What's your opinion of people who hunt and kill non-endangered animals for fun, as opposed to for food?

[Nye Bevan]

25 votes, 1 pass | Time left: Unlimited
	Disgusting
	21 (84%)
	I wouldn't do it myself, but have no problem with others doing it
	3 (12%)
	Acceptable
	1 (4%)
	I do it myself
	0 (0%)
	1 DU member did not wish to select any of the options provided.
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[MADem]

1. Where's the "What a bunch of assholes" option?

That's a notch or two above the simple "disgusting...!"

[TreasonousBastard]

2. Some TV show years ago had one of the characters...

mention the difference between "the thrill of the hunt" and "the kick in killing."

[Iggo]

3. One person has no problem with people who kill for fun? Well okay then!

[DawgHouse]

4. I've never quite understood the "sport" of hunting.

I think that children have to be taught to enjoy it.

I remember the first time my eldest son went frog gigging. He was a little guy, all excited about it until they got out in the dark and he realized they were going to "gig" the frogs. Seems he though frog gigging meant catching frogs!

Ex husband ended up coming back to the house early with a pet bull frog in hand.

JMHO -

[Arugula Latte]

5. Disgusting scumbags who deserve a karmic backfire.

[OriginalGeek]

6. I am a pretty liberal live and let live guy

but if I were king i would ban all sport hunting.

Because it's live and not let live.

[Charles de Gaudless]

7. Let's revive the Roman Coloseum

Unarmed dentists vs. lions.

[Vinca]

8. I don't understand the mindset of trophy hunters.

After it's over and they're sitting in their den in the easy chair staring at the corpse of some poor dead giraffe or lion or bear or whatever, what do they think? I'm a big, tough guy? The trophies are worth a pile of cash? What? It would feel like a funeral parlor to me.

[Eleanors38]

9. I kill for food, and I enjoy hunting. So I can't vote in this.

I have no particular interest in killing the animal, but if you hunt, that is part of it. And if you hunt successfully, it is quite enjoyable. You get to see up front what the web of life is about and your role in it. We all kill to eat. Hunting allows you to experience how it is done and what you feel like during the whole process. There is skill in stalkimg, still-hunting, or merely posting up in the right spot. There is skill in shot placement to minimize agony for the animal, and to assure the deer goes down quickly. There is skill in watching a deer run, noting landmarks, and tracking if necessary.

And there is work. To field dressdress (taking out the insides), toting the animal to your camp/lodge, hoisting, skinning, cleaning, quartering and icing down. To say nothing of your own countertop butchering.

We shouldn't confuse the pleasure of hunting with some typically American puritanical sin. Are there people who enjoy cruelty or sadism? Yes, and you will find them in other walks of life. Few people labor under this peculiar emotion, yet enjoy the hunt. I recommend others give it a try and see what you learn about that most fundamental element of human consciousness: You have to kill in order to survive.

[kwolf68]

14. Largely I have no problem with your take

I DID hunt, but can't stand it. It just sickens me. The real reason I am like this? I was ALONE on most of my first hunts. I hunted alone in the woods behind my house...killed animals and it was just them and me. There was no web of life there, just me extinguishing life.

NOW, had my dad, 10 of his friends and 10 other kids my age been on hand to rally behind me, cheer he's the jolly good fella then I'd have probably been desensitized to it and could probably kill anything to this day.

At least my dad respected my decision. He noticed I started missing kills I could easily take. He knew I was done for hunting and we ended the ritual. I think he also soured on the taste of hunting having told me a story about a shot of his that severed a deer's spinal column and she was struggling like hell and he was desperate to get off the kill shot to limit her misery.

He hunted, he still hunted, he respected the rules, and he subsidized our groceries with these kills. He didn't get sadistic pleasure out of the hunt. He enjoyed it, wasn't a nut over it, but was something he/we did. My dad too would eventually quit hunting under the auspices that he just didn't like the cold anymore.

In short, I hold no ill will toward people who hunt sustainability and ethically, but it's not for everyone.

