Shooting animals for the sake of shooting them?

Status
Not open for further replies.
You know when I was a kid and I got my first BB gun and then later a 22 I used to kill things just to kill things. I am old enough now to understand the behavior. As a kid we try to imitate our parents but we don’t have all the understanding of a full adult person. We imitate the actions without being aware of the decision making process. As I grew older I didn’t really need anyone to tell me what it meant to kill something, I had done it often enough by then to understand it pretty well and to understand that it was something I didn’t really enjoy or feel good about. To make a dead thing from a live thing without some over riding reason is something I would prefer not to do.

That being said I think that there are not that many people, percentage wise, who fail to make this transition with the onset of adulthood. I know there are some, we see them on the news pretty regularly but they are by no means the norm. And I expect there are those who manage enough self control not to end up on the news but who are still able to feed their appetites by killing animals. In any event, as it pertains to problem animals I don’t think it maters who kills the animal as long as it gets done. It is a separate issue from what is going on inside the head of the shooter. That is an issue that society will have to address when it manifest its self in less acceptable ways. On occasions I have met people whom I instinctively had a bad reaction to and departed their company as soon as I was able. I can’t say why, only that there was something that set the alarms off in my head but I know that there are some people who really enjoy killing solely for the sake of killing, in other words it’s the act of killing that they derive pleasure from. These people I truly believe that there is something badly wrong with them. However I still think that they are anomalies and that they are by no means the norm.

So I think on a statistical level you could safely say that 0% of the shooters are wack jobs while on the individual level there are of course some wack jobs and of course there are the adolescents who just haven’t completed the transition into adulthood.
 
I will finish reading the 3 pages of this thread after i post...
I know of many "varmint" hunters and have never met a single hunter in my 39 years that hunts "for the sake of killing". Some hunt for the pelt sales, others hunt to reduce the population of predators but most hunt for the sake of the HUNT. To go up against a quarry that is hard to hunt. calling in a 'yote from over a mile away to within gun range without him busting you is the challenge for many. It ain't hard to see that 'yotes are destructive. They eliminate livestock as well as the wildlife already mentioned. Also, to the question "Why do they not have any natural predators?" it doesn't really matter since any predator of the 'yote is also preying on the livestock and wildlife already mentioned as being threatened by 'yotes. What about the non predatory varmints? They too are hunted mainly for the challenge. either the distance at which you must hunt from or the creatures elusive tendency makes them hard to hunt. For some creatures it is the fact that they are not a local native that makes them a target. For me, it is the ferral domestic cats. I hunt them because they are not native predators. Not many consider them prey so they leave them alone even though they are eliminating turkeys, doves and quail. They also hunt down squirrels and other animals considered game. But worse they are taking food from native predators like bobcats, 'yotes, cougar, hawks and falcons. Unless my client descibes a certain cat wearing a certain collar all are fair game. I want a yote pelt nailed to my shed wall. I would like a bobcat pelt but they do not do the damage in their low local population to warrant me targeting them. I never kill an animal to see it die. I hunt to be challenged for the shot or for food. I will shoot ringneck doves (also an invasive specie with no season in florida) to feed to my son's snake. Everything else I shoot through the year will be fed to me and my family or to the 9-10 hog hunting dogs on the yard. Less dog food to buy is a good thing and fresh raw meat is much healthier...
Brent
 
coyotes in Mi

I know this is an OLd thread, but I live in Northern Lower Mich, very rural.

Sheep ranching nearby, and cows, too.

Coyotes will gut doe whitetails when laden with young, they love sheep, and a yard gog or cat is a nice snack.

They have no enemies here, although(despite DNR assertions) we do have cougars, and MATING POPULATIONS, too.

SO Hunting coyotes here is appreciated and wanted.

Hunt some coyotes for the sheep rancher and you can hunt his 100 acres for deer and small game, too.

Works for me.
 
I live in a city of close to 80,000 people and I live not more than 2 miles from Main Street. I had two come into my back yard and try to pull my cat in two. I will shoot them just to kill them. We called the police and we were told "that we moved into their neighborhood, and that we should learn to live with them just like we live with birds & bunnies". The dispatcher’s words. My house was built in 1978 not a week ago. Now I’m scared to death of bunnies & birds with k9’s.


I’m not an ignorant redneck either.
 
I have lived here for 30+ years and can tell you they will eat a calf crop upand they really like chickens,small dogs and cats.
They will always be hunted here cuz they ate all the wifes's chickens.
 
