Love guns but have never/would never hunt?

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Gus McCrae said:
I was not brought up in a hunting family but now i enjoy hunting with a few close friends are truly hunters of the old style. Yesterday was the first day of Dove season and we had a great time. I took 5 or 6 Eurasian Doves on my own and we ate pretty dang good. Last year I had my first Elk hunt. I did not take an Elk but I had a wonderful time.


I am not sure I follow.
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Most states today allow farmers and other industries a permit to cull wildlife, deers, hogs, etc., that once where protected by laws. At the end of this month NC will no longer have a season for wild boars, they are now consider vermin by those with the power to influence regulation.
 
I used to feel that way. It was to early, cold, and I didn't want to go. I had no interest in it, though I liked shooting guns.

I grew up watching cowboy movies, reading westerns and frontier books. A couple of years ago, I wondered if I was missing something. My father in law needed a hunting buddy, and I shot guns, so I was a natural choice.

I've learned to treasure my time out there away from everything. I might read a book, nap, I might track an animal, watch the wild life, learn what I can get away with... learn how they think. I generally let way more walk than I take. I have tons of great stories just from the last three years I've been going, many don't involve an animal at all.

I really do look forward to those cold mornings where I'm walking out to a stand or a blind where nobody is going to find me. The only things I have to decide that day are:

1. Do I feel like reading?
2. Do I feel like stalking a deer?
3. Do I want a nap?
4. Maybe I'll just watch the wild life?
5. Watch the sunrise/sunset?

Very simple.
 
I enjoy firearms but have never hunted. If I hunted or fished, I would have to eat the animal/fish and I don't have the inclination to gut my food.

I don't even fish for sport anymore. We have a stocked pond in our backyard and lots of kids come by for catch & release and I cringe when they catch one and fumble with the hook and rip the fishes' mouth.

Dunno... Yet I know 110% that I would not have a problem putting a bullet into someone's head if they're trying to hurt me or a loved one. Life is a bunch of contradictions.
 
Yet I know 110% that I would not have a problem putting a bullet into someone's head if they're trying to hurt me or a loved one. Life is a bunch of contradictions.
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Now the big question is, would you gut him and eat him afterwards? :D :evil:
 
I do have a problem with sport hunting just for the hell of it. If you kill it, eat it, don't just make a trophy to show off to your buddies.
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While I'm not a huge fan of sport hunting (there are plenty of organizations that will take venison, even if the hunter won't),
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There seems to be several who posted in this thread who believe in the myth of the "sport hunter" who just shoots a deer and takes the head and leaves the carcass.

That is NOT an option, in fact it is a felony in Colorado and probably in many other states as well to waste game meat. IOW, get caught and convicted and you'll never hunt again, and almost surely do prison time.

At times, it seems like we are our own worst enemies, spreading myths about each other without doing any research.
 
If the boars in NC are anything like the hogs in TX then they have a real problem on their hands. Some areas are just simply overrun with animals that do massive amounts of damage to not only crops but the environment as a whole.

Estes Park is a prime example of why a cull hunt, done correctly, is perfectly fine and the responsible thing to do. The area around Estes Park can support only so many Elk, but because of the National Park there is no hunting allowed and now thy have a serious problem.

People are too stupid to know better than to try and pet a cow with a calf or get real close to a bull for a picture. Not only that but the population of Elk in the region is far more than what can be supported and as such Elk are starving to death and resorting to living off grass in town. Now which is better, allow for cull hunting to stabilize the numbers of Elk, or just continue to let them starve to death and strip the land bare of any and all vegetation? The meat does not go to waste either, according to the plan the harvested meat would be donated to those in need in Denver.

I have seen fields where a year before there was only one Prairie Dog hole be totally destroyed by a true pest. So is it better to let the little plague rat alone and starve out a farmer and his family, or to poison and shoot the Prairie Dogs so that the farmer may continue to support his family?

In the 1930s hordes of Jack Rabbits numbering in the thousands laid Eastern Colorado to waste by devouring not only crops but every single piece of vegetation they could find. Through successful cull hunts the numbers were reduced to sustainable levels and the farms and fields were saved for a locus like invasion.

If someone does not want to or feel the need to hunt that is fine. But hunting, in all of its responsible forms, play a vital role is the management and care of all animals.
 
Larry Ashcraft said:
There seems to be several who posted in this thread who believe in the myth of the "sport hunter" who just shoots a deer and takes the head and leaves the carcass.

That is NOT an option, in fact it is a felony in Colorado and probably in many other states as well to waste game meat. IOW, get caught and convicted and you'll never hunt again, and almost surely do prison time.

