Do Progressives/Democrats here on DU hunt or have hunted in the past?

[Upthevibe]

I'm not judging at all. I'm just curious. I realize a lot of it depends on how one grows up (part of the country, family, etc.)

159 votes, 6 passes | Time left: Unlimited
	I've never hunted.
	75 (47%)
	I hunted when I was young but no longer do so
	70 (44%)
	I've hunted all my life and still do
	14 (9%)
	6 DU members did not wish to select any of the options provided.
Show usernames Disclaimer: This is an Internet poll

[Poiuyt]

1. I've never hunted, but I did fish when I was younger

[jimfields33]

34. I never hunted. Never had the opportunity or chance.

However, many of my previous neighbors from Pennsylvania still do. The deer population is exploding. So I’m either for hunting or a different tactic to stop the over population of deer.

[NewHendoLib]

2. Not only never hunted, but never even touched, held or fired a gun.

[Greg_In_SF]

5. Hunting doesn't require the use of a gun.

Many people hunt game to feed their families using bow and arrow.

[NewHendoLib]

6. Same goes for a bow.

[MontanaFarmer]

3. I'm 40 and have hunted every year it's been legal for me to do so.

29 years including this season. I eat what I hunt, I do my best to make clean ethical kills, and I find every emotion on the spectrum to be present at some point during a successful hunt. Joy, sorrow, grief, euphoria, and all points in between.

[myohmy2]

25. " I eat what I hunt,..."

+1...
...

[cilla4progress]

52. You must be familiar with Steve Rinella,

"Meateater"?

[Farmer-Rick]

55. I've hunted all my life

And like you say, I eat what I hunt. I only hunt on my property and it keeps my freezer full. It's a way of reducing my grocery bill.

I let a few other families that aren't real rich to hunt on my property. They also fill their freezers with their hunt. No trophy hunting allowed.

[amerikat]

4. I voted no, but

I shot a groundhog last summer. My garden saves my sanity sometimes.

[niyad]

7. Does hunting for bargains and books count?

[Rorey]

16. I'm going to guess no, and the type of "cat hunting" we do here probably doesn't count either

My daughter and I spent an embarrassing length of time hunting for a cat a couple of days ago. She had made her own little home under the cover we put on the couch to try to keep it from getting covered in cat hair.

[Skittles]

8. I don't hunt, and I've never dated hunters

nope

[Xolodno]

9. I never have, fished, yes, but that's it.

Father, Uncle and Grandfather did. When I was young I wanted to, but then I realized when my father butchered some ducks we had, I never wanted to know how my meal got to my plate. Wife grew up on a farm and she is the same way. We donate to a few animal charities.

My brother in law and his sons hunt and the meat is very much part of their protein intake, they don't make much money. And they take poaching very seriously, reporting any violation they find or hear about. And they don't own semi-automatic rifles, just a standard hunting rifle and lock them up.

Former friend of mine, went pheasant hunting and doesn't take the same care as my brother in law. Nor does he understand why he gets a bit shunned when we belong to a peace religion. Totally clueless.

[COL Mustard]

53. I went hunting a couple of times as a kid

Never actually shot anything. Used to go fishing, mostly with my dad, but don't do that anymore. Just not into inflicting pain on another living thing. I know, the meat I eat didn't grow in the store, and I know I rationalize that away, but that's how I feel about it. I know if I had to slaughter and process my own meat I'd be a vegetarian forever...probably a pastatarian.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

10. Other: I chose to start hunting as an adult, several years ago.

[Silent Type]

11. I read a poll a few years ago that concluded 6% of population hunted at least once a year.

That is not a lot to me, especially when a percent or two probably went on some corporate “hunt,” with plenty of booze and . . . . .

If I had to hunt to eat, I would. Otherwise, no way. I do like hiking unarmed.

