FirstFreedom
Moderator
Is varmint eradication both varminting AND hunting (i.e. one type of hunting)? Or just varminting? IOW, define hunting (to you). Thanks.
Define "Hunting"
- Thread starter FirstFreedom
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psycho nut
New member
I would define it as killing something with the intent to eat it.
Double Naught Spy
New member
The activity or sport of pursuing game. The act of conducting a search for something. You can hunt big foot for trophy, sport, or you can hunt bigfoot simply to find (so as to prove or document). What you do once your pursuit is successful is a secondary activity.
Hunting has nothing to do with being fair to animals although some hunting may give animals more of a chance of escape than others. People like to speak of "fair hunting" as being proper hunting. Apparently game cameras and infrared sensors are not part of the being fair but sniping is.
Varmitting, such as camping out 200 yards from a prairie dog town with a scoped rifle and popping prairie dogs when they pop out their heads is considered to be hunting by some, but there really isn't much pursuit any more than pursuing bacon at the grocery store. It is more like sniping where the prey really doesn't have much of a chance because it doesn't know you are there, or if it knows, it knows you are so far away as to not be a threat (such as a coyote at 200 yards would not be a threat to a prairie dog, but a prairie dog doesn't comprehend ballistics, technology, etc.). Note that archer fish often do a bit of sniping themselves.
In Texas, we even set up bait stations that deer will check during the off season and then the deer are shot from a blind - more sniping. Baiting, however, it a technique used by the animals such as the angler fish.
Sometimes 'hunters' lay in wait alongside game trails and wait for game to casually to come strolling along. This is a technique used by rattlesnakes and other types of predators as well.
Some hunters like the idea of stalking their prey on foot to get close enough to make a shot. In the woods, getting close enough means getting within line of sight. In the open, it means getting close enough to be able to hit the animal before it is spooked and runs. Such tactics are used by predators like bears, felines, and canids.
How about a good old fashioned British fox hunt? You get a bunch of dogs that run in a pack and a bunch of lazy humans on horseback to follow the dogs like they themselves are a pack of dogs. Pack hunting in nature is how many species survive.
The point here is that there is nothing fair to the prey about hunting. The point is to gain an advantage over the prey by outwitting it, defeating its senses, or defeating its ability to get away.
Hunting has nothing to do with being fair to animals although some hunting may give animals more of a chance of escape than others. People like to speak of "fair hunting" as being proper hunting. Apparently game cameras and infrared sensors are not part of the being fair but sniping is.
Varmitting, such as camping out 200 yards from a prairie dog town with a scoped rifle and popping prairie dogs when they pop out their heads is considered to be hunting by some, but there really isn't much pursuit any more than pursuing bacon at the grocery store. It is more like sniping where the prey really doesn't have much of a chance because it doesn't know you are there, or if it knows, it knows you are so far away as to not be a threat (such as a coyote at 200 yards would not be a threat to a prairie dog, but a prairie dog doesn't comprehend ballistics, technology, etc.). Note that archer fish often do a bit of sniping themselves.
In Texas, we even set up bait stations that deer will check during the off season and then the deer are shot from a blind - more sniping. Baiting, however, it a technique used by the animals such as the angler fish.
Sometimes 'hunters' lay in wait alongside game trails and wait for game to casually to come strolling along. This is a technique used by rattlesnakes and other types of predators as well.
Some hunters like the idea of stalking their prey on foot to get close enough to make a shot. In the woods, getting close enough means getting within line of sight. In the open, it means getting close enough to be able to hit the animal before it is spooked and runs. Such tactics are used by predators like bears, felines, and canids.
How about a good old fashioned British fox hunt? You get a bunch of dogs that run in a pack and a bunch of lazy humans on horseback to follow the dogs like they themselves are a pack of dogs. Pack hunting in nature is how many species survive.
The point here is that there is nothing fair to the prey about hunting. The point is to gain an advantage over the prey by outwitting it, defeating its senses, or defeating its ability to get away.
Wild Bill Bucks
New member
Every living thing HUNTS, to EAT.
Edward429451
Moderator
I gotta agree with DNS.
Eating the game is the result and ok, but doesn't define hunting. Pursuing game is hunting wether scouting, camera, or (looking for the end result, ie., eating it).
Eating the game is the result and ok, but doesn't define hunting. Pursuing game is hunting wether scouting, camera, or (looking for the end result, ie., eating it).
Hunting, From the Jseime dictionary of all things important:
Hunting is the practice of finding, stalking and killing an animal be it gophers coyotes deer elk or moose.
