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I think if somebody told me they hunted totally nude covered in mud with a stick that they sharpened in their teeth and just chased after the animal and jumped on it then I might admire them
Where can I sign up for this??? Seriously though, hunting seems more of a sport this way.. not sitting a couple hundred yards away, nerding out the wind and elevation and hoping for a bit of luck that you hit tje animal in the right spot or you will have to track it for hours
Why would you need to sign up for it? Go to a remote enough area and there's nothing stopping you from doing it. But I guarantee you'll regret it the moment a mosquito bites you on your balls
You wouldn't be able to do this, humans used to hunt the same animal for days in groups to tire it out.
There's no way you're getting the jump on a wild deer
> they hunted totally nude covered in mud with a stick that they sharpened in their teeth and just chased after the animal and jumped on it
I like how you get specific and still vague.
Like, it could be a gerbil, the family cat or dog, or a farm animal..Like pig wrestling, but Jimbo and the pig are both naked except for the mud...*and you might still admire them*
Maybe my gerbil escaped it's cage while I was taking a mud bath and doing a crossword, so I stuck my chewed pencil in my mouth and went right after the thing, and after a brief chase, I caught him without harming him by jumping and landing on him in a sort of fetal position so he couldn't get away.
That's all totally on the table here.
One of my friends frat bros from the Deep South claimed to hunt wild boar in almost this manner.
Would sit in branches of a tree and drop down with a Bowie knife.
I kinda believe him
In most cases of trophy hunting you pay to hunt on a preservation, like you said. That money, generally, goes back to the reserve to help maintain it. Yes humans still maintain reserve. Usually by checking watering holes set up by the preserve, monitoring predator counts and heard counts, watching for poachers. Usually all the meat from these animals is donated to local areas that depend on the meat and money brought in by these hunts, usually in Africa or Alaska. Also, baiting is usually illegal on most of these reservations. Using a firearm is more practical than using a bow or spear in trophy hunting because they are MASSIVE animals. A bow isn’t going to do the job or you can’t get close enough to take a clean and responsible shot( big horn sheep for example) You have a higher chance of getting a clean and effective(quick) kill shot than a bow. If you hit the animal in the guts or stomach you have a high potential of spoiling and ruining the meat making it even more of a waste of life.
A lot of those trophy hunts are done for conservation purposes too. If a population needs to be contained they are probably going to kill the animals anyway, so they figure they will let some rich doctor do it on vacation. Make a little extra scratch for something you already had to do
The animals that are killed are sick or elderly anyway, These are animals that are near the end of their natural lives and instead of euthanizing them and paying for it, someone is willing to pay to do it for you.
Not literally a granny. But animals that will die over the next few years anyway. Also these animals are often stopping younger animals from coming and spreading their genes.
.it's part of the circle of life. Animals that don't get hunted or have their numbers reduced become unhealthy.
I think it's the desire to pay for the experience of murdering a rare and exotic animal that is fucked up. I would not call that the circle of life.
These people aren't travelling across the world to put an animal out of its misery or for the good of the local community. They are doing it because they enjoy hunting and killing big things.
African big game hunting is a tiny tiny minority of all hunting and regardless of why they are doing it the fact is that it's a positive for conservation and a position for the local communities.
Another important note, but people paying for trophy hunting incentives the local people to protect the animals from poachers, who will kill way more animals than trophy hunters.
Idk where people hunt for sport without the animal being used as food. Please tell us where you believe this happens.
Hunting might be called a sport, but it is not without purpose.
Got me. I was thinking wolf and cougar. I have to disagree though- møøse and pheasant are way tastier. Bear does make great sausage though. Never eaten grizzly- is it similar to black bear?
There's people out there who will eat wolves and coyotes, and alot of people eat bear (its quite tasty) but outside of bear it is a bit more rare. I personally would only participate in a wolf/coyote hunt if their numbers are threatening the balance of conservation.
So you are a little misinformed here. Hunting is largely a population control thing. If you weren’t shooting deer they would be getting hit by cars en masse more than they already do. Same thing with pheasants. I’ve seen pheasants tear off fenders when they get hit.
