Why do you hunt?

Thanks again everybody for all the great replies. I really enjoyed the reading, and you have drastically changed my thinking about hunting. Like I said before, I have NEVER been against hunting whatsoever, but did not fully understand the need to hunt, or all the reasons why. Now I'm really thinking I'd like to take up hunting in the future, large game included!
 
Let me leave you with a passing tidbit.

Why do you think that there is game to hunt? It is only because of the hunters. Hunters buy licenses. They are the game conservationists. They pay the way. They buy the "stuff" which pays the excise taxes. They fund the state fish and game departments.

If you put this all together, it is the hunter who manages the herd so that there will be more and better animals next year. If it were left up to the "conservationists and environmentalists" you wouldnt have an animal left. Remember the Kaibab. That is an example of their work. 30,000 deer perished because of that.
 
The Kaibab Deer Investigating Committee recommended that all livestock not owned by local residents be removed immediately from the range and that the number of deer be cut in half as quickly as possible. Hunting was reopened, and during the fall of 1924, 675 deer were killed by hunters. However, these deer represented only one-tenth the number of deer that had been born that spring. Over the next two winters, it is estimated that 60,000 deer starved to death.
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You may have underestimated WC.
 
I haven't been hunting very long. I've never felt as part of the wilderness than when hunting. I literally want to roll around the ground and be consumed and part of nature. And after the scouting and hiking straight up that ridge one more time, I absolutely relish the experience of leaning against that stump, in 34degree rain, holding dead still for 3 hours or more, knowing that any moment, something amazing... is gonna happen... any... moment... now...

BV
 
Let me be the first to welcome you to TFL, BadVegetarian! :D

Your screen name reminds me of another important reason for hunting. Venison and other natural foods have a lot of the "good" nutrients such as Omega 3 fatty acids and fewer of the bad ones than corn-fed beef. That is very important in this age of trans fats and cholesterol.
 
Two simple reasons:

1. I've seen some amazing things while hunting. I doubt I'd find myself in the middle of a wetland at 4:30AM just to see thousands of birds flying around, and a gorgeous sunrise. However, provided an opportunity to hunt, I'll see that every time. I like to tell people that in eight hours of hunting, only 10 seconds is killing. The rest is everything else.

2. Power Food - Last weekend I roasted a pig that I shot. Sauteed Chard from my garden, and had beer from (well, I must admit that it came from Oregon). I had my dad over for lunch. It was awesome. The best thing I've ever eaten. I truly enjoy knowing that I hunted and gathered. It tastes all the better.

I'm reminded of an expression, "the only difference between you and me is that you contract out your murder. I do it myself."

Cheers.
 
For the adventure. And for my love of the awesome wildernes and encountering wildlife. Also the reward of fresh venison is pretty nice.
If you have ever sat on a mountain top after spending the morning hiking in. And watched the sun come up as you sit there with your rifle. The wilderness coming to life around you. Its an awesome feeling. Then as the day goes on. Exploring. The things you encounter. The sceanery. The anticipation. The hunt. I would live my whole life that way if only I could afford it lol. :)
 
I didn't read a single reply

So my response, cleansed of prior iniput; I hunt to show my children a process for maintenance and survival. Skills are built upon knowledge and practical implimentation. We do not need meat; we can purchase it at a store for less than it costs us to hunt it. We need the knowledge of the acquisition of meat if the store is no longer available. I think it is a requirement for men to understand that they have the ability to provide; this includes beyond the classic economic failure scenario. If iteotwawki, then we must eat.

and wild boar, when prepared correctly, and cooked with the proper recipes, is outstanding eating. I know that it violates the old cloven hooves/chewin' cud deal, but so does scotch and guiness.

I also recommend that we all learn to brew our own beer...
 
My two grandfathers taught me one very valuable lesson about hunting through two very different medians. Both lived in Wisconsin where game was plentiful. Both hunted for different reasons. Both insisted "If you shoot it, you eat it".
Grandad #1 lived in a big city and hunted for sport. A time for him, his sons, and his buddies to gather, bond, and test their preditory skills. He would practice often to make sure he was at the top of his game (no punn intended).
Grandad #2 lived on a farm and hunted out of necessity; to put food on the table. He, in contrast, saw nothing sporting about it. He only saw a means to suppliment his food source. Both maintained that nothing was to be wasted and would not hunt just to kill.
I hunt today hoping to live up to their standards. Eat what you take and do it in a sporting manner. I have in turn passed these standards on to my children and in time to my grandchildren.
 
I haven't hunted in probably more than 20 years. My wife and kids would probably disown me if I did (that wouldn't be such a bad thing sometimes), but what I recall the most were the experiences of some of the trips (none very far) and taking squirrels and an occasional rabbit to my grandmother who would help me skin them and stew them and we would eat dinner together. She was a great cook, bless her soul. (My mother didn't know how/wouldn't have anything to do with the process). I look back at those memories very fondly.

I don't remember most days on the shooting range, but I think I can recall every time out hunting.
 
I hunt to kill. No offense intended but anyone that says anything else is not being honest with you or themselves. They are also do hunting a dis-service by the BS reasons we are trained to spout in this PC world.