[Eleanors38]

19. Fair enough!

[IcyPeas]

16. sorry, don't understand how killing can be "enjoyable"

it's barbaric.

[Eleanors38]

20. Well, there is the act of killing during an enjoyable hunt...

that act itself does not seem enjoyable. You feelings are heightened, your heart beat is up, you are ready to act, but there is just too much going on for me to declaredeclare the actual act as enjoyable.

Barbarism is used for its slur effect, though this is how humans dealt with -- and continue to deal with -- the act of killing to survive in a Direct manner. The food shoppers have someone kill the animal or, in the case of vegans, obtain food through the abstraction of agriculture which displaces entire ecosystems. That may be the modern and humane style, but it is killing nevertheless.

[Logical]

17. Kill with a knife and i will be impressed, face it, a rifle is not hard! nt

[Eleanors38]

21. A rifle makes the killing act easy. But that's not what hunting is about, is it?

The difficulty in hunting for most folks is knowing the land and weather, being in the right place, still-hunting techniques, etc. Some may use knives but that is just amping up the act of killing so that it becomes dangerous. Hunting's "dangers" are exposure to elements, strenuous activity, falling out of tree stands, drowning, etc. The weaponry is Hollywood.

[Logical]

22. Not much challenge killing a deer with a rifle/scope. I understand bow hunting being a challange. nt

[Eleanors38]

23. Yes, you have to get closer, and worry about scent control.

The same could be said about hunting with a powerful handgun.

One thing a rifle allows is better game selection. If hunting during an extended anterless season (instituted where populations are way high), one can take a doe at greater range while a short-range weapon means you pass up the shot, and the population is left to expand. This is a utilitarian issue, but important in game management.

[Paladin]

27. So, were you impressed with that dentist putting an arrow into that famous lion?

That lion suffered for 40 hours, until they finally found it and killed it with a gun shot. I used to hunt, and that incident makes me want to puke. Canned trophy hunting like that needs to disappear, immediately and forever.

[Logical]

28. I agree with you. I get sick of the "challange" shit from hunters. nt

[Paladin]

29. I'm surprised Ted Nugent hasn't turned up yet, praising that dentist.

I think those two deserve one another.

[Logical]

37. No kidding, or the NRA defending him. nt

[tkmorris]

10. They should DIAF

Sadistic bastards.

[Marr]

11. I don't understand killing for fun. /nt

[FLPanhandle]

12. I'm all for hunting invasive and damaging species

Pythons in the Everglades, hunt and kill them all.

Wild pigs are especially hard on some environments, hunt them..Please.

We've hunted so many natural predators that deer have over populated and I'm fine with humans now being the population control.

Lion-fish in Florida are also horrible to reef fish and Florida pays people to spearfish them.

[alphafemale]

35. Invasive species. Hadn't even thought of that.

Those obviously have to be eliminated.

And those awful flying Asian carp. How about surrounding boats with bug-light type electric cages?

[Whiskeytide]

39. And that's the rub...

... some animals do "need killin' ", I suppose. If a lion had been terrorizing a village and killing people, most of us would understand the need to hunt and kill it. Sure, it would be nice if it could be tranquilized and relocated, but that's "Mutual of Omaha" drama, and not really a realistic option for the village elders. Kids get eaten, lion has to die.

All of the animals you list need to be controlled or eradicated (and I would add fire ants - I hate them). I think our conservation officials do a pretty good job of trying to manage population issues most of the time, but it necessarily involves killing some of them - and hunting them is the way it's been done since the beginning. The alternative is overpopulation and death by starvation -- for some anyway.

And hunting licenses, hunting gear, land leases, taxidermists... etc. - all of that is part of the private and public economies - especially in rural areas. It's easy to say "fuck everyone who hunts" when your livelihood doesn't depend on some aspect of the activity.

The real trigger with THIS story - Cecil the Lion - isn't really a dead lion. It's not really about hunting. And its not really about killing animals. At least not for most. It's about the privileged asshole who did the killing, the way he went about it, and the stereotype he fits in our minds of someone we - liberals - love to hate. This is a 1% story, whether we want to admit it or not.

