to be shot.....just part of life on the ranch.

[Dallas Jack]

I live in a suburban neighbor hood with a creeck and green belt leading to a wooded area. The critters come up from the woods and dig up my yard and spread my trash erverywere.

A crafty racoon found a way into my attic. A Havahart trap with some cat food bait and he whent to the pound. The other coons I took to the lake and let go myself. Opossum get a buy, I will just chase them out of my yard. The Squirrels get shot on sight. I do not eat the Squirrels since I have no idea if the're eating out off the garbage.

When I do go hunting it is with a freind on his property. 125 acres in cattle, sheep, and goat country.
He raises chickens and guinnes, so racoon, coyoty, and hog are shot on sight.
When there was a sheep rancher next to him bobcat were on the shoot list. The sheep are gone so we leave the bobcat alone unless one starts some trouble.

We also shoot any dog that can not be identfied as a neighbers. All Feral cats shot with extreme predidice.
Dallas Jack

[SleazyRider]

Woodchucks are the bane of my existence, and I will provide an ice-cold beer for each and every carcass of these godforsaken creatures you bring me:

http://i459.photobucket.com/albums/qq315/Magnageek/photo-6.jpg

[foghornl]

Did you mess up the front end of your Cub Lo-Boy on a woodchuck hole/den?

[SleazyRider]

Did you mess up the front end of your Cub Lo-Boy on a woodchuck hole/den?
Sure did, Foghornl, and it wasn't the first time. Seems the chucks are building condos these days, and I went right in. 'Twas nothing I couldn't straighten out with little heat and elbow grease, though. A tape-measure wheel alignment and off I go ... Browning Buckmark on my hip.