Rich Coyle
Inactive
Recently I was in a conversation about hunting big game animals. Someone suggested we respect them and someone argued how can you respect something you are going to eat. What's the opinion here?
respect or no respect?
- Thread starter Rich Coyle
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Of COURSE you should respect something you are going to eat! Just as you should respect Nature, and the gods of the hunt!
However, "respect" means different things to different people. In the situation you described, they probably think respect means leaving the animal alone, not hunting or harvesting it.
Which is fine, on a personal level, its not fine beyond that.
Is it respectful to have the animal live a full natural life, dying slowly and painfully of starvation, disease, freezing to death, or under the fangs and claws of predator?. SO much more "respectful" than cleanly ending its life in an instant, with a minimum of suffering (the goal of sport hunting).
You might point them to the movie Avatar and how the eco-worshiping people there respected, and thanked the game they killed. And how they still killed and ate them.
other people, some in our real world have the same respect. Many might think its a native American thing, but its not just them, others do it too, they just aren't as well known.
However, "respect" means different things to different people. In the situation you described, they probably think respect means leaving the animal alone, not hunting or harvesting it.
Which is fine, on a personal level, its not fine beyond that.
Is it respectful to have the animal live a full natural life, dying slowly and painfully of starvation, disease, freezing to death, or under the fangs and claws of predator?. SO much more "respectful" than cleanly ending its life in an instant, with a minimum of suffering (the goal of sport hunting).
You might point them to the movie Avatar and how the eco-worshiping people there respected, and thanked the game they killed. And how they still killed and ate them.
other people, some in our real world have the same respect. Many might think its a native American thing, but its not just them, others do it too, they just aren't as well known.
Boogershooter
New member
You often see hunters with stickers on their back glass. Team realtree or team muzzy and all other kinds of decals. To me that is more of a status symbol or bragging board. When you see team Ziplock on a man's truck you know he has respect for his quarry.
If we didn't respect them we wouldn't spend all the money and time we do each year just to pursue them. Look at all the game warden shows on TV now days. The ones that do not respect their game are the ones that make these shows successful. The ones that do not respect the game animals are the same ones that do not respect the law or other hunters.
If we didn't respect them we wouldn't spend all the money and time we do each year just to pursue them. Look at all the game warden shows on TV now days. The ones that do not respect their game are the ones that make these shows successful. The ones that do not respect the game animals are the same ones that do not respect the law or other hunters.
You should absolutely respect the game which you are hunting. That just goes right along with the respect for the tradition and craft of hunting itself. And as far as the food goes you should definitely respect the food that you eat.
I'm a pretty hardcore hunter, I've been hunting all my life. I'm also a professional Chef, I've been working in the industry since I was a teenager in high school. One of the things in the industry that is very respected, encouraged, and looked up to is the respect you have for the ingredients that you use. The care with which you handle, prep, and prepare them with are some very fine but huge points amongst Chefs. Using proper classical technique in which to prepare our food is huge. And the care and respect for your ingredients are qualities that are seeked out for in workers by Chefs. You will get scolded and reprimanded pretty harshly if you don't show respect for your ingredients. And the topic of respecting your ingredients is a commonly talked subject amongst Chefs. So yes respect for your food is huge.
I'm a pretty hardcore hunter, I've been hunting all my life. I'm also a professional Chef, I've been working in the industry since I was a teenager in high school. One of the things in the industry that is very respected, encouraged, and looked up to is the respect you have for the ingredients that you use. The care with which you handle, prep, and prepare them with are some very fine but huge points amongst Chefs. Using proper classical technique in which to prepare our food is huge. And the care and respect for your ingredients are qualities that are seeked out for in workers by Chefs. You will get scolded and reprimanded pretty harshly if you don't show respect for your ingredients. And the topic of respecting your ingredients is a commonly talked subject amongst Chefs. So yes respect for your food is huge.
8MM Mauser
New member
Humans are a predator just the same as panthers or wolves.
We are just taking part in nature in a way most people are insulated from.
We are just taking part in nature in a way most people are insulated from.
Absolutely. Hunted animals definitely deserve respect. I respect them by trying my best for a quick kill. I respect what nature has given me by caring properly for the meat. The idea of driving around town showing the deer to your friends as the meat degrades is not my idea of respect.
Sure Shot Mc Gee
New member
Native Americans.
I've witnessed a couple of those fellows give a knee and say a few Respectful words over their downed Big Game animals before field dressing began. On those occasions such Reverence and Respect shown. __ pleased me.
Its a matter of personal choice whether one's wants too or not. As for me. On occasion yes I'll admit I have done the same.