[Zorra]

13. They are no worse than ruthless capitalist exploiters who destroy the land and all life

that lives on the land that they destroy without remorse.

They are all ignorant. In general, it is not a priority for the primary extant culture in the US to teach children about the sanctity of all life, or to respect all life.

Indeed, the current primary society occupying the land known as the United States was founded on unfettered, wanton, conscienceless destruction and contamination of the entire planet. A primary imperialist capitalist ideal, commonly known in US Judeo-Christian culture as "progress", is the idea that killing and destroying anything and everything that exists in the natural world for profit is noble, good, commendable, and for the greater good of all humankind.

So when just one more asshole kills a lion for pleasure, he's simply reflecting ancient values of modern Judeo-Christian cultures.

I believe this institutionalized cultural belief may stem in great part from an ancient, long standing grifter-capitalist imperialist interpretation of this biblical verse:

Genesis 1:26 - Then God said, "Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."

[gollygee]

15. I'm not a fan, but OTOH

factory farms are worse. If people get upset about hunting but are fine with factory farms, I think there's a bit of a disconnect.

[Nye Bevan]

18. Yeah, I don't like hunting, but I eat veal.

And if I was an animal I'd prefer to be killed by a hunter than live the life of a veal calf. Guess I'm a bit of a hypocrite.

[damnedifIknow]

24. Deranged scum

Trying to somehow prove they are manly. Proves just the opposite.

[LostOne4Ever]

25. If there was another animal that hunted and killed humans when it had no need to do so

[font style="font-family:'Georgia','Baskerville Old Face','Helvetica',fantasy;" size=4 color=teal]we would castigated it as an evil monster.

So what does that make us when we do the same thing?[/font]

[abakan]

26. I think, if you shot it, you must eat it.

No exceptions!!

[AngryAmish]

30. Sometimes ok, sometimes not.

For example, some folks sit and catch round gobies all day long for the challange...they are an invasive species and need killing, if anything to make room for perch. That is morally defensible. But shooting raccoons in the woods away from people just to shoot them or deer without eating them..no.

[Brickbat]

31. Does this mean someone shouldn't have fun while hunting?

I can never tell. With the emphasis on "feeding their hungry families" and "necessity" some people insist upon, I get the feeling a lot of people don't want hunters to enjoy the hunt.

[bigwillq]

32. I have no issue with it

although I would prefer that those that hunt donate the meat if they're not going it to eat it themselves.

[Glassunion]

33. I can't see doing it for fun.

I hunt... It's not fun.

[Kali]

34. I am between "Disgusting" and

"I wouldn't do it myself, but have no problem with others doing it"

I DO have a little problem with the hobby, I find it to be wasteful and anachronistic. I have the image of 1%ers just out fucking with toy guns and playing big Hunterman (or woman) and to me that is laughable. I see an image of that clown Ted Nugent in my mind.

but... I also know it supports conservation and rural economies somewhat so I don't get too bent out of shape as long as it is sustainable and legal.

[geek tragedy]

36. it still depends.

animals that aren't endangered could fall into several other categories, from abundant/overpopulated (white-tailed deer, feral hogs) to vulnerable and near-threatened.

What effect does the hunting have on the local ecosystem, conservation efforts, and sustainable economy?

Is the hunting conducted by hunters who are active in conservation themselves to preserve habitat?

[X_Digger]

38. Hunters, via excise taxes, and taxes on hunting licenses..

Last edited Wed Jul 29, 2015, 11:16 PM - Edit history (1)

.. have put more than $2,000,000,000 (that's billion, folks) into state conservation programs via the Pittman-Robertson Act.

That's more than Ducks Unlimited, WWF, and the Sierra Club combined.

[Kali]

40. well, pETA doesn't put funds into anything

but their own pockets so including them in a list like that is pointless.

[X_Digger]

41. Thanks- edited. n/t

[Kali]

42. I was just taking a jab at them

no need to edit.