[RainCaster]

12. Depends on the interpretation of "hunting"

I do shoot the occasional river otter when it comes to my koi pond. Won't eat it. The deer wander freely through my yard year round, never wanted to do anything except feed them.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

41. what do you do after you shoot the otter

[RainCaster]

50. Clean up the mess

Each time they have left dead and dying koi all around the pond. So I fill a leaf bag with their bodies, add the otter and toss them in the trash.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

69. Don't know about there, but here, we have buzzards.

[Rorey]

13. I have not, BUT....

I've been a vegetarian for decades. Not vegan. I've never pushed my diet choices on my kids or anyone else.

When my youngest son reached the age where he could take the hunter safety course so he could get licenses and hunt, I took him. I learned a lot. One thing that I learned is that if I was ever forced to eat meat, I'd rather it be from an animal who lived a free and natural life than from one that lived it's days getting ready to be slaughtered. We have a lot of feed lots in the northwestern part of my state, and it makes me sick and breaks my heart to know what those animals go through.

I do not judge those who choose to hunt, but I am always hoping that they put in the work and learn how to do it as humanely as they can.

Personally, I've never liked meat. It's just the way I am. I don't judge the omnivores around me.

[TheFarseer]

14. Never hunted

I enjoy shooting guns on the farm when I do it but I do it very rarely.

[Ferrets are Cool]

15. I, thankfully, grew out of that phase of my life. I don't even kill spiders nowadays.

[tavernier]

54. There are more than 200 million insects to every human on the planet

According to the Smithsonian. So feel free to whack the next mosquito that lands on you.

[LakeArenal]

64. We are much the same. Mr Lake did hunt but not all that effectively.

More of a bonding between brothers and fathers for a week.

This critter catcher works perfectly. Even on delicate butterflies and May flies. Not house flies tho as they are too fast. Honest. We don’t own stock or anything.

[madville]

17. Usually get 3 or 4 deer a year

Been hunting my whole life, was brought up doing it with my grandfather, uncle and dad. Venison is about 50% of the meat I eat in any given year, another 20% are fish I catch, the other 25% chicken and maybe 5% is pork on a rare occasion. Don’t even bother to buy beef anymore. We kill/trap a fair number of wild hogs as well but give those away to nearby neighbors who like them.

[ForgedCrank]

21. I still

hunt goose and duck, but dropped deer hunting. I LOVE the meat, but it's a miserable time for me, having to sit still and quiet for hours on end in often miserable weather conditions. Not to mention field dressing a deer and dragging it for a mile through rough terrain isn't my idea of a good time at all. In other words, I'm too lazy.
Still love to fish too.
I did have a question though. We don't have wold hogs in my area so I don't know personally, but I've been told that no one wants to eat it because it is so often diseased. Is this true? A couple of guys I know are from Texas and have made this claim, they won't hunt it for meat. I'm curious what your take is on it.

[madville]

73. The wild hogs here are fine

In North Florida anyway. They’re good, especially smoked, I just don’t care for cleaning them, pretty abundant around here though.

[sarisataka]

18. I selected the closest answer

As I do like to hunt and do so most years. I come home with a picture or two more often than meat, but either way I consider it a successful hunt.

[usonian]

19. I shoot animals and people! WITH A CAMERA.

And I have a “Big Bertha” lens equivalent to 3000 mm.

If I see it, I shoot it, and everyone comes away happier.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

20. I hunted before I joined the Marines,

haven't hunted since I retired but I have zero problem with those that want to hunt as long as they eat what they kill.

[Waterguy]

22. Upthevibe - good question

I did hunt once, as a kid. There I was around adults who really did care about the environment, they respected nature.
For me it was a profound experience, a big plus in my growth for it took me into the woods, experiencing all there is in the natural world.

People might equate gun ownership rights with hunting, but to me that does not make sense.
You could hunt with a bow when hunting with a gun was out of season, because once upon a time, the reason for hunting was about
a sensible approach to controlling the herd of say deer, or even more so having sustenance to survive in order to live.
But it was never a perfect science, there were always the asshole in the bunch, I grew up in Northern, MI, they even had young prostitutes, poor young female kids in the misbegotten little Inns.


