Anyone shoot/own guns but not hunt?

[outfieldjack]

One other thing....

When we all talk about SHTF stuff..... I would hope that everyone at least tries hunting.... alot of people say they have never been. God forbid that if that time comes, and we really do need to hunt, that those of you who have never been hunting do try it at least once..... I cannot imagine having never been hunting before and THEN having to hunt for the first time and having my family's survival depending on it.

All you non-hunters out there.... find a hunter and go out at least once. You don't have to shoot anything.... just get practice sitting still for 4-5 hours, see a deer, raise your rifle (or a borrowed one), keep the deer in the scope, and just whisper "bang" instead of pulling the trigger......

Who knows, your life may depend on your ability to do that some day in the future.

 

[MrMurphy]

I've been shooting since I was six and continously for the last decade, but I've never hunted and actually gotten anything (went as a backup gunner with a friend on a pig hunt, they were destroying his property but we didn't find one that day).


I have no problem with hunters/hunting and would go deer hunting probably just to try it once or twice, but never have yet. I'm primarily a military/police/self defense oriented shooter.

 

[MyRoad]

I own lots of guns but have never been hunting. I have no problem with the idea of killing something - if there is a NEED. Killing for sport is something I can't comprehend. I've never been hunting because I've never been that hungry. If my animals were being attacked by a coyote and I had a clear shot, I wouldn't hesitate to kill the predator. If a person attacked me or my family in a lethal manner, I would defend them. And if I were hungry enough, and had the opportunity to end my hunger by hunting, I would certainly investigate that option.

I know someone who is at this very moment in a tree stand over a pile of garbage waiting with his .308 for a bear to come out of hybernation so that he can have a rug. I try real hard not to judge people, so I guess I'll just say, it really makes ya wonder.

 

[BluesBear]

new member Ransom bragged;
I only hunt the deadliest prey of all.....MAN!

What an irresponsible response.

It's remarks like that, that makes the antis jump with glee.
Hunting implies engaging in a search for something. You rremark makes you appear to be a blood thirsty Paul Kersey wannabe.

The only sure way to survive trouble is to avoid it.

Remember that, most of the time, you can only shoot someone when you or someone else is in grave danger.
Personally I do my best to stay as far away from grave danger as is humanly possible.

 

[Marshall]

I am with BluesBear on that one!

The other thing I read that troubles me is this. If you are against killing and have never shot anything at all, I have high doubts whether many of those who say this would ever be able to pull the trigger at the time of need but yet, still own guns. I am not saying that everyone has to hunt to be able to shoot in a defensive situation but, when I see an attitude about killing animals, from people with guns in their hands, I become very troubled.

 

[Nightfall]

I've never hunted, and hopefully never will. I love animals, and would feel absolutely sick with myself forever if I killed an animal just for enjoyment. However, given the choice between starvation and death, I'm thinking I could handle putting a bullet in Bambi. People have a right to hunt food, and hunting skills seem pertinent skills to have, IMHO. So I may well learn the craft even if I never use it. Anyway, we clawed our way to the top of the food chain, and such is a position of privilege. We've earned it, and we can eat whatever the heck we want!

 

[CZ-100]

I have been around guns my whole life, or at least back as far as I can remember, I shot my first gun at 6 yrs old .22 bolt action, at 8 yrs old it became mine.

I have hunted in the past but lately I have not had the urge too. I kinda in the opinion that I do not wish to kill an animal for any reason, of coarse if it was to protect my family or I just had to to eat, I could, but with the supermarket down the street I see no need for it. and I also never like cleaning them, heck I even put back the fish I catch.

But I have No problem with others hunting, I due take exception to people who hunt just to put the head of the animal on the wall.

 

[Sharpdogs]

I don't hunt, but I would love to go. I even have my shotgun license. Unfortunately there's very few places left in Northern, NJ to hunt and I don't have any friends with a lot of land. The lack of hunting up here has had a real negative effect on the deer. Plenty of deer are hit on the roads and there have been a few human fatalities due to the deer causing accidents. You would think this would promote an increase in hunting, but instead they put up little reflectors on the sides of the road and talk about birth control for the deer.

 

[Series 70]

I have never hunted, but that may be changing soon.