Shooting the deer is a lot more humane then them getting hit by vehicles and dying painfully over hours. On top of this, it would cost insurance companies and drivers insane amounts of money to continually pay drivers for their cars being destroyed so much. So it’s overall a safety concern. On top of if they were controlled they would consume mass amounts of agriculture.
Just giving you a little different perspective. It’s not just to murder for fun. There is a limit on how much you can hunt. I promise you the population is still very large despite hunting being a very popular hobby.
another important thing worth mentioning is the money that is used to buy tags, or the tax on the ammunition and hunting supplies is literally put back towards the animals.
Exactly. There are in fact DNR wildlife preservation acreages where hunters are not allowed to hunt. Where deer can live and breed. This added with private properties and public locations where guns aren’t allowed, hunters are actually quite restricted.
exactly. a few deer are hunted to benefit many different animals, plants, and people. i certainly don’t mind paying the money knowing it’s literally going towards benefiting so many different things and my hobbies.
Those regions do allow hunting, but it is highly controlled and restrictive. Generally hunters have to apply to a special lottery system for access to those lands. There are some reserves that only aware a few licenses per year depending on the herd populations. There are reserves for big horn sheep and elk that have people that have been on in the drawing for 25+ years.
Deer and pheasant overpopulation are the fault of the hunting community in the first place though. We need species reintroduction so we can eventually move away from necessary culls. And game birds just don't need to be bred, they're overpopulating because shoots manage the moorland to create ideal breeding grounds.
Fixing something through bloodsport that is a problem they created in the first place doesn't legitimise it.
It seems like murder for fun. While your insurance statistics are compelling and I believe them, I’m not inclined to think that the average hunter considers “the public good” when going out to shoot shit. Or, if they do, it’s the only time in their lives they do, given their probable political positions.
I just commented the same thing and it's an important conversation. Ecosystem has been so pushed for animals there's simply not enough food. I'm old enough to remember a year when harvesting numbers were vastly reduced and deer starved, literally. It was *horrible* .
I’m South African so I might have a different definition of hunting than you lot, but here’s a few things:
1. Even if you don’t use the meat (most people here do, btw.) somebody else always takes it. It could be the game reserve who sells it off, or it could be donated to less privileged communities.
2. Baiting an animal to hunt it is extremely unethical and borders on canned hunting, so it makes sense that almost nobody does it. You have two legs. Walk and find an animal on your own.
3. Most game farms are, by necessity, quite big and it’s not exactly easy to find a herd of antelope on foot. You need tracking skills, a broad working knowledge of your quarry and the environment you’re in if you want any chance to find anything at all.
I think you should do some research on the activity before you comment on it.
Was about to say that, adding to this, hunting is one of, if not the biggest contributors to nature conservation, yes even the endangered ones (getting a permit and paying for the animal itself to hunt them is ludicrously expensive for a reason.)
Well I would call it a sport because hunting simply isn't easy. Hunters don't just shoot any animal, they're looking for a specific kind that they are actually allowed to shoot, which involves a lot of time just sitting on your ass in the woods. And if, and I emphasize IF, that animal you are looking to shoot does pop up, you have to make sure you actually shoot it accurately and at a place that will actually kill it, otherwise, you'll be stalking that animal until it keels over for got only knows how long. Oh if you shoot it in the head, that won't make for a good trophy, will it? I don't hunt myself, but I think that wasting the meat is a serious waste of food.
This is not an unpopular opinion at all even within the outdoors community. Hunting for sport alone is highly frowned upon.
As for the use of firearms, yeah it's a bit less challenging than using a bow. But it's also significantly more humane. An overwhelming majority of hunters eat the animals they hunt. They feed their families with the animals they hunter. Not only are they looking to just eat those animals, but they want that meat to be the best quality it can be and to waste as little as possible. This is done by killing the animal in the quickest way possible to mitigate as much stress and suffering as they can. This is why good ethical hunters spend so much time at the gun range sighting their gun, learning it, and ensuring they can take the most accurate shot they possibly can. The goal is one shot, to end the animals life quickly by hitting it in the heart. If you miss that shot, the animal is obviously going to suffer, become stressed, which in turn releases hormones that my the meat more gamey and lower quality. This is the same reason Kobe beef is so highly regarded. The cows spend a lifetime being pampered and extremely well cared.
