Hey im obviously new to thefiringline, so as my first post I would like to ask a question that i've always wanted to ask more experienced hunters. I am currently 18, and someday i'd like to go deer hunting, when I get the proper rifle to do so. From what i've heard, it seems pretty fun... but at the same time I have a little too much sympathy for animals I guess. My grandfather always told me that its actually better for the deer to kill it, because otherwise it could likely starve to death during the NH winters. I am not sure how true this is, but could somebody give me some reasons why its good to hunt deer, so I can feel a little better if I ever went hunting maybe? Thanks
Would like to deer hunt someday... but need advice
- Thread starter SC4006
- Start date
10Ringmagic
New member
They are very tasty!
Sorry I cannot answer your question. Hunting was something that was in my "blood." I enjoyed the scouting, hunting and eating of the meat, plus the outdoors.
If I had felt as you do I would not have hunted, and maybe you shouldn't also. In today's environment there are few places in the US where deer are so plentiful on public land that they need to be thinned by hunters. There are always enough hunters that like to hunt so that you need not concern yourself that you have a duty to do it.However, if there are some places that might help you, but if you don't want to kill an animal then choose another sport.
Jerry
If I had felt as you do I would not have hunted, and maybe you shouldn't also. In today's environment there are few places in the US where deer are so plentiful on public land that they need to be thinned by hunters. There are always enough hunters that like to hunt so that you need not concern yourself that you have a duty to do it.However, if there are some places that might help you, but if you don't want to kill an animal then choose another sport.
Jerry
Art Eatman
Staff in Memoriam
Even if you don't shoot, it's fun to learn how to go out and play with Bambi. Remember, he practices being a deer for 365 days a year. He's pretty good at it. My favorite game was finding the biggest buck in the pasture. That means you have to find and look over a bunch of deer--who aren't interested at all in ensuring your success. So, then, having identified the biggest buck, if you want to go to eating him, ya gotta find him a second time.
Most really-shootable bucks figure that having been seen once is once too many times. Finding Ol' Bucky the second time is what proves out a hunter.
There are lots of little tricks to watching wildlife besides just sitting and imitating a stump--which for some folks isn't all that easy itself. Sneaky-snake walking hunting, still hunting as some call it, means learning how to walk silently. How to sorta flow, rather than march. You get to where you can ease up fairly close to any wild animal, humans don't stand a chance.
Heck, you can always hunt with a camera. It takes just as much skill--or maybe more--than heading out to shoot something.
Most really-shootable bucks figure that having been seen once is once too many times. Finding Ol' Bucky the second time is what proves out a hunter.
There are lots of little tricks to watching wildlife besides just sitting and imitating a stump--which for some folks isn't all that easy itself. Sneaky-snake walking hunting, still hunting as some call it, means learning how to walk silently. How to sorta flow, rather than march. You get to where you can ease up fairly close to any wild animal, humans don't stand a chance.
Heck, you can always hunt with a camera. It takes just as much skill--or maybe more--than heading out to shoot something.
warbirdlover
New member
To overcome my early reluctance to shoot a deer I decided to use enough gun to kill it very quickly and humanely. I've found a .300 Win Mag and a .270 Win kills them instantly and they don't know what hit them.
The TV shows all show them running off after the shot. I NEVER find this to happen. Mine have always dropped on the spot. And I've shot dozens and dozens of deer. Of course I always hit them in the lungs/heart or sometimes the neck if that's the only shot I have.
Just a thought for you.
The TV shows all show them running off after the shot. I NEVER find this to happen. Mine have always dropped on the spot. And I've shot dozens and dozens of deer. Of course I always hit them in the lungs/heart or sometimes the neck if that's the only shot I have.
Just a thought for you.
Art Eatman
Staff in Memoriam
Always remember that only the hunter or the gardener provides his own food. Everybody else hires somebody to do the scut work for them--even the hunter when he goes to the grocery.
I note in passing that Texas juries have been harsher on the person who hires a murderer than they are on the guy who actually did the shooting. It's a moral thing.
Do-it-yourselfers are of higher moral value. I guess wrt hunting it's a self-sufficiency thing.
I note in passing that Texas juries have been harsher on the person who hires a murderer than they are on the guy who actually did the shooting. It's a moral thing.
Do-it-yourselfers are of higher moral value. I guess wrt hunting it's a self-sufficiency thing.There is difference between harvesting, killing and hunting an animal.
One early morning couple months ago my neighbor saw a hog in the back part of his property and he was running low on meat so he got his rifle and went out to the 2nd floor porch and shot the hog while still in his pajamas. He harvested that animal for meat. There was no sports to it, just harvesting some animal for meat just like going to supermarket or out to the corn field to pick some corn for dinner.