As a kid I watched them rip the throats out of baby lambs we had on the ranch. They are not something that needs protected, actually there are so darn many you can see them next to the interstate as you drive. The best part of this post is the amount of education that has been put before you, now go forward more educated.
 
coyotes are predators

it's not the fact that people are afraid of coyotes as much as it is that they are a pest and threaten some peoples means of making a living and feeding there families they also prey on game that make our states revenue such as game birds elk deer etc. and some just like to keep there hunting skills in tune during the off season and were i'm from hunting coyotes has been our way of life since i can remember i guess the people that live in the city only have to worry about who's dog is messing in there front yard every morning probably wouldn't understand all of this
 
Wow interesting read, I would tend to say in MT their are lots of people who shoot praire dogs just for fun, (not really hunting, dont eat them, dont even hunt them, drive on out to a town, set up a bench and start shooting) Ill admit ive had a chuckle or 2 or 5 when i flip one out of its hole about 4 feet straight up with my 223. I guess it is some control of a pest, but is it really when the dog town is a 2 SQ miles and i only have 200 rounds to shoot up?

It would truely pest controll when the land owner would poisen them and their would be tens of thousands killed in a few days. Theirs also several areas that have fun shoots for yotes and prairie dogs, points for most kills, longest shots ext, this is not hunting, might be pest controll, but its mostly for fun, get some shooting time in and hang out with your freinds on a weekend. But in the end its still killing, and really for nothing but fun. Once again some pest controll, but mostly for fun.

I guess this will make me one of the guys who kills for fun sometimes. Im sory to offend some of you...I also deer and elk hunt for fun and enjoyment, I do it because I love the out doors, being with freinds and family on trips, all the fun times from the past and the storys we will get to tell in the next few years about that one thing that happend we will all remember, or get to laugh about someday. I also like to have a full freezer at the end of season, so for deer and elk, i do hunt for food as well haveing fun.
 
The breed like rats
Click to expand...

No, they do not. Coyotes typically only breed once a year, producing only one litter per year. While they reach sexual maturity at 1 year, most females do not breed until they are two years of age. Litter size ranges from 1-19 depending on resources and pressures. Pre-adult mortality is 40-60%.

Rats? Rats breed multiple times per year and depending on the species, may produce litters every 30-40 days and be sexually mature and start breeding within a couple of months of being born. Litter sizes range from 2-10 with up to 9 litters per year (depending on species, environment, etc.).

So no, coyotes most definitely do not breed like rats.
 
So he stands there, and looks at you, because you are not dangerous to him. If you started hunting them, you would find out pretty quick that once they realize you are dangerous to them (and it won't take long), that they won't just stand there so they can be shot "like fish in a barrel".
Click to expand...

I actually had one sit there and look at me while I was hunting deer in Northern Nevada. He definitely didn't just sit around to be shot, though; soon as I raised my gun to take him he took off running. Didn't get a shot on him after that; a coyote running through waist high sagebrush is not easy to hit (or see, for that matter). They are not stupid. They know when they're being threatened, and they act appropriately.

Actually, I've never been able to shoot one, partially for that reason. And partially because I don't go out of my way to hunt them.
 
Years ago, shortly after I returned from Vietnam, I had gone with a friend and fellow worker out to a remote spot in the Everglades to do some target shooting. As we walked down a trail, he raised his rifle and shot a bird out of the sky without any warning. He was proud of his shot. I was stunned. I asked if he was going to recover the bird to bring it back home to eat. He said no, it was just a target.

That was the last time I did anything with that guy. After seeing lives wasted for I still don't know why, I swore I would never be part of taking a life, human or otherwise unless it was self preservation. Taking an animal life for food, in my opinion, is justifiable...it's a matter of rank on the food chain. But, to take a life simply for sport is not my idea of fun. Taking an animal life if it is threatening life higher up the food chain is also acceptable as long as it is done in defense or preventing the destruction of cattle or domestic animals.

But to simply use an animal, a defenseless animal, for target practice is vile and a waste and is akin to what these worthless gangbangers are doing to themselves during their turf wars. The sad part is innocent civilians get hurt or killed. I would have less compunction killing one of those scum in self defense that I would shooting at a non aggressive animal minding its own business. In this instance, the animal would be the higher of the two on the food chain.
 
If the animal:

Is causing damage to my home or land (woodchucks, wood peckers) actively... not because they're an animal that has potential to.

If the animal carries a high level of disease (such as prairie dogs).

If the animal sees me as lunch

If I see the animal as lunch

Then it's fair game.. otherwise I won't shoot it.
 