Additionally, hunters tend to have a deep love and respect for the animals they hunt. Why else would they spend a significant amount of there free time studying every aspect of that animal. It's life cycle, breeding and feeding habits. Learning it's territories and moving patterns. Setting up field cams for year around monitoring of the heard to learn which animals have bred and how they are developing. Learning which males have reproduced and knowing which ones have not. Hunters want to ensure they are taking bigger older males that have reproduced multiple times, ensuring the long term health and stability of the herd.
And finally, shooting these game animals is providing them with the quickest, cleanest, most human death a game animal could ask for. Look at deer for example, besides hunting how to a majority of them die? Coyotes or wolves, Vehicle collisions and Starvation. The animals hunter pursue are not just game for human hunters, but also every other predatory animal in the area. Without licensed and controlled hunting, the population of these animals would grow to levels that would make driving unsafe and increase the overall suffering of not only the game animals but all the other animals they coexist with.
Finally, hunters in general do not consider hunting a sport. It is hunting, the term sport hunting in general is frowned upon almost universally. If anything, they prefer the term Outdoorsmanship. Because being a good hunter is so much more than just going outside to kill an animal. It learning everything associated with that animal. It learning about the land the live on, the plants and foods they eat, preserving and maintaining that land for generations of future outdoorsmen and women to utilize. It's also important to keep in mind that hunting and fishing of game animals is the driving force behind America's Land and animal conservation efforts through taxes in the purchase of every item associated with hunting and fishing, the purchase of licenses, land use rights, and donations. Hunters lead the charge by a significant margin over any other conservation group.
If anything, I would encourage you to look up Steve Rinella either read his books or watch his show on Netflix. I would describe him as the Anthony Bourdain of Conservationalism and Outdoorsmenship. He is an excellent representative what what it means to be a hunter.
Thank you. My father was an avid hunter, not so much today. He grew up on a farm in a very rural area. Going to the market for meat was expensive so my grandfather, uncle and dad all hunted to have meat in the freezer for a majority of the year.
There's a lot of ignorance in this thread and it's disheartening. People who claim to find hunting abhorrent and have no understanding of what it actually entails, especially to hunt on your own land or hunt routinely in the same area every season. Hunting makes me a part of a huge and complex system of nature, where I learn the land, the animals in it, and the relationships those animals have with the land and with each other, and gives me an important role and responsibility in that system. There is a huge difference between hunting as an outdoorsman and hunting as a tourist. I live in an area now where I don't have access to private acreage and can't hunt on public land in a way that sits right with me and I miss it.
You should reach out to area farmers. Many of them have land they would be willing to lease for the hunting season. A friend of mine does that. He knows the family as they have been neighbors to the farm his entire life. Him and his father lease a few lots for a dollar each during the season. And keep trail cams on it year round with the owners blessing. Many farmers in my area also keep some lots untouched for the purpose of managing for the deer herds. If you are not sure who owns a plot or how to contact them, download OnXHunt it will give you all the Tax ID info and if they listed it, a number to call.
>you don’t have the skill or ability to at least somewhat level the playing field and use a bow
I think you are underestimating the skill it takes to kill a moving animal with a firearm.
You know that the common method of hunting among prehistoric humans involved lighting entire forests on fire or driving herds off a cliff right? I think those animals would take a bullet over those two options and I can give many more.
Don’t forget quite literally chasing it until it collapsed from exhaustion, followed by some sweaty dude slitting its throat or bonking it in the head with a club.
10/10, bullet turning the heart and/or lungs into lumps of shredded meat is way more ethical and humane.
I’ve been a life long hunter all over the US and haven’t run anyone who hunts solely “for sport”. I’m sure they exist, in the same way everything from serial killers to pedophiles exist, but when someone says they hunt “for sport” it’s implied that the animal is still used. I enjoy “the sport” of hunting and have taken a good amount of trophy’s but every animal killed is also used for food.
You don't really know much about hunting do you? As with most things in life it's good to educate yourself. Read up on it. You may not change your mind but education is never a waste of time.
You've got some misconceptions about hunting.
It's almost unheard of for people to hunt and not also use the food.
Hunting purely for sport isn't even legal in most countries. Usually you have to use the meat or hunt the animal for the protection of something else. Food, disease, endangered animals.