Wrong is wrong, and the endeavor of good is just that.

I can say this, you don't need a gun to be a man, or a human being.
And nobody should waste food when there are so many people starving in this world.
And, women should not be objectified so much by our society, I have a good wife,
and I have many great sisters, and a daughter whom I truly do love, and
that much to me is more than evident.!

[Raine]

23. Never have, never will. I love animals too much for

that. 💕 I don't eat meat either.

[Tree Lady]

24. I never hunted but I lived for a short time

when I was 18 in 1974 with some people that hunted.

I was raised by parents that had no guns and hated war. I didn't find out until after my dad died in 2000 that he watched his best friend die in WW2.

My husband has wanted a gun a few times, I refuse. We have never had one.

[multigraincracker]

26. This year I got 2 deer.

Both road kills that were hit in front of my house.
I called the DNR to report it to make it legal and they thanked me.

The deer population has exploded here here in Michigan because of mild winters and fewer hunters. Deer car accidents have gone way up, including deaths to drivers.
The DNR studies the population to scientifically controll the population to help the farmers and drivers.
I go up to deer camp every year, but seldom shoot one and only for the meat. I let big bucks go as they aren’t as tasty and only take sure shots. When I kill one, I field dress it, butcher it myself and eat it all. I never buy pork or beef in the store.

[GoodRaisin]

27. I went hunting with friends once when I was younger and couldn't

pull the trigger when the deer was in my sites. Never went back again.

[hunter]

28. Not in the 21st century, and it's not a family tradition I passed onto my children.

There are far too many people in the wilderness these days and too many of them are idiots with guns.

I think we ought to repopulate what remains of the wilderness with wolves, grizzly bears, cougars, and other predators and leave the hunting to them.

My wife is vegetarian approaching vegan. I'm mostly vegetarian these days.

I don't object to cooking and serving meat to carnivorous relatives, as I did this Christmas.

Reducing our consumption of meat reduces our environmental footprint.

I'm still some kind of hypocrite, however, as we have large dogs we've adopted from the animal shelter. I don't expect them to be vegetarians.

[Elessar Zappa]

82. Most places have more than enough cougars and bears in the habitat

although I wouldn’t object to more wolves.

[AKwannabe]

29. I forage. nt

[Rhiannon12866]

30. I originally learned how to shoot as a kid at summer camp

I went to the rifle range with a couple of my friends and the guns freaked me out, so the riflery counselor stayed late and taught me to shoot since she didn't want me to be afraid of guns. I did pretty well so I kept it up and ended up on two rifle teams, the one at camp was only girls and I was the first and only girl on the one at school.

I also taught younger girls to shoot at camp, but we had strict rules. The campers had to be at least 13 and know and understand a list of rules. And one of our unwritten rules was to never shoot at anything living - and no one ever did.

[._.]

31. Yes, as a kid.

My dad and Uncles took us kids Pheasant hunting often, Rabbit hunting was common as well. We fished a lot too, we had a cabin on the Mississippi river where we spent the summers. It was good.

[Duncanpup]

32. When young growing up in Appalachia

We fish a lot still.

[ms liberty]

33. I grew up deep sea fishing in the Gulf of Mexico practically every weekend

I have never hunted, and would not have married a man who hunted. I am a picky meat eater and game meat is definitely not on my list. The smell of it cooking makes me feel sick.. My husband barely eats any meat at all, lol.
My dad loved to fish, and he took me a lot; this was back in the 60's. He hunted too, both bow and gun, but not very much at all. He maybe went twice that I remember, and I never went with him. His real thing was fishing.

[Shrek]

35. Since I was 12

So not quite my whole life. I'm 60 now.