There are however exceptions, shooting varmints off a bench from a distance with a high powered rifle is simply shooting and shooting deer from a treestand over a bait station while wearing full camo and scent covers is simply shooting.
Hunting requires skill and knowledge as well as being able to shoot well in almost any situation. The real hunters are the people out on the prairie crawling over the top of a hill trying to get within a couple hundred yards to make a clean shot or the people crawling through the forest with a .30-30 trying to get to the edge of the clearing to make that 50 yard snap shot.
Hunting is the practice of finding, stalking and killing an animal be it gophers coyotes deer elk or moose.
There are however exceptions, shooting varmints off a bench from a distance with a high powered rifle is simply shooting and shooting deer from a treestand over a bait station while wearing full camo and scent covers is simply shooting.
Hunting requires skill and knowledge as well as being able to shoot well in almost any situation. The real hunters are the people out on the prairie crawling over the top of a hill trying to get within a couple hundred yards to make a clean shot or the people crawling through the forest with a .30-30 trying to get to the edge of the clearing to make that 50 yard snap shot.
22-rimfire
New member
I would define "hunting" as seeking anything. It does not imply necessarily a purpose other than finding or locating the quarry or subject of the hunt. As DNS said, you could be hunting bigfoot, or you could be hunting girls or boys (love interest only). I hunt wildflowers sometimes. I might be hunting for a new knife, firearm, or simply hunting for cheese macs at the store. Basically, you need an descriptive term like "deer" to preceed the word hunting if you want to be correct.
Traditionally, hunting is used to describe seeking an animal or an elusive prey. "The Hunt for Red October"....
Traditionally, hunting is used to describe seeking an animal or an elusive prey. "The Hunt for Red October"....
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FirstFreedom
Moderator
So if you're at a prairie dog town, shooting them, are you 'seeking' them, and therefore hunting them?
If you are in a dog town shooting I would call that hunting if you walk around some and do some actual legwork. I might be inclined to call it shooting if you sit at a bench all morning and just burn rounds.
To all those who may have been offended by me calling stand hunting shooting not hunting I didnt really mean that as a general statement it just doesnt work in my part of the world.
To all those who may have been offended by me calling stand hunting shooting not hunting I didnt really mean that as a general statement it just doesnt work in my part of the world.
Art Eatman
Staff in Memoriam
In the broadest sense, and in the context of this forum, hunting is finding some critter to shoot, and killing it.
There are many parts and pieces to the whole deal, of course. You can scout around to find the biggest buck in the pasture, which means a good bit of looking without shooting. Ya gotta find most all of them before you can know which is the biggest, right? Then ya gotta find that big SOB a second time--and that's not necessarily the easiest deal going.
But, it means you've spent a good bit of time outdoors, "just lookin'".
You can hunt for pestiferous critters, like ol' Wily Coyote.
If you sit, you're hunting in the same way as a cougar, in ambush. You can play sneaky-snake in thick-ish cover country or serious brush/jungle. Or you can just walk across country and work the wind. It's all some form of hunting, but in different styles. The style is forced by terrain, cover and one's level of skill or physical strength.
Purpose? You can hunt for meat, or trophy and meat, or for varmints. It's all a part of the package called "hunting".
Art
There are many parts and pieces to the whole deal, of course. You can scout around to find the biggest buck in the pasture, which means a good bit of looking without shooting. Ya gotta find most all of them before you can know which is the biggest, right? Then ya gotta find that big SOB a second time--and that's not necessarily the easiest deal going.
But, it means you've spent a good bit of time outdoors, "just lookin'".You can hunt for pestiferous critters, like ol' Wily Coyote.
If you sit, you're hunting in the same way as a cougar, in ambush. You can play sneaky-snake in thick-ish cover country or serious brush/jungle. Or you can just walk across country and work the wind. It's all some form of hunting, but in different styles. The style is forced by terrain, cover and one's level of skill or physical strength.
Purpose? You can hunt for meat, or trophy and meat, or for varmints. It's all a part of the package called "hunting".
Art
You're gonna get a WIDE variety of responses to this. For example, I consider hunting to be the pursuit, with intent to kill, game animals that I intend to eat. I will, however, shoot animals that I DON'T intend to eat (varmints) IF they are causing me a problem (varmint hunting), for example pidgeons in my barn, or woodchucks digging up my lawn (which I have a couple on my property, but since they don't dig up the lawn I leave 'em alone), or the crows that drive me nuts with tehir noise. But, that's just MY philosophy, and I don't expect others to follow my "rules".