are there any people out there that are animal lovers AND gun lovers?

[j_charles]

it's far more humane than factory farming... Healthier too.

For some reason that thought never occurred to me... that's a great point, and probably the best "justification" (if you will... though I know you don't need to "justify" it, it's a free country and all) for hunting I've heard.

BTW I have never hunted, but I might think seriously about doind so if I ever got the invitation to. I am also a major animal lover, and nature lover. There is (almost) nothing I like more in this life than to spend a day in the woods. I even get a kick out of watching the squirrells scampering up a tree when I'm walking my dog in the neighborhood.

 

[ctdonath]

Unfortunately, "animal lover" is a loaded term, and we all know what that term entails - the absurdity of which is nicely & sarcastically addressed by Tom Lehrer:

It takes a certain amount of courage to get up in a coffee-house or a college auditorium and come out in favor of the things that everybody else in the audience is against like peace and justice and brotherhood and so on.

Yes I love animals. My two dogs are family. I want fish & birds as pets. I enjoy seeing rabbits & deer & birds & squirrels in my yard. I cringe at the thought of what wildlife was displaced/destroyed for our social luxuries of roads, homes, etc. I even evaluate whether bugs in the house should be left alone.

I just have no delusions about where my steak comes from, and look forward to eating it.

 

[gregormeister]

You can eat bear, though I find it greasy. You can eat coyote, but no thanks. So I don't hunt them. Squirrel is a funky tasting meat and not to mention I have a pet squirrel therefore he'd never bark to me anymore if he knew my former wretched squirrel hunting past.

I have dogs and cats too, but the bottom line is if its tasty and I have a permit to hunt it then I'll eat it...

 

[TexasRifleman]

I find it interesting that some people find the terms "hunter" and "animal lover" mutually exclusive.

Lack of education I suspect.

I'd argue that more hunters are animal lovers than not.

If you don't care about wildlife, how it finds food, how populations are maintained etc, there will be nothing left to hunt.

If you are 100% against hunting there is no real change, the wildlife that would die due to hunters would simply die due to starvation nearly all the time anyway.

 

[OregonJohnny]

I love animals. I've always had pets and have taken in small abandoned wildlife. I also love guns, have owned them since age 9 or 10, it's now become a disease. I've never been that much into hunting, except bird hunting.

I once heard a stand-up comic say, "Hunting...the only sport where one of the teams doesn't even know they're playing."

I have never killed anything larger than a pheasant. But by God, I love pheasant hunting. I have been deer hunting 3 or 4 times and have only seen elk. I have been elk hunting 2 or 3 times and have only seen deer.

Once, when elk hunting, I walked into a clearing and saw a nice big 4x4 buck staring at me from about 25 yards away. We just stood there staring at each other. I couldn't resist shouldering my rifle and taking a peek through the scope at him. I think he knew it was elk season and not deer season. Anyway, I decided it would be hard for me to pull the trigger on him if it had been deer season. I haven't been big game hunting since, because I'm not sure I could pull the trigger, since I really don't have the need or desire for the meat.

Having said that, I did draw deer tags this year with a big group and am headed out into the wilderness in a few weeks. I plan on taking my Winchester 30-30 and not my scoped 30-06 so I'll have an excuse why I couldn't shoot at that beautiful buck 250 yards away...

 

[Caliban]

i give money to both the nra and the aspca. nothing contradictory here.

 

[mewachee]

I don't understand the, "I am an animal lover, so I would only kill one if I had to."

There are more deer and coyotes in North America than there were before Europeans settled it. Your insurance rates are affected more by deer hits than any other factor. Predators are the only real conservationist, even if they are human.

I was not raised a hunter and I loved animals. However, my understanding and respect of animals are much greater because of my real connection with them. Last week I slept on the top of a mountain with a herd of elk bugling and mewing. To me that is a true human experience. I also shot a mule deer at 30 yards, while it was none aware; an experience a wolf or coyote has. Tonight I hope to kill a whitetail doe, and hopefully I get a bear this season.

To suggest that to love these animals is not to experience life and death with them is foreign to me. A hunter has a much greater stake in health of his herds and it's management.

 

[jhco]

bear is delicious
and i like animals and love guns

 

[bruss01]

Like the OP, I have a deep respect for living things, but still consider myself part of the food chain. Our modern world enables me to eat without killing, yet I am aware that every time I eat (meat or fish) something died and somebody did that killing for me. I have killed and eaten things which I have caught in the wild, and also things which were raised in captivity expressly for eating. So I don't have any issues with killing and eating.

I can see someone taking a practical attitude about predators and pests, especially when they live in an area where these can be a problem and one is basicly on one's own in dealing with them. As a general rule, it's probably a bad idea to eat predators and scavengers because of health reasons. And of course self-defense killing just speaks for itself.