Couple miles north of me is a farmer who's crop occasionally gets destroyed by hogs. Couple times a year he will set up on his field at night and shoot as many hogs as possible. Not unusual for him to kill a dozen hogs in single night.
I guess if you never hunted you couldn't understand the "sport" of hunting.
There is a lot more to hunting sport than pulling the trigger and killing an animal. Actually the killing the game is very small part of hunting. The thrill comes from learning and understanding your game and the field, learning to master your weapon of choice and respecting the animal you kill and eat. For me, the stalking and getting the animal within your kill sight is the best part of the sport. And as we say around here, the real work comes after your animal is killed when you have to haul him out and skin, gut and process the meat.
Also, it's okay to go hunt and not pull the trigger. Some of my best hunts were with young kids who couldn't sit still and stay quiet for more than 5 minutes. We may not get a shot but those kids have the best time in the world and will remember the hunt for many years.
One early morning couple months ago my neighbor saw a hog in the back part of his property and he was running low on meat so he got his rifle and went out to the 2nd floor porch and shot the hog while still in his pajamas. He harvested that animal for meat. There was no sports to it, just harvesting some animal for meat just like going to supermarket or out to the corn field to pick some corn for dinner.
Couple miles north of me is a farmer who's crop occasionally gets destroyed by hogs. Couple times a year he will set up on his field at night and shoot as many hogs as possible. Not unusual for him to kill a dozen hogs in single night.
I guess if you never hunted you couldn't understand the "sport" of hunting.
There is a lot more to hunting sport than pulling the trigger and killing an animal. Actually the killing the game is very small part of hunting. The thrill comes from learning and understanding your game and the field, learning to master your weapon of choice and respecting the animal you kill and eat. For me, the stalking and getting the animal within your kill sight is the best part of the sport. And as we say around here, the real work comes after your animal is killed when you have to haul him out and skin, gut and process the meat.
Also, it's okay to go hunt and not pull the trigger. Some of my best hunts were with young kids who couldn't sit still and stay quiet for more than 5 minutes. We may not get a shot but those kids have the best time in the world and will remember the hunt for many years.
It's the shots I didn't take that I remember the most. Not for the sense of loss but for the sense of wonder that I made the decision to not take the shot. For me, the hunt is over once the crosshairs settle on the animal. I could just as easily be clicking a shutter as tripping a sear.
That said, there is all kinds of hunting. We've got a rule (for example) on our lease that all feral hogs are to be shot on sight, even if it ruins your hunting for the day. I don't consider shooting hogs to be hunting, even though hogs may well be the smartest animals in the timber. Hogs are something we deal with, not hunt for sport.
That said, there is all kinds of hunting. We've got a rule (for example) on our lease that all feral hogs are to be shot on sight, even if it ruins your hunting for the day. I don't consider shooting hogs to be hunting, even though hogs may well be the smartest animals in the timber. Hogs are something we deal with, not hunt for sport.
dieselbeef
New member
after ya kill it..ya gotta clean and process it...why i dont hunt anymore...lazy
I wish some of you hunters would visit my neck of the woods here in Oregon.. I can count (no exaggeration) at least 50-80 deer, solitary males or in pairs and herds of does 3-10 in each. And that's just on the two mile county road I drive to work on each morning!
If you need some reasons to shoot them.. Around here they cause (again on my two mile county road) at least an accident a week. Which has led my deer-loving neighbors petitioning the city to erect stop signs at every driveway.. And now they're trying to have speed-bumps added.. To save the deer
Of course these same neighbors feed them too.. Even though these deer will eat every green thing in your yard. They're horrible pests.
The measure is not the kill.
You want us to tell you why you should shoot an animal and feel good about it. ....
No one but you can make that measure. I can't say that I ever feel good about any kill. Instead there is a feeling of satisfaction that I have done my best on a particular hunt. If I broke it down to the kill level and it's success, I would have hung it up a long time ago.
By my measure, hunting is not a "sport" instead, it's a way of life. It's a total picture of preperation, learning outdoor and shooting skills. Knowing abut the game you hunt, cleaning and cooking. It's also about demonstrating responsible and ethical hunting.
I teach Hunter Safety for the state, mostly at the M/L station. I also teach hunting ethics. I don't promote hunting nor glorify firearms. Some students are surprised when I tell them that they don't have to kill animals nor shoot any firearm. But if you do, then do it in a responsible manner. ...
It's private, personal and entirely your call ....
Be Safe !!!
You want us to tell you why you should shoot an animal and feel good about it. ....
No one but you can make that measure. I can't say that I ever feel good about any kill. Instead there is a feeling of satisfaction that I have done my best on a particular hunt. If I broke it down to the kill level and it's success, I would have hung it up a long time ago.