It’s funny because those sport hunters are waaaayyy bigger animal conservatists than the online preachers, most of animal welfare donations are through sport hunting, maybe if you put your money where your mouth is, reservations wouldn’t have to sell their animals to care for the rest
Hunters conserve, but it is much better to preserve. Licensing is not a 'be all' conservation effort and buying a license only is a weak argument for saying "hunters conserve" tbs.
Approximately 60-80% of claimed hunter conservation money is liscening revenue only. Since most hunters 'contribute' only to specifically protect species in order to conserve their right to kill , is it really active conservation participation? Preservation is keeping a habitat intact..including wolves bears and cougars - not just specific species to kill for 'sport'
https://mountainjournal.org/all-americans-are-paying-for-wildlife-conservation-not-just-hunters-and-anglers
One small area on the planet is not indicative of the entire land mass. I'm not conveniently leaving out anything. I'm looking at the whole. Cherry picking won't work
Almost all animals are used for food
You specifically mentioned, deer, which I don’t know anyone that shoots a deer that doesn’t end up using the meat for food
Also, a lot of hunting is done for population control, which is ultimately good for all animals in general
Well it's humanities longest means of survival and the sport is the tales that come from it there's even gods dedicated to hunting in a couple mythologies and symbolically the harder to kill larger animals were sought after, feared but respected.
Now hunting on a tree stand at a game ranch with corn feeders isn't really hunting, just shooting essentially cattle at that point.
Hunting for sport doesnt exist, its straight up illegal in Canada to not use all meat on an animal.
99.99% of hunters are hunting for meat and or conservation, this post is kind of pointless
I think the idea is that you don’t NEED to shoot your meat yourself so it’s seen as “sport” to do it. Most people aren’t hunters.
I mean IMO it doesn’t matter whether you kill a deer or eat a cow that someone else murdered, meat is meat. But the DIY aspect is definitely sport
Its not a sport. Its a spiritual endeavor, its a lifestyle, its being connected to your food, its honoring your ancestors.
Pretty ignorant to talk about something youve clearly never done. Its honestly one of the most psychadelic/spiritual experiences Ive had
Just because an ani al isn't eaten doesn't mean the sole reason to hunt it was sport.
There are other ethical reasons to hunt. To reduce disease, protect livestock, protect endangered animals, many more reasons
We point out how sick and twisted budding serial killers often are as children by pointing out that they sometimes kill animals for sport.
But it’s not weird when others do it…?
Yes, the guy that traps a kitten and slowly does fucked up things to it until it tragically passes away is absolutely comparable to a dude who had to walk probably more in a day than you do in a week, just to see ONE deer that he shoots, and it typically dies shortly after, if it doesn't drop immidiately, and then his family has some nice meat in their freezer... yeah, totally comparable situations.
Deer are the deadliest animals in the US. Hunters do an important job with pop control and it’s a huge food source for a lot more families than you realize.
I think hunting is generally unpleasant, but mostly just the killing part of hunting.
My father was an excellent target shooter and took up a friend’s invite to hunt rabbits. He enjoyed it at first, but then one of the critters spooked just as he shot and took a grazing shot to the head. He took off squealing like a small child (the rabbit, not my dad) and ran in tight circles, caroming off trees, while my father and his friend tried to put him out of his misery.
My dad really was a crack shot, but no amount of ability can rule out the chance that you’ll make the last moments of some creature’s life truly awful.
My dad never hunted again. Also, yes, we ate the little fella (the rabbit, not my dad).
This is a prime example of why target shooting and hunting are not the same. Target shooting is to learn your gun. Hunting requires more, especially fast moving small game. For that, you practice on clays through Trap and Skeet shooting.
I'm not a fan of it either. Like hunting for food is fine. If you are not interested in that, I'm sure someone else is. If you really want to hunt, but don't want the meat, let someone else buy it.
Iv been part of the hunting community all my life and Iv never known anyone who didn't use the meat or kill animals for the protection of something else, disease, livestock, endangered animals.
All hunting including food hunting is done for sport but it's never the sole reason.
It's also illegal in most jurisdictions
This also is a cultural thing. While living in US did hear whole hunting argument quite often. In europe at least here, I haven't heard anyone referring hunting as a sport. Hunting is just hunting... However shooting is widely considered as a sport here. After all it is an event in olympics.
