Ethics of hunting for fun

As I expected there is lots of different opinions on this matter, and I think Tahunua001 summed it up well.

there is no such thing as universal ethics.
every individual decides what is right and wrong in his eyes and every individual will have a unique take on the matter.
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I know some people will say shooting for animals for food is fine, and pests is ok but you shouldn't enjoy it, and should just shoot paper.
But I don't mind target shooting, and recently have started a lot of steel target offhand shooting. But I wanted to do it to improve my skills whilst hunting.

But compared to hunting rabbits, or possums or other pests we have here it is incredibly boring. Given the choice it would be to go after live quarry than to shoot paper.

I think I put it down to how, and where you have grown up.
I grew up on a farm and in a farming community, where you see things die all the time. Whereas I talked to a guy who has never shot a gun before and grew up in a city, and he can't see how you could take any enjoyment out of killing something.
 
One of the reasons for hunting is for the variety of food. Wild Ducks, Wild Geese, Ruffed Grouse, Pheasant and of course, deer are not generally accessible to working class people other than by hunting. The domestic equivalents do not taste the same.
As to enjoying the mere killing, I got over that when I matured and came to the realization that animals are not much different than I am...they feel pain and just want to be left alone to live their lives. Kill if you must, but just shooting them to shoot them, is the act of an insensitive and ignorant person. You inflict pain every time you shoot some living thing...you should at least have a good reason.
 
Killing pest animals is fine by me where legal. Killing animals for food and sport is fine.

Killing animals for no other reason than its fun isn't fine by me.

I love to hunt, it's fun. Killing animals is part of hunting but I don't consider taking a life fun. To actually be a hunter, you need to respect your prey and killing them for no reason shows a lack of respect.

If you just like killng things just to kill them, you might have a problem.
 
he can't see how you could take any enjoyment out of killing something.
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I take enjoyment out of it the same way I do any other difficult and necessary task, performed well.

Hunting is a skill. Skills are the very finest things to have.
 
Pick one !!!

trg42wraglefragle
Please clarify and pick one;
1) Killing is fun?
2) Hunting can be fun?

Be Safe !!!
 
When I was first able to go out shooting alone at around 13 or 14, I never really thought of what I was shooting as pests, I was shooting what I was told I was allowed to shoot, and doing so because I loved hunting/shooting.

Now I'm older I would certainly say I have a lot more respect for what I am shooting, and can empathise more, but I know I'm now killing pests.

What about shooting for sport then?
In some places duck shooting, or upland game shooting is very very popular, and done so under the name of sport, or tradition. Sure most people eat what they shoot, but some do not, and the food part is now only a secondary thing.

How would you say this fits into the who ethics thing?
 
I hunt for fun. The challenge, the scenery, and a chance to get outdoors. I also enjoy the taste of game. While hunting pests can be a necessity, usually it isnt but it does help protect property. I can go down to the store and buy beef, but an occasional elk or venison stew sure goes down with glee.
 
No question that the main issue with hunting ethics is to not let an animal suffer. I cried when I had to put down my previous dog (humanely, an injection from the vet). Just couldn't stand to see him suffer (blind, in constant pain).

As for hunting I will never take a shot I don't think will be a kill shot. Wounding an animal is the most unethical thing that can happen. I think it is irresponsible to take a long distance shot at game (large game is taken at an average of 75yds). Anyone who tells stories about shooting a deer or elk at 5,6, or 700yds ++. Is either lying or just damn lucky.

As for varmints, they carry disease, destroy crops and are a menace. My foxhound leaves dead rabbits in my garden for me, I trap or poison rats in my garage and after my mother lost 2 beagles to the coyotes, I took a little hunting trip out to her place.

Edit-elk are beautiful animals...they taste beautiful too. Plus, grow most of my own vegetables, and don't want to eat meat filled with hormones, antibiotics and what ever else they get in feedlots
 
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I wouldn't kill an animal for fun unless I was going to eat it or if it was for pest control. Killing an animal just because you can is wrong IMO. It's certainly not the example I'd set for my boy when he's old enough to shoot. To each their own though
 
So long as they're hunting within the law and their goal is to dispatch the animal as quickly and cleanly as possible, who cares if they are getting enjoyment out of it or not?
 
Killing for fun, is just killing !!!

In the past, I have been involved on two types of Hunt/Kills;

Conservation Effort;
Mostly just killing and really not much fun. Just a degree of satisfaction on getting the job done. Most of these kills, I would not eat or brag about. ... ;)

Hunting;
Lots of enjoyment in the preparation, enjoying the what the day presents and pleasing the pallet. On these days, I never measure it by what I kill. If that was my goal, I would have been discouraged years ago. .... ;)

Be Safe !!!
 
Thinking about it, I'd venture that there could be some semantic confusion between "fun" and "purposeless". :)

It strikes me as sorta uncool to pull trigger for no good reason beyond watching something die. Purpose. But how can it not be fun to kill a deer in the knowledge of good eats to come? And maybe some bragging around the campfire?