Having said that, I do hate the idea of killing something just to be killing, for entertainment as it were. I don't get any joy out of seeing something drop over dead, even if it's something like a rat. Frankly, I don't understand people who do. Satisfaction from a legitimate concrete objective accomplished? That's another thing altogether. If I'm going to eat it or put the meat (and other parts) to good use, that's legitimate in my mind. Coyote or feral dog going after the sheep/chickens/whatever? Again, legitimate in defense of property. Bear coming at me from the bush? Hey, him or me, simple math. But just wanton destruction, killing for the joy of killing? Must be made of different stuff than I am, cuz I just don't get that at all. I haven't understood the purpose of a prarie dog shoot, for instance. Maybe they are some kind of plague on the earth that I'm not aware of... if so, please educate me. I'm not talking about burrowing rodents in your back yard, undermining the foundations of your house, I'm talking about a PRARIE, with little burrowing fellas living there the way their ancestors have for millenia. Just not getting it.

 

[everallm]

I shoot and I love my pets.

If I would hunt, it would be for that I could eat.

The only time I was told I couldn't eat what I killed was by one of my RSM's when I was in the Army.....

 

[Caliban]

hopefully people who say "if i had to" understand that thinning herds to avoid things like car collisions qualifies as "having to". i usually say that i wouldn't kill anything i wasn't going to eat, but clearly i will also kill something that is trying to kill me, and i certainly would sooner shoot a deer than risk crashing into it on the highway (already had plenty of near misses).

 

[highlander 5]

I don't hunt or fish but I am an animal lover. Reading some of the stories on 1911Tuners website makes me want to shoot the previous owners of those poor dogs. If were in my ability I'd adopt them all. I got 3 Shetland sheepdogs all gotten from rescues and a cat that we adopted as well.

 

[XDKingslayer]

I love animals. Right beside the mashed potatos.

 

[BruceRDucer]

/

I love animals. Right beside the mashed potatos.----XDKingSlayer

You eat VEGETABLES?

That sir, is an outrage! Oh the humanity!

:banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead:

 

[Noxx]

I am a dog lover so to me killing a coyote for sport, well it's just not something I'm going to do.

+1. I work with some folks who love to go coyote hunting, I try to stay out of it, after all, it's their business and not mine. Shooting an animal and just leaving it where it drops seems like bad pool to me.

I do hunt tho. I'm first up in the morning for a day of quail or pheasant, and on the rare occasion I can manage to go out for deer with some old friends, I'm thrilled to go, and even more so to bring back a freezers worth of meat.

Same goes for fish, turn the bass loose, eat the trout. I don't kid myself about being a predatory omnivore, if it's something I eat, I feel like I should be able to kill it myself. If it's not, I'd as soon leave it be.

 

[Rickstir]

I shoot to defend my live stock. Coys, coons, possums, fox, etc. I also eat deer, turkey, dove, quail. We have six dogs, 3 cats and 22 chickens.

 

[Hoppy590]

i love animals. (except snakes)

iv grown up with dogs, cats, gerbils etc. iv only met 1 dog i was afraid of ( a pitbull that had a rough past) i love horses, goats, cows and all domestic animals. but i eat a very meat central diet.

i think coyotes foxes and wolves are very handsome animals. and i think deer bouncing through a field is one of those moments you learn to love nature. and at the same time i dont think a deer should starve to death. id rather it be hunted for meat, or just taken from the habitat so there is more food for other deer. i dont think coyotes belong near my neighbors kids and my dogs.

i dont hunt ( not getting up early and carrying back a deer that weighs more than me) but im not opposed to it as long as its in good sport, and the animal is taken humanely with as little suffering as possible

 

[againstthagrane]

(1) It doesn't make sense, to say that one LOVES, either guns or animals, in the general sense, because you do not qualify what LOVES means.

If to LOVE is not to eat, then you could claim that you LOVE people simply because you don't eat them. In fact, you could hate many people, but not eat them. That hardly serves to mean that you LOVE people.

(2) You cannot argue that you LOVE animals, only because you eat certain animals and not other animals, or only kill certain animals to eat, and won't kill or eat others. I don't rob banks or trains, but it doesn't serve as proof that I love either

(3) Your term "NON-EDIBLE" is not precise. One can eat predators. Their flesh is muscle, regardless of the taste, they are EDIBLE

(4) Your question as to whether your views are in the minority or majority might only serve to indicate the commonality of views or lack thereof. It doesn't serve as a rational justification for any view. So in that sense, even if you are in the minority view, it doesn't mean that you are either Right or Wrong.

there is one in every thread...you know EXACTLY what i meant when i asked the questions. yet, you have to dissect what i wrote in the hopes of making yourself feel more intelligent. next time i want to be graded on a post i'll put an APA cover sheet and heading on it. :/

i know i'm not right or wrong. i didn't say i was judging.

 

[Artiz]

I love animals and I love guns.
The only animal I can hate sometimes is the two-legged one.

 

[XDKingslayer]

You eat VEGETABLES?

That sir, is an outrage! Oh the humanity!

Mashed potatos are a condiment not a vegetable.

 

[ilbob]

i like to hunt, but i only shoot animals that i can eat. i hear a lot of people on this board talking about hunting coyotes and bears and other "non-edible" game. i'm not judging, but personally i couldn't do it.