Especially when hunting's been really hard due to lack of game bad weather or just bad Luck. I believe self humbling with Reverence under GOD sky and in the presents of fallen game. Is without doubt always appreciated.
I've witnessed a couple of those fellows give a knee and say a few Respectful words over their downed Big Game animals before field dressing began. On those occasions such Reverence and Respect shown. __ pleased me.
Its a matter of personal choice whether one's wants too or not. As for me. On occasion yes I'll admit I have done the same.
Especially when hunting's been really hard due to lack of game bad weather or just bad Luck. I believe self humbling with Reverence under GOD sky and in the presents of fallen game. Is without doubt always appreciated.
I respect them: I don't take shots that are beyond my ability.
Everything alive on this planet lives at the expense of something else. Everything plant and animal.
Only humans recognize that fact and have the faculties to weigh that realization against the knowledge that they are causing suffering (even if short-lived) in their prey when they hunt.
Although I'm not Native American, I agree with them and Sure Shot McGee on this topic. Hunting, whether successful or not, should make the hunter realize that he/she is part of a larger order and that the center of the universe is bigger than their belt size.
Everything alive on this planet lives at the expense of something else. Everything plant and animal.
Only humans recognize that fact and have the faculties to weigh that realization against the knowledge that they are causing suffering (even if short-lived) in their prey when they hunt.
Although I'm not Native American, I agree with them and Sure Shot McGee on this topic. Hunting, whether successful or not, should make the hunter realize that he/she is part of a larger order and that the center of the universe is bigger than their belt size.
buck460XVR
New member
I fully agree with the last three Posters, Doyle, Sure Shot Mc Gee and doofus47. If I did not respect my quarry there would be no challenge to the hunt, nor any satisfaction with success. It becomes a shoot and not a hunt. I too have given thanks to an animal that fell to my bullet/arrow. I also respect the habitat they live in and on. One reason I feel so strongly about releasing big fish. Respect of what they have gone thru to get there.
Blindstitch
New member
You may respect the animals you take but if you're talking about appeasing others that's different.
I respect all the game I take and use it and share it with others who want but can't.
There is a crowd where any killing of animals is bad and the best thing is not to bring it up around them. But it you have to you can say that money from hunting licenses go to pay for improving habitat, animal health and research, and a better environment for all of us.
When watching hunting shows my wife thinks the celebration of shooting whatever is disrespectful along with photo's of the hunter holding up the game.
My grandpa use to tell me when he was hunting he would say a little prayer and if whatever religious entity he prayed to deemed him worthy of taking an animal he would be given an opportunity. And if he was successful he would say a prayer in thanks for and to the animal.
Another form of respect could be not hanging the deer in your yard for a week before butchering. Yes I have seen people hang them in November and take them down in late February.
I also agree with the 4 guys above and I am some Native American.
Now if only I knew where to get Team Ziplock gear.
I respect all the game I take and use it and share it with others who want but can't.
There is a crowd where any killing of animals is bad and the best thing is not to bring it up around them. But it you have to you can say that money from hunting licenses go to pay for improving habitat, animal health and research, and a better environment for all of us.
When watching hunting shows my wife thinks the celebration of shooting whatever is disrespectful along with photo's of the hunter holding up the game.
My grandpa use to tell me when he was hunting he would say a little prayer and if whatever religious entity he prayed to deemed him worthy of taking an animal he would be given an opportunity. And if he was successful he would say a prayer in thanks for and to the animal.
Another form of respect could be not hanging the deer in your yard for a week before butchering. Yes I have seen people hang them in November and take them down in late February.
I also agree with the 4 guys above and I am some Native American.
Now if only I knew where to get Team Ziplock gear.
Gunplummer
New member
It sounds a little nuts, but I usually leave a piece of fruit or a sandwich on a rock if I get a deer. You take something from the woods, you leave something.
To put this into perspective, I don't "respect" animals like coyotes, otters, possums, or skunks in the way I respect a smart old "long head" doe or a big old buck deer.
I express my respect to the game animals by using an adequately powerful cartridge and shooting as accurately as I'm capable of when hunting them. We don't haul bucks around to the taverns showing them off in the midst of a bunch of half drunk goobers, either.
I express my respect to the game animals by using an adequately powerful cartridge and shooting as accurately as I'm capable of when hunting them. We don't haul bucks around to the taverns showing them off in the midst of a bunch of half drunk goobers, either.
Double Naught Spy
New member
Respect is just the admiration for the attributes of another thing. So sure, one can respect an animal and then kill and eat it. One can respect one's enemy before going into battle and trying to kill them.
How people show respect will vary (much like ethics) often from hunt to hunt or by animal type. Funny how that works.