[Lunabell]

36. I don't have a problem with hunting for food.

Anything else is abhorrent to me. Just for the "trophy" or skin? Nope.

And eew, I hate venison. Nasty stuff.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

44. This part of your post I agree with:

36. I don't have a problem with hunting for food.
Anything else is abhorrent to me. Just for the "trophy" or skin? Nope.

This part I don't:

And eew, I hate venison. Nasty stuff

Venison is very tasty if prepared and cooked properly.
See that? We kinda agree on another topic.

[Lunabell]

46. Honestly?

I've only had it once. By someone who said they knew what they were doing. It's my understanding that you have treat game meat a certain way to remove the funk. But, I don't like goat, goat's milk or goat cheese either, so maybe I just don't like a gamey flavor.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

47. Yeah, its an acquired taste.

Growing up, we learned from our father how to prepare and cook it.
I myself, don't hunt or fish anymore, it seemed pointless to me after I retired, I just don't want to take any more lives, be it human or animal.
Peace out
Daniel.

[Lunabell]

48. My wife is definitely a carnivore.

She even opposes meatless Mondays. I could be vegan/vegetarian and be perfectly happy because I love animals so much. But, cooking two different type meals would be a headache. I do eat way more veggies than she does. And try to get veggie alternatives when eating out. Just a small thing.

[hunter]

61. I'm on the other side of the fence.

I do almost 100% of the cooking in our house and my wife is vegetarian, almost vegan.

I'm generally too lazy to cook separate meals for us. Sometimes, maybe once or twice a month, I'll cook fish for myself, but it's gotten to the point where I actually dislike having any sort of raw meat in my refrigerator.

When I was growing up meat was abundant, mostly ocean fish my dad caught and a lot of other animals I'd seen alive. As a little kid I was fascinated watching my great grandmothers cut up fish, chickens, and other small animals. They were very skilled with knives and their hands moved faster than I could follow.

My great grandmothers were very critical of their daughters who much preferred to buy meat pre-cut and wrapped in paper from the butcher. I learned how to turn dead animals into dinner from my great grandmas and my dad.

When my mom cooked meat for dinner it was usually ground beef from the supermarket. When we weren't eating fish we ate meat loaf. My dad cooked most of the non-ground beef meals.

One of my brothers is the super-cook in our family and my great grandmothers would have respected his skills.

[Oneironaut]

75. Venison you just have to cook right.

It’s described as gamey, but, I’ve had amazing meals of it as well. I’m not big on meat though.

[Voltaire2]

37. Does fishing count?

I’ve done that.

[Oopsie Daisy]

38. I enjoy fishing *

* and that carries a different connotation than the word "hunting," perhaps because there are no firearms involved.

However, I'm aware that some of my less educated rural backwoods relatives will ignite small explosives to fish by killing dozens at a time with a shock-wave, apparently. If I recall, they are able to gather up 2 or 3 from the kill, while the rest float downstream. Stupid.

[mopinko]

39. i never have. never touched a gun. but

my da and his bro hunted small game for the family as kids. he hated it. they shot a momma squirrel once, and my da made his bro help him find the nest, and they took the 4 babies home. i think he was only about 10-11.
2 survived, and were my da’s pals for their whole lives. pretty sure my grandparents had a hella time getting him to do it after that. in fact, pretty sure he got at least 1 beating for it. he didnt talk about that, i’m assuming. but gramps was a hard man.

my da was a sweet man, and a sucker for animals. i was his shining star in no small part cuz i shared that w him. (that and the part where he saw me as his last hopes for a doc in the family.)

ftr, tho. i have butchered and eaten my own chickens.

[dameatball]

40. I own guns but do not hunt.

[Emile]

43. Back when I was young I enjoyed hunting with dogs.

I had a little beagle for rabbits and a lab for birds. I had a Black & Tan coon hound for awhile in the 70's. The older I got, the less I liked to kill. I haven't hunted anything in the past 30 years.

