While I realize that people kill cows for food, I still don't want to be the one doing it.
Michael: No disrespect, but you're what I call a "contract killer." The blood is on your hands all the same if you financially support any company that sells meat,cheese, butter, eggs, wool, down, leather, fur, etc. Do you feed those kittens? I'll bet there are meat products in the food.
Just because you didn't pull the trigger doesn't make you any less culpable. You know, when you hire a hit man to kill somebody else, the police still take you to jail.
If you're going to eat meat, you ought to be able to gather it yourself. Moreover, if you hone your hunting skills, you'll be giving that animal a more humane death than any slaughter house would provide. Are you familiar with how these places kill cows, pigs, and chickens?
That said, I totally agree with most here that hunting is more than killing. You gain so many appreciations--from the awe of nature to greater respect for the animal you're hunting. You also gain survival skills that are never worth losing.
Animals are animals. And while they all have their individual idiosyncracies, don't mistake these traits for human characteristics. That's called projection. We have the ability to reason, and along with it comes the responsibility of stewardship to the animal populations. One of these responsibilities involves maintaining populations such that they don't starve to death. That's why the Wildlife and Game Associations do so much more to protect animals than any misguided PETA soul.
The fact that you've "pondered" hunting tells me that you might really want to face this responsibility. Either way, you're still complicit in the death of animals in some way. Please don't be guilty of both projection and denial.
My two cents. YMMV.