If I want food its heck of a lot cheaper to buy it or raise it. If it's the thrill/challenge of the chase, take a camera. Need to spend time with freinds and family? take up golf or poker. Want to spend time with nature? take up bird watching or canoeing. You can get all of these reasons that we (hunters) use to hunt but one. THE KILL! It's part of the game, a big part. If we didn't enjoy it there is no reason to hunt. All of the other reasons can be fullfilled by other means.

There is nothing wrong with saying you do it for killing. It's who we are. It's who we should be. You don't see a fox make exceses for killing every chicken in the hen house do you. Why do we?

LK
 
Food:rolleyes: I like deer more than beef, wild turkey over store bought crap, and other wild game that you can only get as "delicacy" items on the menu at restraunts (sp) for outrageous prices.

The more I put in the freezer myself, the less I have to spend at the freakin' grocery store.:)
 
If I want food its heck of a lot cheaper to buy it or raise it.
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So everyone has the land to raise deer, wild turkey ect.? Not hardly.

There is nothing wrong with saying you do it for killing.
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I respectfully disagree, If you're not going to eat it, it's wrong to kill it just because you want to.

I've seen deer laying in the woods that someone just "wanted to kill". It's waste of good meat, and a bad reflection on other hunters...not to mention a waste of wild animals for no other reason than to satisfy someone's ego for killing.
 
I dont frequantly hunt any more.

Recently, I am offered a chance to hunt blue bull (nilgai) and a wild buffalo spring next year. I am in process of buying rifles and ammo and gear. I will purchase the permit sometimes this fall.

That said I am in process of preparing for hunt like a zombie. I mean even though I am getting ready mentally, my heart is not in it. I just dont feel comfortable killing something/one who has done me no harm.

The only motivation that is keeping me to move forward is that I will eat these animals and so will quite a few other folks. It wont go to waste.

Another part me wants to hunt leapords in Gilgit mountains near Kashmir. But something is stopping me. This hunt is purely challenge. Well may be I will locate the animal and intentionally fire off target. Just so that I know I could have if I want to:) I need to understand the value of a life, may it be a human or an innocent wild life. Ok, I wont do it. Its just wrong to kill for sake of killing. Thats the basic difference between being human or an animal.

It probablly does not make any sense but as I grow older and have kids, I am less and less of a hunter.
 
An anti at work today came up and told me that she was ashamed that I'd go out hunting an innocent bear. Et cetera. So I told her about the habit black bear boars have of killing and eating the cubs to force the sows back into heat. She stopped, thought about it a minute and said, "Oh, I didn't know about that." So now I have her blessing to go back next year. :)
 
I hunt because I love it.I eat what I take.

I have never hunted to kill.I always feel bad about killing whether fish,game or predator destroying my stock.I hunt because I like to hunt.I kill because I like to eat it.When I kill game,I feel the exact same way I have felt every time I killed the hog,cow,goose,turkey,chicken,rabbit or duck that I raised to eat.I have never felt "Buck Fever"or proud or a urge to brag.I do not understand it or trophy hunting or fishing.You have to kill it and butcher it to eat it.Killing and butchering are both a necessary evil that I feel the same about.I have no use for anyone who kills needlessly or just to kill.Killing is a necessary part of life.

I have the same lack of understanding of people who like to kill people.I have no scruples about killing people when absolutely necessary,but I do not like killing in any form.In fact,I avoid it and would always rather others took the shot or caught the fish.Now I know of nothing that I would not kill,for my right reasons.Food,defense,protection and duty have always been my reasons.I never remember killing in anger.I have regretfully killed in a reflex action from insects to mammals.Heck,everything that I ever killed was regretfully.

The military trained me to and believed that I would kill anyone or any thing if I thought it necessary.If they had not,I would not have been allowed access to or guard Nuclear weapons.I was fully prepaid to do my part to fire all of our weapons knowing that they would kill millions of men,women and children.I did not have to like it.

I honestly believe that those who like to kill are sick and need help.I also see nothing sportsman like in taking every advantage one can afford to kill fish or game and call it a sport.It is as sporting as killing a pen raised animal in my belief.When that animal has a equal chance of taking you,it is sport.

It would not be sporting or fair to the bear for me to bait a Kodiak bear with a can of Sardines in my left hand and kill it with a knife in my right hand.If I were healthy it would be fair.Being that I am terminally ill,it would not be fair to the bear.It would also be baiting and unfair for me to ride in my wheelchair with a rifle and shoot any bear who attacked.Bears can smell out the dying and have fed on it for eternity.It would only be unnatural if I were not attacked.The Boar bear that I stared down at 10 feet in the Smoky mountains 28 years ago would attack me now.alfred
 
Hunting is a lifestyle handed down to me by my father and grandfather. To me, it is a life-long lesson in being a responsible steward of the land and creatures we're given and giving back whenever possible. It's about respect and nature and spirituality... but it's also about meat and the satisfaction of bringing down a tasty trophy with a single well-placed projectile as a result of years of experience and seasons without the payoff of a filled tag.

It's about the sights and sounds and smells of the woods... birdwatching and laughing at the squirrel that realizes he's within spitting distance a little too late and learning a little more about the way the world worked without you for centuries before you came to sit in your stand on a cool, crisp autumn morning.

It's about the purest thing I've ever known and I'll hopefully teach my kid all about it someday.
 
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