My son, now 12, just completed his hunter safety course. I'm not sure what got him going, but he wants to hunt. He's probably not big enough to handle my .30-30, but we'll try it out this summer. If not, I'll have to get him something. He also wants to go for ducks and/or pheasant, so a shottie might be in the cards, too.

My dad used to hunt, before he moved to town to marry my mom. He stopped before I was born, so I was never introduced to it as a lad. I used to get up in the wee hours and tramp through the woods on cold mornings, but that was only because the army paid me to do it. Not my first choice on my own time. I don't have anything against hunting, other than it would take time away from other things. But if it means some quality father-son time, I'm there.

The wife's only objection is that it would mean at least one more longgun in the safe - which is starting to get full. I dread the day I have to tell her we need another safe.

 

[Raistlin]

My father and I used to hunt deer when I was a teenager, and he taught me a valuable lesson (among many others): only kill an animal for a good reason, i.e., the meat, or in the case of varmints, because they're rabid or doing damage to your property. I haven't been hunting since those years and won't again unless it's necessary, but I support those who do.

 

[rammy]

Even if you hunt and take a deer you dont have to keep the meat. I plan to donate my meat to the Hunters for the Hungry program.

 

[Finch]

Oh yeah, I hunt. Here are some of the wild things that I have had to take down:

 

[Penforhire]

I shoot plenty but I've never hunted. I'm not against it. Just never done it. Too many "animal lovers" out there seem to think their steaks were born under plastic wrap. Unless you're a vegetarian I don't see how you can gripe about hunting.

I've fished and I eat my catch. Does that count? As far as SHTF, same as ordinary home defense, seems to me you'll never really know if you can shoot someone until you have to.

 

[Mark13]

I don't hunt, but would if I was hungry.

 

[DRZinn]

Huting and me...

I own a grand total of two guns, a 1911 and a Remington 700, ant to add a shotgun and a small revelover but can't yet for financial reasons.

I love to shoot but don't hunt because I don't have the time or patience. Got nothing against it though -I ain't no namby-pamby sissy!

 

[Bullet Bob]

I hunted growing up in NC, and in SC when stationed there in the USAF. I did quite a bit of hunting during 5 years in South Dakota, and probably still would if I lived out west - especially pheasants. Now that I'm back in NC, I've lost the urge. Not much public land, I don't want to hunt from a tree stand, or pay $25.00 to shoot a tame pheasant. No problem with those who do, as long as they're responsible; unfortunately that seems to be a declining percentage.

 

[dshimm]

Hell, yes. I'm basically a city boy (well, more like suburban) who grew up in a non-hunting, non-gun owning family. I have a gun (well, several) for self protection, for competition, and some for nothing more than pride-in-ownership (e.g. 1903 Springfield). While I've tried hunting, fact is I'm just BAD at it.

 

[NoHarmNoFAL]

I gave up hunting about 10 years ago. I had an epiphany. I discovered that I did not enjoy freezing my butt off in the woods, didn’t like the taste of game, didn’t like paying filet mignon prices to make the dear palatable, and discovered that there was entirely not enough shooting in hunting. I like to shoot a lot. I feel that I have the skills to survive if I must. I also wonder about those that have never fired a killing shot and seen the ramifications of their actions. There is sort of a sacred moment when you are standing over an animal that you are responsible for killing. I felt obligated to consume and not waste any of the deer I killed even though I really didn’t like it, because I chose to kill it. Killing for trophies I say to each his own. I think that hunting is a skill that every American needs to have but not really needing to excise it.

 

[No Trespassing]

I don't hunt but would like to at least for the experience and know how.

I have no prob with hunters that hunt for food. And as far as trophies go, I've read that on African DG hunts, the meat ususally goes to the locals or the PH's employees so, again, no problem with that. It's good for the local economy to.

I have neighbors they shoot coyotes just to keill them. I don't like that.

I live in So Cal and don't know any hunters or how to go about it. I've read to the rules and reg's from DFG but they're typical govspeak and it seems like a huge hassle. I sure do love venison though and would like to try pigs with a handgun.

 

[bill2]

hunting

I own several guns, but don't hunt. since I'm a meat eater, I don't have a problem with people wanting to hunt. Just not interested in doing it myself.

