Anyone shoot/own guns but not hunt?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Not a hunter

And I've never been, aside from stalking the occasional deer or elk with a camera. :D Even after I lapsed back into my carnivore habits after 10 years as a vegan, I don't eat a whole lot of meat. I don't have a problem with hunting or hunters (aside from a dislike of the whole idea of 'trophey hunting') though. So long as they are not infringing on my Liberties, what they do is none of my concern.

I have thought about giving it a try sometime. Mostly to get some skill at it should the need arise. Although my firearms collection does not contain any typical hunter style weapons, since I like military patterns better, from an asthetics standpoint.
 
Pax-

"One of my best friends is a vegetarian who loves to hunt, and regularly puts meat on the table for her family and friends."

On the surface that would sound strange but there are vegetarians for religion, health, ethics or a combo etc.

People find it strange I belong to the NRA, GOA, TSRA and also PETA.
I have to remind folks the Second Amendment isn't about deer hunting a lot!
 
I think the association many people have between hunting and shooting is flawed. Besides the examples already listed, I know several hunters who aren't really into shooting. One of them bow hunts but gave up guns after his friend was killed with one. For the rest the gun is just a tool. They are safe, but there is no more attachment to the tool of the trade than a carpenter and his extension cord. It's just something you use for the job.

Me, I like both hunting and shooting, and think of them seperately.
 
Yep . I won't sport hunt , and I won'ttrophy hunt. I don't even fish.
I don't like the taste of seafood , and I don't like the taste of wild game . The SHhasnotHTF so I can still buy food at the store . No need to hunt right now .
I was just talking about this in a PM as a matter of fact .
 
I went hunting when I was younger with my dad and his friends, but I haven't done it in years and years. Personally, right now I'm not interested whatsoever. Maybe if I had more money, but, really, the prime utility of my guns is defending myself from other humans.
 
Some should know that the actual pulling of the trigger is probably the lowest skill of your list of needs. To actually blend in with the surroundings, learn to be quiet for extended time periods, learn to be almost totally still, be mindful of your odor, be aware of the wind direction, sharpen your eyesight to reconize slight differences, tune your ears to differing sounds, and move extremely slow requires a lot of learning. Then you have to know how to gauge distances, your targets anatomy so you kow exactly where to shoot it for a humane kill, follow tracks or a blood trail. You should at the miminal know how to field dress the game, but to be able to skin and butcher the meat is best.
There is a lot to successful hunting, but to just get out in nature and enjoy her is well worth the effort. The daily hustle and bustle we've become used to just seems to melt away. The simplest things you see or hear will give you pleasure. Life takes on a whole new perspective. You will find you really have time to relax unlike any other way spent at home.
Everyone should give it a try. The acutal shot is just a very minute part of a wonderful time spent afield.
 
I went hunting as a child, but don't recall ever hitting anything (thereby setting a pattern that has lasted me well into adulthood! :D )

I don't hunt as an adult, although I encourage my kids to.
 
I just hunt paper targets right now. I think when I buy a shotgun I will go deer hunting with my cousin. Not a real big fan of venison, but if I do get one when I go I know the meat wont go to waste with my cousins family around.
 
Lots of good comments here and good points made by many.Both the wife and I have hunted and enjoy it.Some folks here have said that hunting is a "right"and it's ok for others.Well campers,hunting is a PRIVILEGE these days regulated by the state you live in and by the feds.Most of the game management regulation is for the good of the resource and the safety of the hunters but some states,KS for one,are starting to treat the sport of hunting as a cash cow to fund other,non-hunting programs.These higher fees plus loss of huntable land is causing a decrease in new hunters and thus a smaller voice to speakup for the sport.Yes,the 2nd Amendment is not about hunting but hunters and shooters NEED to hang together lest we all be left hanging separately.
You hunters out there,bring a new guy along when you can.You shooters out there,try not to sound so morally superior about hunting.We need each other to save BOTH of our sports...
 
For 30 years, I've hunted birds (ducks, pheasants, and geese) at a farm in the western part of the state. There's lots of deer around, too, but I've never had the desire; who knows, maybe someday. I enjoy the hunting, and I have just as much fun even if I don't get a shot at a bird. For me, it's all about the "getting away" and the camaraderie.

But to address the point, over the last five years I've bought 3 deer rifles, 4 or 5 other rifles, and several handguns, none of which have ever been used for hunting. But I very much enjoy shooting them at paper, cans, or pumpkins.
 
Yes,the 2nd Amendment is not about hunting but hunters and shooters NEED to hang together lest we all be left hanging separately.
Click to expand...

This is true! If hunters and shooters voted together and supported each other, we could get a lot done. Unfortunately, some hunter don't care for "non-sporting" guns and some shooters don't care about laws influencing game.

I got into shooting through hunting and come from a long line of hunters. I can't wait to pass it on to my kids. Why do I love hunting? Like some others have mentioned, it is not just the kill, but all the preparation that goes into it. From scouting to getting all your gear in order, to travelling to your spot. Obviously, I don't need to hunt, I can just go to the store, but there is a certain amount of pride being able to do it yourself. It is probably similar to building your own house or being able to work on your car.
 
I shoot regularly at a range but have never gone hunting (the only pigs/rams/chickens/turkeys I have shot are made of steel or paper ;) ). I grew up in the city and suburbs of Los Angeles and wasn't old enough to go fishing with my Dad and uncle when they used to go, so I can't even fend for myself if the SHTF (well, I can grow a tomato or grapes but that's about it. . .)