At times, it seems like we are our own worst enemies, spreading myths about each other without doing any research.
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Larry, felony or not, I've seen it first hand. I personally, as well as other hunters I know, have come across a buck with the antlers removed, and possibly the back straps and tenderloins, leaving the rest of the animal to go to waste. It is a fact, it does happen, and it is abyssmal, but it is not a myth. I don't like sport hunting, but it does happen. Just like poaching, I don't like it, but it happens. Sadly, not all hunters are of the highest ethics and morals. And there are many organizations who will take donations of venison.

A lot hunters I know, myself included, would haul off a fresh road kill (meaning we would either have to witness it happen, or be the one who hit the deer.) My father in law took a deer off the road after it was struck and killed by another driver. Made some good jerky. Shoulda seen the look on my anti-gun, anti-hunting, socialist liberal brothers face when I told him what he was eating. :D
 
I'm beginning to think I am in the vast minority. I am pretty huge into firearms but have never nor will ever hunt (as long as I'm not forced to). Anyone else out there like that?
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According to the stats I've seen, something like 80% of gun owners don't hunt. Most of us own guns for the defense of ourselves, our families and our communities. This is why when John Kerry and his ilk pose for photo ops with their fudd guns and dead ducks, they just look like a bunch of poseurs to most gun folk.

I myself don't hunt and have no interest in getting into hunting unless someone takes me for free, which actually might happen soon. My cousin is an elk hunting fanatic. He said he's going to put me in for elk every year when he puts himself in, and, if I get drawn, he'll pay for everything if I give him half the meat.
 
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Ah, hunting.

I will freely admit to being totally irrational about this subject. Lemme explain.

I do not care if other people hunt. I do not hunt because I do not have the skill or teacher who will teach me how to hunt.

As for what to hunt and why, well, here is where I start getting irrational. Other people can shoot Bambi. No problems with that. I just can not get myself to do it.

As for what to shoot for what reasons? Well, food is a great reason. I love food. but I may gain some unpopularity here by saying I can appreciate a good trophy, too. Where hunting for food is a great thing and shows your dedication to your family, yaddayadda a giant cape buffalo head looking really angry shows your courage, or a giant set of antlers shows your knowledge, or sheer luck in tracking those really fast moving deer types.

Besides, who is to say you can't eat the cape buffalo you had the cohones to stand up to with only two rounds in the tube?

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On the note of boars specifically, maybe its my Germaninity kicking in, but that is probably one of the few game animals I could hunt with zero remorse. Pig = Food. Brown pigs = moar flavourz. Wild brown pigs = even more flavourz!
 
but I may gain some unpopularity here by saying I can appreciate a good trophy, too.
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I too can appreciate a good trophy, but that shouldn't be the only goal when hunting. I've got a growing collection of trophy skulls (taxidermy is so darn expensive), and would have a lot of meat in the freezer, but I have already eaten it all. So, a couple months from now, I'll be gearing up for Bow season, followed up by rifle/shotgun, and wrapped up with muzzle loader. So, I'm hoping to get at least one nice deer this year. But as I mentioned in an earlier post, I use as much as I can and try to let nothing go to waste.
 
Actually, I hear that buffalo is quite tasty. In fact, my old boss doesn't eat beef anymore. He has buffalo shipped in.

Oh, and I agree that taking a trophy is perfectly fine provided the deer, buffalo, elk, etc. isn't otherwise wasted. I "probably" wouldn't bother stuffing a squirrel or gopher though. Well... maybe if it was a really MEAN-looking squirrel.:D
 
Actually, I hear that buffalo is quite tasty.
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It's delicious. My cousin gave me several pounds of the stuff after he went on his buffalo hunt. This is why I wonder why buffalo ranching hasn't really taken off in this country. Not only does buffalo meat taste better than beef, buffalo are more resistant to the elements and can live off pasture and thus (presumably) would be cheaper to raise.
 
As a life-long grouse hunter, fall is my favorite time of year. Walking the woods on a crisp sunny October day, with the sweet musty smell of fallen leaves and no background hum of insects to disturb the silence, is just Nirvana to me.

I could enjoy all that without hunting, but carrying the shotgun adds an important element. Since I'm seeking game my hearing, eyesight, and even sense of smell are sharpened to a level I never experience otherwise. I'm alert to every slight movement and sound and everything is focused on the here and now. It's a feeling of being totally alive in a very visceral and primitive way.

It's why I love hunting, and have been doing it for nearly 50 years now.
 
Larry, felony or not, I've seen it first hand.
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No doubt. Closest thing I ever saw was a spike elk shot and then abandoned because it wasn't legal. This was due to a dumb law here back in the 70s that was quickly repealed. (I don't recall the exact law, but I think it required a cow tag for any spike bull under a certain length, which resulted in a lot of spikes left for the vultures.)

But here trophy hunting is pretty rare. Our DOW is pretty well-funded because of much out of state money coming in. Therefore they can require professional law enforcement officers with good training as "game wardens". These guys take their jobs seriously, and when you hear a report of trophy poaching, it's not usually long until you see arrest reports in the papers.