 

[Larry Ashcraft]

I've seen several posts condemning trophy hunting. I don't think that's as much of a problem as people think. Here in Colorado, waste of game meat is a FELONY, and will result in the loss of your license, your firearm, and possibly your vehicle.

That said, I am a hunter. Family tradition. Have hunted and killed everything from doves to elk. I don't do it as much anymore, but I will teach my grandkids to hunt when they are a little older. I think it is an important and enjoyable skill.

 

[Master Blaster]

Self defense CCW,
Target shooting,
Collecting,

I have been known to hunt the Vicious Tree rat, after unprovoked attacks on my attic, phone lines, and BBQ GRILL HOSE!!!!!

No One in my family hunts, and I dont have any friends that hunt, Someday I would like to give it a try though (deer hunting).

 

[mpthole]

As long as we're all sharing...

I didn't grow up hunting; or even around guns. The first gun I bought was about 5 years ago. Wow, doesn't seem like it was that long ago! Anyway, a co-worker invited me on a deer hunt in 2000 and I had a great time. I didn't get anything though I could have had a shot, but I chose not to take it. I wanted my first one to be a good clean shot so when the deer turned his tail to me and headed into some cover I decided I wasn't going to shoot it in the butt.

So much of that weekend's enjoyment was the people I was with and not exactly the "hunting". Two of the gentlemen were WWII vets. One suvived D-Day and the other served in the Pacific. I'll tell you what - I was in my late 20's at the time and felt like a little kid sitting around the fireplace listening to them swap stories! It was really, really cool.

I haven't had the chance to go since then, but am already planning on going this fall with some new family and friends.

 

[Bridger]

Outfieldjack:

When we all talk about SHTF stuff..... I would hope that everyone at least tries hunting.... alot of people say they have never been. God forbid that if that time comes, and we really do need to hunt, that those of you who have never been hunting do try it at least once..... I cannot imagine having never been hunting before and THEN having to hunt for the first time and having my family's survival depending on it.

All you non-hunters out there.... find a hunter and go out at least once. You don't have to shoot anything.... just get practice sitting still for 4-5 hours, see a deer, raise your rifle (or a borrowed one), keep the deer in the scope, and just whisper "bang" instead of pulling the trigger......

Who knows, your life may depend on your ability to do that some day in the future.

That's pretty much the main reason I started hunting. I used to be like many of hte gun owning non-hunters here. But well, I'm interested in our country's hunting and frontier roots, I'm interested in survival skills, and I have the tools. My brother and dad just started hunting about 6 or 7 years ago, I never took part until last fall. Most of the hunting I've done so far has been squirrel only heh, I am not too eager to butcher a deer like some have said.

But I want to learn the skill, and the only way to do that is to go out and try. And well, I've found out something, I like spending hours in the woods with just my dad or little brother, hiking around it, paying attention to everything, and I found that my observation skills have really improved too. I even have some modicum of skill at tracking people now! It's really neat, and a skill worth trying out.

I think it is a bit silly to think that just because you can put 5 shots in a sub MOA group means that you can easily nab a deer if you had to. Maybe you'd get lucky, but hunting conditions aren't exactly range conditions, and there are a lot of other skills that come into taking and processing game than just being able to put a hole through it.

I also get a kick out of threatening my girlfriend with a squirrel fur hat

 

[esheato]

Calling yourself a hunter implies a certain level of knowledge of the craft, which I lack.

I can't say I'm a "hunter" with the knowledge to back it up. But...I thoroughly enjoy hunting and everything that comes along with it. I've hunted dove, quail, ram, turkey, pheasant, duck and coyote.

A couple things I want to point out. For example, when I went hunting rams in the California Buttes. I used handloaded ammunition, bullets I selected and tested...I was able to accurately and humanely put down the animal at a measured 200 yards. I had the meat processed and he was darn tasty. That's an accomplishment as far as I'm concerned.

Take upland hunting for example. I'm not out there just to kill pheasants. Have you ever watched a dog work a field? It's positively amazing. The dog is doing his job to please you, yet I'm more excited to watch him work than to pull the trigger half the time. Actual shooting is only a very small part of it.

Todays hunting isn't about shooting things, it's about getting out of the city...sitting in a blind and just watching. It's about great company and if you get something, all the better, put it on the BBQ.

Maybe I'm old-fashioned or older than I look...but there's more to hunting than just putting food on the table.

Ed