[ProfessorGAC]

45. Never Hunted

Fished once at around 15 years old.
Neither of them are my kind of thing.

[doc03]

49. I did up until about 25 years ago. There were very few places you could hunt

except for public hunting areas. The state of Ohio was to blame for that by requiring written permission from
the land owner. Few landowners will sign the permission thinking it will open them up for a lawsuit. I just came to the point I
didn't like killing animals any more either.

[Fichefinder]

51. I went from hunting to fishing because fish don't scream when you kill them

[JustAnotherGen]

56. One buck

Two bunnies, 1 opossum - never again.

I grew up in a hunting house and my husband is a hunter.

Hunting/Shooting, field dressing, preserving - we were taught that by my parents and how to properly dry a skin.

My dad was a Cold Warrior and raised us to survive in the Mountains in case the Russians or Chinese ever invaded.

[Turbineguy]

57. I hunted once.

For quail. With a .22 single shot rifle. No birds were hurt. We had spaghetti for dinner.

[eallen]

58. In interpreting the results, keep in mind that 6% of Americans hunt

Link below goes to one survey on that. If it turns out the fraction is higher in this survey, that does not mean Democrats are more likely to hunt. It might just mean that respondents are. Or that participants in internet political forums are. Or just fluke, given the lax nature of surveys here.

See? It gets tricky, quickly.



https://deltawaterfowl.org/national-survey-says-6-of-americans-hunt/

[TreasonousBastard]

59. I have occasionally hunted in the past when a group...

decided to, but never actually had any urge to kill.
Owls and cougars make enough of a mess around here.

To say nothing of mass murders and auto accidents.

[TreasonousBastard]

60. Occasionally, when the group...

decided to, but never actually had any urge to kill.
Owls and cougars make enough of a mess around here.

To say nothing of mass murders and auto accidents.

[WarGamer]

62. I have... as a pre-teen but became uncomfortable with it quickly and have no interest now.

[Paladin]

63. I shot my last deer, around 30 years ago.

It was a handsome 8-pointer, taken in the Texas Hill Country. I walked up to the buck, took one look, and inadvertently thought: He looked better alive than dead.

I figured my hunting life was over at that point, and such was the case.

[Jokerman]

65. My dad thought it was important to teach me survival skills.

I was raised around guns. Hunting, fishing, and camping were normal parts of life. I never enjoyed killing things so as soon as I was old enough to say no, I did.

I did gain skills, confidence, and problem-solving abilities but it just wasn't for me.

[aocommunalpunch]

66. Hunting is a pastime for our extended family.

I did a lot of it when I was a kid. I enjoyed the time I got to spend with my dad, uncles, and grandfather. There was a lot of early-ass mornings, shit coffee, reloading shotgun shells, dog training, waiting for nothing to happen, dragging boats across dikes and through nasty swamp water, and finally more waiting for nothing to happen. Occasionally, a duck would fly past for me to miss with my shot. Dad is a much better shot and we ate wild game all the time.

All that being said, I couldn't wait to not hunt again. It's a ton of fun for other people. I find it something to tolerate at best. I have such more enjoyable hobbies. This has caused me a lot of guilt over the years, since my dad tried his best to instill the experience as enjoyable, but the outdoor bug didn't strike me, brother, nor sister. I'm such a lib these days that I apologized to the worms I used as bait a few years ago while fishing with Dad. lol

[HeartachesNhangovers]

67. I voted "Hunted all my life / Still do" . I'm a 62 year-old Latino conservative Democrat & lifelong city-slicker.

I grew up and lived until retirement on the California west coast. My family (from Mexico) has no hunting tradition. I started out fishing in the ocean as a kid, then started hunting deer/pigs/turkeys after I met some hunters at college (still on the CA coast) and continued that for decades, then retired to SW Washington, stopped hunting land animals and kept fish hunting.