Personally, I don't think it matters if I respect the animal or not. If it needs to be killed, it needs to be killed regardless of my emotional baggage. I would prefer the kill to be quick, not because I respect the particular animal, but because I feel no need for it to suffer (emotional baggage) and because recovery of the animal is much easier if it dies where I shoot it than in some deep ravine or thicket it has run to after being shot and where I have to track it down in order to find it.
It would seem that the word "respect" is somewhat ambiguous to some people. Perhaps if one would look at the dictionary definition:
re·spect
rəˈspekt/
noun
1.
a feeling of deep admiration for someone or something elicited by their abilities, qualities, or achievements.
So by that definition, one can respect, AKA, admire a Bull Elk for it's "qualities" even if he plans on eating it.
re·spect
rəˈspekt/
noun
1.
a feeling of deep admiration for someone or something elicited by their abilities, qualities, or achievements.
So by that definition, one can respect, AKA, admire a Bull Elk for it's "qualities" even if he plans on eating it.
buck460XVR
New member
Respect is a pretty relative term.
I find that folks with the most respect for game animals are those folks that are closest to nature and spend the most time interacting with game and non-game animals. Ergo, Native Americans, other indigenous peoples and others that depend on game/non game animals to survive, i.e., subsistence hunters and fishers. Then there are those hunters that have evolved to the point where the hunt is more important than the kill. Easy to understand why that hunter that still hunts in hopes of sneaking to within handgun range of a deer has more respect for his quarry than the guy who pays an outfitter to shoot a buck from a box stand over a bait pile. Same with the Turkey hunter that calls his bird to within 15 yards in order to take it with a bow as opposed to the guy that knocks a hung up Tom down @ 80 yards with his "Black Widow" choke tube and his "Heavier than Lead" Shotshell. Only animals that really "need to be killed" are those that are old, starving or sick/injured. This is something that is done out of respect. Or those that are threatening us, our loved ones or our livelihood. Still, those are not the animals most folks with little or no respect for their quarry, are after.
I find that folks with the most respect for game animals are those folks that are closest to nature and spend the most time interacting with game and non-game animals. Ergo, Native Americans, other indigenous peoples and others that depend on game/non game animals to survive, i.e., subsistence hunters and fishers. Then there are those hunters that have evolved to the point where the hunt is more important than the kill. Easy to understand why that hunter that still hunts in hopes of sneaking to within handgun range of a deer has more respect for his quarry than the guy who pays an outfitter to shoot a buck from a box stand over a bait pile. Same with the Turkey hunter that calls his bird to within 15 yards in order to take it with a bow as opposed to the guy that knocks a hung up Tom down @ 80 yards with his "Black Widow" choke tube and his "Heavier than Lead" Shotshell. Only animals that really "need to be killed" are those that are old, starving or sick/injured. This is something that is done out of respect. Or those that are threatening us, our loved ones or our livelihood. Still, those are not the animals most folks with little or no respect for their quarry, are after.
I think that of course we should respect the life we take when we kill game or anything else we kill. More important though is that we behave in a way that would encourage others including God to respect us as we go about it.
Even when dispatching the disgusting blow-fly, there's a big difference between a skillful swat, or sadistically pulling it's wings off.
jd
Even when dispatching the disgusting blow-fly, there's a big difference between a skillful swat, or sadistically pulling it's wings off.
jdRespect for all elements of hunting, is important
Not that he had to explain but did he give you any clues on what he meant and how to show respect? I have hunted all my life and teach Hunter Ethics. I also express that we should have respect for all aspects of hunting. Doesn't mean we should not harvest animals nor doesn't mean we have to. ......
I have witnessed the lack of respect and responsibility toward animals, dead or alive. I once saw a fella drive around all weekend with a nice buck in the back of his "small" pick-up, just to show it off. That was not only disrespectful but downright stupid. As mentioned, respect is a personal thing and relative. ....
Be Safe !!!
OP.
Not that he had to explain but did he give you any clues on what he meant and how to show respect? I have hunted all my life and teach Hunter Ethics. I also express that we should have respect for all aspects of hunting. Doesn't mean we should not harvest animals nor doesn't mean we have to. ......
I have witnessed the lack of respect and responsibility toward animals, dead or alive. I once saw a fella drive around all weekend with a nice buck in the back of his "small" pick-up, just to show it off. That was not only disrespectful but downright stupid. As mentioned, respect is a personal thing and relative. ....
Be Safe !!!
Gunplummer
New member
I strongly suspect that is why a lot of people "Given" their first piece of deer meat will hate the "Gamey" taste and never eat it again.