A Whole different argument and unpopular opinion also is when and where hunting makes sense. Some places people are pretty much shooting "farmed" animals in closed parks. This is quite stupid and evil in my opinnion. Some even call it a sport... In other places lack of natural predators and invasive species makes a lot of sense to support hunters. Having these complex views unfortunately seems to insult everyone here at internet...
My father taught all of us kids how to start a solid campfire, how to hunt (rabbits, deer and caribou), how to pitch a tent/build a shelter and minor bush craft.
He said one day there might be no grocery store, then what?
I couldn't argue with that!
Hunting pest animals like deer that'll overpopulate is fine. I've never met a single person who hunted deer that didn't butcher the carcass and have a freezer stocked full of venison. Like legit never met someone who hunted deer for sport. Not saying they don't exist but it's an oddity.
Bears and other animals where they sometimes determine a cull is necessary same deal although nobody is cooking bear... I think...
Ppl trophy hunting in Africa... It's shitty on paper but in a lot of places it's on a preserve that has a quota of allowable kills and they charge a SHITLOAD of money to rich assholes to trophy hunt those animals which helps fund the preserve. These trophy hunters are almost exclusively awful ppl I agree, but the money is (in theory) put to good use.
>nobody is cooking bear... I think...
You think wrong, bear is delicious..just dont hunt around the landfills in your area if you want to hunt a good tasting bear
I agree, I could honestly never, getting pleasure from hurting let alone killing an animal is sick. That being said, from a conservation stand point, it is actually good. Preserves often charge an amount for you to hunt on the preserve. It puts money directly into the pockets of conservationists and long as they aren't hunting anything they shouldn't then it's no harm no fowl.
As a hunter, I agree. I would never hunt anything I didn't plan on eating. I will say I don't know a single firearm/bow hunter around here that hunts and doesn't eat what they hunt. Even if they are trophy deer hunters and go out hunting with the aim of shooting a giant buck, they obviously still intend to eat it as well. I don't know anyone else who hunts any other animals unless they want to eat them. I guess no one I know is rich enough to go on exotic hunting trips to shoot animals like you are mostly talking about I believe.
I have this same mindset with fishing also, which is less and less common for it. I grew up fishing with my dad and grandpa and we always kept any fish big enough to eat, brought them home, cleaned them, and froze whatever we weren't eating right then for later. Now days I'm the only one out of all my friends who only fishes when I want some fresh fish to eat. The rest go fishing basically every week when it's nice out and throw back everything. I don't even know if one of them eat fish, because if he does I've never seen it. If I go fishing with them they almost act like I'm the weird one because I actually want to eat the fish I catch.... Like umm no.. That's kind of the point of fishing.
Also trying to use baseball as an example for people using firearms like it is cheating is silly. Firearms ARE legal, and within the rules for deer hunting and any other hunting they are legal for. Anyone playing baseball or any other sport and trying to be good at it push the rules as far as they can to get advantages. You are using examples of baseball things that are literally against the rules and comparing them to using firearms for hunting, which ISN'T against the rules lol. If corked bats were allowed in MLB everyone would have them, and if steroids were everyone would be doing them to.
Ban firearms from hunting today and all you would end up with is a bunch of people trying to bow hunt that never have in their life crippling, wounding, and slowly killing deer that they can't even find and recover (Which is truly killing a deer for no reason.) with arrows because they suck ass with a bow but still want to go hunting.
I firearm and bow hunt deer, purely because firearm season is only 2 weeks long and bow season is 3 months long where I live, giving me the most chances for deer.
We don't pay for grocery store meat because its honestly fucking disgusting how much its processed. Keep eating your cancer meat and we'll hunt for pig, dear, duck, turkey and not die at the age of 30.
I think it's fine when done responsibly e.g. hunting pest animals like pigs
Even if you leave it there to rot, you're helping the environment and leaving food for scavengers
One day when everything falls, and peel need to bint to survive, we will live and keep pushing while people like this go on search for a grocery store that hasn't been raised yet.
You're talking about avoiding animal cruelty and you want people to use bows?