I also don't have a problem with hunting as long as it's done legally and humanely and the meat isn't wasted. Don't know much about dangerous game hunting but from what I understand, it's done for the challenge and excitement, and the meat is a bonus (either to the hunter or someone else). If that's the case, I can live with that. I would only object to irresponsible hunting.

Personally, if invited to hunt, I would probably not refuse, but I don't know any hunters so right now it's a moot point. Dressing an animal sounds like a bit of a turnoff since I'm lazy, but if the quality of meat is excellent I guess I might be open to the idea. While I've definately done my share of cooking, I seldom cut raw meat so I'm just not that used to it.

BTW, former Major League Baseball pitcher Rob Dibble hunts and I heard him say on the radio a few months back that the meat you get from hunting is more natural and superior to the meat you get at the market. Any thoughts or opinions?
 
I am a gun enthusiast who has never hunted any kind of "big game" at all; the only time I've ever done any hunting of any sort was when a coworker took me bullfrog hunting with a .22, and we ate all we shot.

Even though I am a nonhunter, I am supportive of hunters' rights, although I would like to see some of our excise taxes here in NC fund shooting ranges as well as "game lands." Here in eastern NC, we have the huge Croatan National Forest and there is not a single designated shooting area there; it's entirely managed for the hunters who use it during the hunting season. Nonhunting archers are prohibited from archery practice as well, even though their tax money helps pay for the land and management, too.

I don't own a single hunting-style weapon. The most suitable thing I have for hunting is probably my SAR-1, for which I have a 4x scope and a 5-round magazine in case I ever get the chance to go hunting. (My M39 would also work, but I like the idea of having optics for a more positive target ID and shot placement.)

A lot of people (including most hunters, probably) don't realize that licensed hunters are a small minority of gun owners in general. I think I saw some NRA figures recently estimating ~80 million gun owners and ~16 million licensed hunters. The National Shooting Sports Survey (IIRC) also found that the #1 reason given for gun ownership was self-defense, followed by target shooting as #2 and hunting as #3. Based on these statistics, I would say that those few hunters who feel that we owners of non-hunting firearms should be thrown to the wolves do so at their own peril, politically speaking.

I appreciate all the hunters here who appreciate the 2nd amendment and support the rights of nonhunters as well as themselves.
 
Yes. I don't hunt, and I'm not likely to start. I have nothing against it, but since I won't be eating the critters, I have no interest in killing them. Given sufficient reason, I'm sure I would do it.

My interest in guns is in their utility for self-defense, and my interest in mechanical things in general. I also like to maintain my ability to hit small objects at a distance.
 
Avid hunter, here, and have been since I was old to be quiet in the woods.
There are a lot more benefits to hunting than just the meat.
 
Hunting?

One reason I would like to give it (hunting) a try is the shtf scenario.I have done a bit of fresh water fishing and I have a large vegitable garden but I would like to learn the basics of cleaning and butchering an animaland and still be able to keep my lunch down Mike
 
Hunting for food - ok

Hunting for varmint control - ok

Hunting for population control - ok

Hunting for defense - ok

Hunting just to kill something - not ok

Just my general guidelines. I don't hunt anymore. Like some others have said, I'm getting lazy. But within my personal guidelines, I don't have an issue with it, and I don't see any moral or religious issues posing problems under those constraints, either. JMHO. To each his own.
 
I've owned guns and fired thousands of rounds, but never been hunting. Really due to the fact that I live in the bay area. I'd love to hunt but I haven't had the money time or introduction by an experianced hunter.

atek3
 
The neighbor's dog

Wow. Those of you who did not have an "elder" to teach you hunting... I'm saddened. It shows just how far we've come from the land.
The Ancient Greeks you read in school seem so sophisticated, so philosophical and ethereal... but they were much closer to the "elbow-deep in blood" approach to life than are we. They died from infections in small cuts, attacks from animals & people, or diseases we've rendered obsolete. They had no refrigerators. No cold beer.

The hunters' camp is a place of rare cameraderie. That circle of folks in lawn chairs around the fire-ring, the sound of someone reaching into the ice & water in the cooler for another round of... SODAS, I swear it was sodas. Stories, not all about hunting. Some stories are about how a young man went far away, long ago, armed with a rifle... a young man who's elderly now, who fought for the freedoms we enjoy. "Two of the gentlemen were WWII vets. One suvived D-Day and the other served in the Pacific. "

Survival is important, but life is only a chore if there's no joy. Way up toward the top of this thread, I said, "Beef is tender. Mammalian game is, well, gamy. Feral hog is nice, but who wants to cut up a 250 lb. carcass?
I'd have no problem killing a human attacker. Nobody would expect me to field dress him."

Now, I'm ready to return to hunting. I want to OFF my neighbor's BARKING dog.

Nobody would expect me to field dress him.
 
I like animals more than I like most people. I especially like most of the animals that people like to hunt.

That said, if you're hunting for food, and you're ethical about how you do it, it's probably less cruel and disturbing than the way most dead things make it to the table. You can't rationally be against hunting for food and still eat meat.

If you kill animals for the fun of it, for your own good, don't let me see you doing it.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

gulogulo1970
  • Locked
Anyone own guns made for hunting but you don't hunt?
2
Replies
36
Views
1K
foghornl
F
H
  • Locked
people complain about hunting. yet they eat meat...
2 3 4 5 6
Replies
130
Views
6K
DirtyBrad
D
A
  • Locked
Safari Hunt
Replies
2
Views
274
Lucky
L
P
  • Locked
"No Target Shooting" California National Forest
2
Replies
37
Views
4K
No_Brakes23
N
K
  • Locked
Best Gun you ever Rented or borrowed (dont own)
2
Replies
41
Views
1K
C96
C
Back
Top