Lots of people eat bear. And there is nothing quite as nifty as a bear skin rug.

A guy I shoot with used to hunt coyote around here when pelts were worth nearly $100 each. he gave it up when the price dropped to the point they were not worth shooting.

I say shoot em if you have a use for them or their skin, or they become a nuisance.

 

[Gator]

It is the hunter’s honour that he
Protects and preserves his game,
Hunts sportsmanlike, honours the
Creator in His creatures.

I like that! I've never tried Jägermeister, so I hadn't seen it.

I'm a zookeeper, so its safe to say I like animals. I care for fish, snakes, frogs, insects, birds, small mammals, and gators. In the past I have hunted squirrels, deer, and pheasant and even took one trip to Africa for plains game (zebra is delicious! ). I don't hunt anymore, but have no problem with those who do. And it annoys me to no end when I hear the people I work with (big bunch of libs) condemning hunting as immoral. Most hunters are the best protectors of wildlife we have; hunters do more to preserve game and wild spaces than all the shaggy haired, granola eating, car covered with bumper stickers, sandal wearing, Al Gore voters out there.

 

[Tropical Buzz]

I am a dedicated meat eater and I've always liked guns. I have hunted hogs, moose, deer and various fowl here and in other countries. I am generally an animal lover though and have a difficult time relating to killing any animal just for the heck of it. I'd much rather shoot most wild animals with my camera. I ocean fish and spearfish but I'd just as soon be out on a boat having fun or diving and snorkelling for the scenery.

 

[armoredman]

My wife and I have 4 cats and 4 dogs, all rescued animals, and she fosters rescue dogs.

Here is her favorite Boots kitty in a familiar looking box...




And my puppy Snickers, doing some CZ ads.

 

[BruceRDucer]

there is one in every thread...you know EXACTLY what i meant when i asked the questions. -----AgainstThaGrane

It is a proverbialism that "There's-One-In-Every-Crowd".
The question relevent here is, which vaguely worded ONE are you or I referring to?

For example, the common claim that other persons know EXACTLY what you mean actually is a common assumption, and often as not, it is entirely erroneous. Do you realize how delusional it is to assume that other persons can read your mind?

Insofar as you are adopting an ideological position that is strikingly similar to Animal Rights Activism, you may be darned well correct that I know EXACTLY what you mean.

_____________________________________________

"...you have to dissect what i wrote in the hopes of making yourself feel more intelligent."----AgainstThaGrane

If you wish to engage in Animal Rights Activism, that's okay; but you will be engaged rationally. REASON is the product and cause of Western Civilizations status.

_______________________________________________

"...next time i want to be graded on a post i'll put an APA cover sheet and heading on it. :/"---AgainstThaGrane

This is indeed one of the fundamental contradictions regarding public communication today. You initiate a public discussion suggestive of Animal Rights Activism, in a PUBLIC FORUM, then suggest some equally vague moral or ethic has been violated, and you cannot even clarify what that is with clear reason.

That's rather like a shell game wherein you opt to identify with some kind of woundedness.

______________________________________________

"i know i'm not right or wrong."----AgainstThaGrane

That's odd. You haven't demonstrated by rational thought that you are "not right or wrong". Neither does anyone else have any knowledge that this was already determined.

What I wrote, was an indication that nobody is of necessity, either Right or Wrong merely because their view is popular or unpopular, or in the majority or minority; but the distinction between what I wrote, and what you are indicating here, is that you now claim that you are, in fact, neither Right or Wrong. How can anybody exclude themselves from either part of a clear dichotomy?

_______________________________________

"i didn't say i was judging."----AgainstThaGrane

What you have here is a DENIAL of the very thing you are doing. However, since you have a vaguely worded proposition, you aren't likely to engage the proposition well, or in any meaningful depth. That is also characteristic of Animal Rights Activism. Rationally, the moral and ethical propositions are so vaccuous that any rationalist can entirely dismantle them. When that occurs in print, Animal Rights Activism shows itself to be entirely irrational.

"you can totally eat what you love,"---AgainstThaGrane

I don't derive the power or ability to do that from you. In fact, you are NARROWLY describing what I CAN eat. Now, by reason, I am only ALLOWED to eat IF I love it, and not allowed to eat what I do NOT love. That's ridiculous.

"have you ever had a girlfriend"-----AgainstThaGrain

Have you ever been more irrelevent? What has my personal life to do with it, and what right to you have making inquiries in a PUBLIC FORUM about my personal life?

At the very least, such a question offers you a 50% chance that the answer will be "No" and the reason you ask it is to shift the topic of topic from relevent ideas, so that you can engage in a very "low road" form of shaming behavior, which is a common feature in the Politically Correct movement and in irrational advocacies found in Animal Rights Activism. If you wish to discuss sex life issues, you might try a forum dedicated to that purpose. I do not believe this is the proper place for discussing sexuality or relationships. Do you?



Thank you very much.



/

/