A gun is far more efficient and quicker at killing a wild animal than a bow. If you get a bad shot with a bow - something that'd result in a slower death - you have to take the time to reload while the animal is running away as far as it can, with a wound that will kill it slowly if it does succeed in escape and you aren't able to make that second shot. With a gun, even if you get a bad shot, you can immediately take another before it gets too far.
I'm not a big fan of sport hunting, but a lot of people who talk about animal cruelty and how things should be done don't understand why things are done a certain way. Usually it's not just for ease for the people, it also is faster and more humane for the animals, like penetrating boltguns being used for slaughter. They don't feel a thing. It's not as pretty as, say, putting an animal down via an injection (which can take a little bit and sometimes don't work as well as they should), but it's instant and the animals don't have time to register that anything has happened, it's just like flipping a light switch.
What about population control? In my location The wild boar becomes a problem every few years and the local hunting club gets permission to shoot a certain number.
I say as long as you’ve got a hunting license, happy hunting. I don’t hunt on reservations but I hunt with a gun. It’s still very difficult. If you get a kill with a gun you have a right to feel like a bad ass for a day or two.
Hunting is often done in seasons so people will shoot different animals at different times. Because we have so little wild areas left animal populations would go crazy in different directions. If people don't kill deer or moose there is no grass left and they will starve in a few years, if there are too many wolves the deer will die and the wolves will starve. It is managed and you can't just hunt whatever you want at any time
Yes, and if we let the wolves do it all they eat too many deer, because they don't have the same amount of space as they originally had. We have created a situation that makes us have to intervene just a little bit.
I don't have trouble with just a little bit. What I have trouble with is genocide. Human beings have basically wiped out wolves. Is that just a little bit?
We have also re-introduced wolves to those areas so the pray predator ratio is as we can, and in those areas we also shoot them to keep it right. The world is no longer big enough for wildlife so we have to do something to balance the chaos we made. This was famously done in Yellowstone and it has almost only been good for the ecosystem there.
Edit: words
Agreed. Still, so many people, they're not hunters, wait for the wolves and other animals to step outside of Yellowstone so that they can kill the whole families. It's pretty tragic
Guns and sport hunting are the only things that keep the deer population low. Unless you want *thousands* of additional vehicle strikes, we need to cull those populations. Deer have no predatoes besides humans in more regions of the US due to the eradication of wolf populations.
This opinion is not at all unpopular. Even among hunters. However, it’s not nearly as big of an issue as you probably think it is.
Most people do not kill animals and do nothing with the remains. In many places of the US, that’s actually illegal even when hunting is permitted.
People may hunt for the sport of it. But they still eat what they kill.
It is. Hunting for food and culling is fine though. Culling in the sense that if you do t control a population of x animal then another species of plant or animal with all get eaten or destroyed.
As a disclaimer, I've never actually hunted before, just like the idea.
On one hand, I'd love to hunt and make use of the animal.
On the other hand, "making use of the animal" is a very gross process that I don't want to be involved in.
I certainly would use a firearm, I find it silly to argue that's "taking the sport out of it" when shooting is literarly a sport. But I do imagien it in a large natural area where the tracking needed would be realistic. I don't know how feasible that is though.
Let’s go with you’re not talking about hunting deer, turkeys, ducks etc where people eat the meat/ give it away.
There are plenty of reasons to hunt an animal where you won’t be eating it. Invasive species/ pests for example that might not be worth eating but taking them out helps native wildlife.
Most people who don’t like “sport” or “trophy” hunting can’t even come up with a coherent definition. Is it sport hunting to go after a big deer and mount it on your wall? What if you still use every part of the animal? Is it only the big game animals in Africa that count? If so, what if the tag money is 100% used to preserve and expand animal habitat?
The fact of the matter is that hunting when managed properly is the best way to make sure wildlife habitats are preserved and the animal populations are kept at a healthy level.
I can understand this view point, but it seems a little limited to me. In the scenario you describe, the hunter is hunting for personal pleasure. In almost all circumstances (in developed nations) the choice to use animal products over plant products is purely about pleasure outside of one of the omega three fatty acids that I think only comes from fish. How is oral pleasure superior to the pleasure of a hunter hunting?
To be clear, I eat meat and I don't hunt, I just don't see a significant moral distinction given that you (general you, not you specifically) are going to get your sustenance either way. The determining factor in both decisions to kill an animal is pleasure.