I hunted mostly to socialize. Hunting involved getting up way before dawn, driving a long ways, hiking in the dark, sometimes sitting still for hours at a time, usually with no animal killed. Then there was the hassle and cost of researching rules & regs and hunting locations, buying licenses, tags, specialized clothing and boots, bows, arrows, rifles, optics, ammunition, and the need to practice almost daily for bow-hunting and regularly for firearm hunting. The big benefit, besides the camaraderie, was the exercise involved in hiking in and out of rugged terrain, which describes most of the public land in California. After moving to Washington I sold or gave away my bows and the handguns, rifles & shotguns that were designed for hunting.

Fishing is a lot less complicated and still gets me out in nature.

[Quixote1818]

68. I don't hunt, but because the eco system is off balance, hunting is needed to keep some populations in check.

There aren't enough predators to keep deer populations in check for one thing.

[JCMach1]

70. Unfortunately, nature is so out of balance in most places

Hunters are needed to control some animal populations.

[TexasBushwhacker]

71. I don't have a problem with people hunting deer

for meat. I don't even care if they put their head on the wall. I find trophy hunters abhorrent though. I had a boss that was a big game hunter and would spend thousands of dollars to go to Africa and hunt big game. He had animal heads on every wall in his house. I called it the "dead zoo".

[Dulcinea]

78. Me neither.

My family is full of hunters. My uncle had 4 kids & fed them on venison & fish he caught throughout the winter. I don't see the attraction, but to each their own.

[Kaleva]

72. I hunted in name only when I was young

I wandered around the woods, enjoyed the scenery, but had no real intention of killing anything. However, growing up on a farm, I have killed many animals starting at a young age. Either for food or a pet that has to be put down.

If I have to kill again for food or mercy, I'll do it but I don't like it. Fishing is a job, acquiring food, and not a sport for me.

[petronius]

74. Does spearfishing count as hunting?

[snpsmom]

76. Did not hunt as a young person

but I do now. Here’s my reasoning: cafos are evil, and the deer that I kill are living their lives in the best way possible until the moment they die. Also, I am completely aware of my responsibility for the death of the animal, which is not the case for those who purchase packaged meat in grocery stores.

[sakabatou]

77. Never hunted. Tried fishing once, failed to catch anything.

[Runningdawg]

79. I have hunted, but my real talent is dressing out and preserving. You shoot or trap, I clean. Frogs, good, no turtle.

[BlueTsunami2018]

80. I'm a city guy, I've never had the need or desire to hunt.

I have four butcher shops within walking distance, you know? It’s not something that was ever a part of my culture.

I’ve nothing against hunting for the table and if I had to I’m sure I could but it just doesn’t seem like a pleasant experience to me.

[Elessar Zappa]

81. I hunted when I was young but no longer do.

I can’t bear to kill anything now but I have no moral high ground because I eat factory-farmed meat from animals with far worse quality of life compared to wild animals. I’m certainly not against regulated, responsible hunting, as long as the meat is eaten.

[ExWhoDoesntCare]

83. I haven't. Not directly.

My grand-da and uncles were all quite liberal and yet very good hunters; however, it was always subsistence hunting with them, never sports hunting. They hunted to eat, not for sadism or as a penile substitute.

I will say that I did go hunting with my grand-da the fall and winter I was 8-9, but I was too young at the time to handle a gun. He brought me along to teach me other parts of hunting, like tracking animals, how to get upwind of a target without making a sound--stuff like that. I did take a gun safety course the following summer to prepare for the first real hunting trip, but he became terminally ill before the fall.

I was actually relieved that it never came to doing the actual killing. I was learning how to hunt out of duty, to be able to provide for the family table if absolutely necessary, but my heart wasn't really in it beyond that. I knew better than to get upset in front of him about the animals he took down, but I was in reality far too soft-hearted to do that myself without a v good reason for it.

[applegrove]

84. The people who I know who hunted ate what they killed.

That is a nicer life than a cow.