Besides, who is to say you can't eat the cape buffalo you had the cohones to stand up to with only two rounds in the tube?
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I suppose you could eat it in whatever country you shot it, but AFAIK, importing game meat to the US is illegal.

It's delicious. My cousin gave me several pounds of the stuff after he went on his buffalo hunt. This is why I wonder why buffalo ranching hasn't really taken off in this country. Not only does buffalo meat taste better than beef, buffalo are more resistant to the elements and can live off pasture and thus (presumably) would be cheaper to raise.
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Bison meat is possibly the best meat I've ever tasted (and at $30 a pound, it should be), but I think the initial cost of the facilities (fencing etc.) is high, plus rounding up and hauling a bunch of bison to the slaughterhouse is probably not nearly as easy as it sounds (read impossible).
 
This is a little confusing, you are fine with sport hunting, but sport fishing is a no no?/QUOTET

Catch and release sport fishing, to me, is quite a bit different from trophy hunting. At least the trophy hunter kills the animal and may eat it, or donate it for others. Catching a fish and bring it to the boat/shore to take a picture and then releasing the exhausted fish to be quickly attacked and eaten? Seems a waste, to me.
Tarpon fishing is something I would never do, you want to, go right ahead. Nobody eats Tarpon, that I know of.
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I suppose you could eat it in whatever country you shot it, but AFAIK, importing game meat to the US is illegal.
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Good enough for me! Chances are they know how to prepare it right, anyways.
 
I can't hunt enough. It is something I really wish I could make a living at.
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become a hunting guide, the hours are long and the pay is terrible, but you'll love it and always be in good shape
 
I haven't hunted in years, but intend to get back into it. I eat meat, and I like to know where my meat came from. The kill really doesn't thrill me, but shooting does, hiking does, and catching my own meal does.

One does not need to be a hunter to be a shooter, and I also know a lot of hunters who really don't shoot much (some of them aren't very good hunters, as you might imagine).

It may have just been where I lived, but it seemed like every shooter I knew growing up was also a hunter, and many of these folks shot merely to hone their skills for hunting. The opposite is true these days. I know a lot of very qualified shooters, and many of them don't hunt at all, or simply hunt as a sideline to their recreational/competitive shooting interests.

I can't back this up with fact, but I have heard that the number of hunters has declined greatly in the past two decades. So, that might explain the change I've perceived in the "profile" of today's shooter!


Larry Ashcraft said:
Bison meat is possibly the best meat I've ever tasted (and at $30 a pound, it should be), but I think the initial cost of the facilities (fencing etc.) is high, plus rounding up and hauling a bunch of bison to the slaughterhouse is probably not nearly as easy as it sounds (read impossible).
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Ouch! Not to go on a tangent here, but those Pueblo-area prices sound a bit steep! Don't know what type of bison meat you were getting, but you might head up north if you are looking for some cheaper versions of this meat. Just FYI, I shop at this ranch near Dacono, and their prices aren't nearly as high as $30/lb (albeit, it still isn't cheap meat... fillets are around $24/lb, strip steaks about $15/lb, and nice lean burger meat is around $7/lb):

http://www.rockyplains.com/bison.html#content

If you are looking to buy bison (rather than hunting it), you really might like to talk with Phil at Rocky Plains. He always works the shop at their Dacono location, and raises animals right there on site. I'm pretty sure that he said he can ship meat to other locations, if that interests you.

Personally, I respect the way that Phil and his people raise these animals, and therefore don't feel too bad about the prices... though they have gone up a bit recently.
 
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Being a meat eater and belittling those who hunt or work in the meat processing industry would make you a hypocrite IMHO. I was never a farmer or even a gardener but I have great respect for those who are. Likewise I was never a fisherman but I like fish and respect those who gather it.
I have always been strictly a paper puncher, only "hunting" I ever did was n SE Asia 1968-1969.
Also hunting as practiced in this country is more about "sport" than actually putting food on the table.
The decline of hunting in this country is directly related to the urbanization/suburbanization of the last 50-60 years. The closet I came to being a "country boy" was when I lived in a small town in Vermont 1956-1959/2nd to 4th Grades. No hunters or shooters in my family that I knew of.
 
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I don't hunt out of shear laziness. There's nowhere near me that I can hunt, so I don't do it. If I moved out somewhere where it was a matter of heading out in the woods, then I'd do it and never buy from Burger King again.
 
I don't hunt , but have no moral issues with it . no one in my family, aside from me, will eat most game meats (crazy huh ?) and therefore I don't think it right of me to take a deer, when I know, that friends of mine, hunt to put food on the table . again, no moral issues with hunting , I just don't do it ..yet lol
 
If I moved out somewhere where it was a matter of heading out in the woods, then I'd do it and never buy from Burger King again.
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Burger King has meat in their burgers?:confused: I mean, like, where's the beef?!?:scrutiny:
 
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