I have never shot a coyote but I would if I felt like it. I do not think there is anything wrong with shooting animals just for the sake of sport. Most people only hunt for the sake of sport. I know you can eat the animals but they only kill it themselves for the fun of killing. I am fine with this. As long as we are being good stewards then we are fine. I have friends that shoot ground squirrels by the dozens and it is just for fun. We do not have to eat animals but we do because it gives us enjoyment (meat tastes great). The same is with hunting, we do it cause it is fun. BTW killing an abundance of God's creatures untill they are going extinct is wrong.
 
Well. I am going to sound off.

I used to hunt and hunt a lot. I had no problems killing groundhogs and other pests and had a good time doing it.

I have to say things have changed as I have gotten older.

I have not hunted for a number of years and I was over at Bass Pro watching a video that someone had put together of coyote hunting.

I don't know why, but the video really bothered me.

I can understand killing pests around the home place and am not opposed to hunting or fishing.

It is just one of those things that does nothing for me anymore.

I love the outdoors and punching paper, but taking game is not part of the plan anymore.

Try not to be too harsh. . .ok?
 
Well, hunting game or shooting "pests" as a control measure, either is justified if you engage ethically.

But having fun hunting or shooting for pest control aren't the same thing as shooting an animal for fun.

I also don't consider pest control as Shooting animals for the sake of shooting them.
 
I like to hunt deer, quail,and rabbits. Coyotes like to eat fawns, rabbits, and quail. They also kill beagles occaassionally when they catch them out. House cats also, which isn't necessarily a bad thing but it aggravates my wife. They weren't here until recently.

So, coyotes are persona non grata.
 
44 AMP said:
We used to call them "city hunters", and other less savory names.
Click to expand...

I might be one of those.

I am a city lad. I grew up around people who thought squirrels and pigeons were "nature". I still live in the city and semi-regularly shoot skunks. I have small children and prefer to let them out without worrying about an enormous smelly weasel with rabies biting them. I've shot an irritating crow in town as well.

I also have to note that I did enjoy the challenge of shooting groundhogs out int he country. One had made its home in the ramp of our bank barn in the country. It seemed to know when I didn't have my rifle or had used my ammunition from my morning walk. He would just look at me from his hole. It took months for me to find him sitting, looking around, but not at me and when I had a round left.

Zuk, you just admitted to being regularly outsmarted by a rodent.

It isn't a proud moment.
 
I live in a small rural village in south central Wisconsin and the wildlife abounds here. It is not unusual to see anywhere from 4 to 7 deer make their way across my front lawn on any given day. Or to see numerous small birds, including 3 kinds of woodpeckers, at my bird feeder. Or to see the paw prints of racoons down by my pond. Or the occassional opossum roaming around late at night. I enjoy watching the redtailed hawks that perch in the trees around here and of late there has been a bald headed eagle soaring over the creek across the street.

I have dogs and quite a supply of outside barn cats. I have had to kill a couple of raccoons and a opossum with distemper that threatened my animals. The last opossun I shot was right on my front door step menacing my cats. I do not kill anything simply for the sport of it. If it isn't menacing people, my animals, causing damage, or I am not going to eat it...I don't kill it.

I may be unusual in the fact that I don't enjoy the killing. To me it is a means to an end, protection of life and property, and food. Nothing more. I enjoy the shooting sports, but to say you enjoy killing seems a little twisted to me.
 
I dont care what some of you say, I love killing coyotes and foxes. We shoot as many as we can every year. They are not worth skinning, but there is a bounty on them. I love bird hunting and coyotes and foxes eat alot of them so why not shoot the coyotes?

If it was legal, I would shoot hawks ,owls ,and eagles too cause they also feed on pheasants and chuckars.

I dont just go around killing whatever I can, but its checks and balances. If a place is being overrun with something then it obviously needs hunted and put back in its place.

I hunt the fall and winter to fill the freezer. Then I hunt the rest of the year to protect the land (prairie dogs) and run varmint control with the "dogs" and jackrabbits.

I'm not so good at putting my feelings into words, but this is my feeling. I hope I dont come off as being a major azzhole, cause I'm also against animals suffering if you can believe that.

BTW...I cant help it. I love splattering prairie dogs all over the mound.:D Luckilly I'm protecting the land doing it.
 
If the yote poulation was naturally controlled they would not allow you to hunt them without season or bag limits. I hunt them and all predators for the selling of the hide and to increase the small game numbers. The more predators i kill the more ducks, turkeys, grouse, pheasant, and rabbits there are.
002-1.jpg

030.jpg

006.jpg
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top