Just don't fool yourself about why you do what you do. "If you never lie to yourself, I won't worry about your lying to me." :)
 
I must agree with the majority here in that killing just for the sake of killing is sick. For me it is a kind of perversion. I love hunting and do derive a sense of satisfaction from a successful hunt, whether it is a dead pest or good eats to come. I must admit that with every kill I have a slight sense of sadness for the animal. It doesn't last long but it is there. It quickly fades then the celebration and/or work begins.
If a hunter obeys the laws and does his best for a clean, quick kill I don't really care how he feels about it. Life's too short for that sort of thing.
 
Geezerbiker, there are some people who flat-out don't like for people to "have fun" if the activity is one which they don't like. And they commonly get mouthy about it. Car racing, dancing, hunting, football, you name it, they're against it.

It doesn't hurt a thing to discuss an issue and clarify one's thinking...
 
Shortwave, I too live in Ohio, and have seen an explosion in racoon overpopulations since the decline of the fur industry. I truly think its time to reclassify them, or at the very least, expand the season immensly.
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TimSr,

When talking to ODNR, I was told that the pelt bounty was going up to $20/pelt this year. Just not enough people trapping these days to keep the pests population under control. Your right...an extension of the coon season would help or flat classify them as a pest with open season.

There was a time in my life(teens and 20's) that when hunting with 'the fella's' ,it was a competition. Didn't matter if we were hunting rabbits, pheasants, grouse, woodcock, squirrel deer etc. Same when we went fishing...competition. Had to kill or catch the most and the biggest.
We had a lot of fun in those days but not near as much fun as I've had in my latter years. I release more fish now than I keep and let more game walk than I used to. I get much more enjoyment out of watching wildlife then disturbing it and find my early season scouting adventure's more enjoyable every year that goes by.

Was out a couple weeks ago in a five acre clover plot up on the ridge and got the opportunity of watching a doe fend off a small buck that was harassing her fawn. The buck would try and get close to the fawn and the doe would run him all over the field. A couple times they went face to face rising up on their hind legs like two prize fighters in the ring. Trust me when I tell ya that that doe 'out boxed' that buck ten to one. :D
A true pleasure to sit and watch.

I think sometimes, respect for all life increases as we get older. We see more of our family/friends pass...bury our pets... and as hunters, we've had a life time of killing.

I may have enjoyed the competition of the hunt in my early years with my hunting pals/family and today, still shoot what I need enjoying hunting still yet. But make no mistake...never have been one to kill something just for the sake of killing it.
 
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How is this different from fishing. I never have to defend how much fin fishing is... It sounds like a load of BS to me.

Tony
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That is an excellent point that I have never considered before.

Perhaps for some reason cute fluffy bunnies are somewhat more important than smelly fish? It's like vegetarians who wont eat meat, but will eat chicken and fish???

Because chicken and fish is not real meat?
 
"How is this different from fishing. I never have to defend how much fin fishing is... It sounds like a load of BS to me."

I guess if fishermen left their catch on the bank to rot, we might question the ethics then. There is a difference from killing for food, killing for necessity, and just killing for "sport" whether one uses a gun or a rod and reel. I just never have heard of a fisherman leaving his catch on the bank instead of catch and release.
 
Originally posted byArt Eatman:

Just don't fool yourself about why you do what you do. "If you never lie to yourself, I won't worry about your lying to me."
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^^^Exactly. For those claiming they don't hunt for fun, let me ask you this. Does your pulse not quicken and your breath get short when a large buck walks out in front of you..... or a Tom gobbles off high in a tree only a hundred yards away in the darkness of morning twilight? Do you ALWAYS feel disgust when you pull the trigger out of sadness of the kill? Do you have to be prodded and complain long and loudly when you get off the couch and grab a rifle? Is the only form of adrenaline you feel when you hunt the saliva in your mouth from the expected meal you may have afterwards?

Yeah....I thought so.:D
 
Quote:
Originally posted byArt Eatman:

Just don't fool yourself about why you do what you do. "If you never lie to yourself, I won't worry about your lying to me."
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^^^Exactly. For those claiming they don't hunt for fun, let me ask you this. Does your pulse not quicken and your breath get short when a large buck walks out in front of you..... or a Tom gobbles off high in a tree only a hundred yards away in the darkness of morning twilight? Do you ALWAYS feel disgust when you pull the trigger out of sadness of the kill? Do you have to be prodded and complain long and loudly when you get off the couch and grab a rifle? Is the only form of adrenaline you feel when you hunt the saliva in your mouth from the expected meal you may have afterwards?
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The flip side to buck460XVR's post is if I grab my rifle and go out for no other enjoyment other then taking that life and nothing about the hunt but looking at that dead animal I just killed gives me a sense of great euphoria then I may have a problem , shouldn't lie to myself about it and should probably seek some professional help.
 
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