By my measure, hunting is not a "sport" instead, it's a way of life. It's a total picture of preperation, learning outdoor and shooting skills. Knowing abut the game you hunt, cleaning and cooking. It's also about demonstrating responsible and ethical hunting.
I teach Hunter Safety for the state, mostly at the M/L station. I also teach hunting ethics. I don't promote hunting nor glorify firearms. Some students are surprised when I tell them that they don't have to kill animals nor shoot any firearm. But if you do, then do it in a responsible manner. ...
It's private, personal and entirely your call ....
Be Safe !!!
oneounceload
Moderator
And it can be done year-round!
Remember - there is a difference between "hunting" and "killing", just like there is a difference between "fishing" and "catching"
The "hunt" is the prelude to the killing part, one being successful at the first part does not guarantee or even mean you get to do the second part. There are many times I have passed on taking a shot because the situation wasn't right.
I also learned hunting out West, so to ME, "hunting" means actually going after the animal in their backyard, tracking them, spotting and stalking, and trying to get within range for a shot - not sitting in a tree waiting for them to come to some bait plot of food I planted - yes it's legal in a lot of states, and yes I'll catch flack for saying it, but to me - sitting in a tree is "deer waiting", there is no hunting as you are not involved in "fair chase" JMO,YMMV
buck460XVR
New member
SC4006...I believe in NH, before you can buy a hunting license, you must take a hunter education course. This course not only teaches gun/firearm safety, but also hunting tactics, hunter ethics, Wildlife management, game recovery and care. This would be a good place to get some of the answers to your questions along with some hands on experience. It also would be a good place to find out if there are any new hunter mentoring programs in your area. Not only for deer, but for turkey and small game. Many states give youth and first time adult hunters special seasons and or tags, and private organizations like Whitetails Forever and the NWTF have experienced hunters that get as much thrill outta mentoring a new hunter on their first hunt as hunting themselves. The hunting of small game and turkey in many ways is similar to hunting deer and many times just as exciting and gratifying.
Jack O'Conner
New member
Here is a good book to get you started:
MODERN Hunting with Indian Secrets. Try amazon.
Jack
MODERN Hunting with Indian Secrets. Try amazon.
Jack
gaseousclay
New member
what your grandfather said is partly true. deer hunting is necessary to prevent overpopulation. when overpopulation occurs, resources become more scarce and then starvation sets in. hunting helps keep a healthy balance. I don't know if you've taken a firearms safety course through your local DNR but I would recommend it as you'll learn not only about firearm safety but about conservation which is what hunting is really about.
as for having sympathy for animals, it's understandable. My interest in guns and hunting started two years ago. I read up on it, bought a rifle, took my firearms safety course through the DNR and I still haven't gone hunting yet. I ask myself the same question - do I have it in me to kill a deer? the answer, yes. why? the first being that hunting does seem like fun. second, hunting is about being in the outdoors for me and not about whether or not you take a deer. with that said, I would only hunt for the meat and likely share it with friends and family, or donate it to a food shelf. I know i'll probably be a nervous wreck my first time out but don't let the killing part get to you. so long as you take the deer quickly and humanely then you're doing no wrong imo
fatwhiteboy
New member
The best place to learn how to shoot and live in the woods is to join the military. Enlist in the Army, go infantry. If you find that you like it, you can go to Airborne School and if you really like it, you can go to Ranger school. It will teach you discipline, self-respect and leadership. These are traits that will help you in the future. You don't have to make a career out of it but it is there if you want it. Marines are good working in the woods, as are some jobs in the Air Force.
Art Eatman
Staff in Memoriam
I grew up shooting rifles, from around age seven. I just took it for granted that I was supposed to make one-shot kills. And, truth be told, I have a rather high "batting average" at it.
For me, one part of the joy of hunting is finding a good buck, outwitting him, maybe. Learn enough about deer so I can figure out where Ol' Bucky is most likely bedded down, or what trail he's likely to use in his wandering from here to there.
Or maybe kick him out of bed, mid-day, look him over, and kill him. The drawback, then, for a lazy fella is that the fun is over and the work begins. However, that work leads to some good-tasting meat.
So, all in all, I feel good when I shoot. I've done all the intellectual stuff about finding Bambi, and the physical stuff about proper sight picture and precise shot placement. Bang, whop, plop. What's not to like?
For me, one part of the joy of hunting is finding a good buck, outwitting him, maybe. Learn enough about deer so I can figure out where Ol' Bucky is most likely bedded down, or what trail he's likely to use in his wandering from here to there.
Or maybe kick him out of bed, mid-day, look him over, and kill him. The drawback, then, for a lazy fella is that the fun is over and the work begins. However, that work leads to some good-tasting meat.
So, all in all, I feel good when I shoot. I've done all the intellectual stuff about finding Bambi, and the physical stuff about proper sight picture and precise shot placement. Bang, whop, plop. What's not to like?