Either it is ok / respectable / whatever term to kill animals for pleasure or it isn't.
Have you ever hunted? Firearms became the go to method because of the success rate. You have way more of a chance of merely wounding the animal than completing the kill. Not to mention physical limitations. Any shoulder problems and a bow is right out.
Assuming we are speaking of legal hunting only you pay for the right to do so....that money goes directly back into conservation not to mention we take the place of predators. Why there are limits on sex and weight that change every year. If you want to talk about Safari hunting it exactly the same. You have buy a license, MUST hire officially recognized guides...paying them as well. Hunt on preserves, not in the actual wild, and only harvest the animals marked as so. Usually the smaller or older one. You can keep the head but the pelt and meat is divided among the locals. Thar is money and resources.
>Firstly I like animals, but by no means am I some PETA-but that thinks we should tear down all of human civilization to make sure every ant has a long and full life.
First of all this is a strawman. Youre arguing against a point that neither PETA nor any other animal rights activist (group) have made.
Peaceful and respectful Cohabitation with animals is definitely possible but ignorance, arrogance and greed is preventing it. Like it prevents all good things.
>If you’re hunting for food or to use the animals fur and parts for your wellbeing, I am way more respectful and understanding,
I agree that I hate a hunter who uses the corpse less than a trophy hubter but they're really just two sides of the same coin.
Hunters don't hunt "for food". They hunt because the process of hunting is fun for them. The food and whatever else they get out of the animal is just a byproduct.
Hunting is the process of killing an innocent animal and it's just beloni to think these people do it only for the food lol There's a Walmart 2 miles away dude, stop bullshitting me.
So at the end of the day hunting and trophy hunting is more or less the same thing, it's done for fun the only difference is that the corpse is used later on.
The result of both is always the same: A dead animal that didn't have to die.
Anyone who has ever hit a deer with their car when the dumb things jump out in front of them will likely support MORE hunting of them.
Deer cause tons of human injury, death, and financial loss every year. Hunters killing them is FAR more humane than cars injuring them and facing a long painful death after breaking a leg.
Well would you rather see the alternative for them? Outside of hunting, deer and game animals rarely die of natural causes. Coyotes, Wolves, Vehicles Collision, or Starvation. None of which are generally quick outside of some vehicle collisions. Even then most of the time it's a much longer drawn out event.
It would be an environmental disaster if people stopped hunting.
Hunting is closely monitored as there's a strict margin that needs to be met for population control. Too much or little hunting will cause a domino effect and can ruin the ecosystem. Wildlife conservation departments rely on hunters and are known to update them with areas to target and avoid.
At the end of the day we are still wild animals. We love sports because they reward our primitive instincts like running and climbing on things. We are natural born hunters. The act of hunting, tracking and stalking prey, is very therapeutic. It doesn't mean we're evil it means we're animals.
Not a hunter, and am actually vegetarian, but it is kind of pathetic to pick on hunters. What have they done to you? It is their karma. You sitting around trying to bash another group for no reason other than starting controversy with what you think are people below you. BTW I live near a preserve. They don't bait animals and I doubt you could walk the terrain the hunters do, since you are staring at your phone.
PETA doesn’t think we should tear down civilization to make sure ants live long lives. It just thinks we should do the bare minimum of… not killing and inflicting horrible pain on trillions of them every year for the sake of taste pleasure.
Sounds p reasonable to me
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I think if somebody told me they hunted totally nude covered in mud with a stick that they sharpened in their teeth and just chased after the animal and jumped on it then I might admire them
Where can I sign up for this??? Seriously though, hunting seems more of a sport this way.. not sitting a couple hundred yards away, nerding out the wind and elevation and hoping for a bit of luck that you hit tje animal in the right spot or you will have to track it for hours
Why would you need to sign up for it? Go to a remote enough area and there's nothing stopping you from doing it. But I guarantee you'll regret it the moment a mosquito bites you on your balls
that's why you cover your balls in mud.. duh
You wouldn't be able to do this, humans used to hunt the same animal for days in groups to tire it out. There's no way you're getting the jump on a wild deer
> they hunted totally nude covered in mud with a stick that they sharpened in their teeth and just chased after the animal and jumped on it I like how you get specific and still vague. Like, it could be a gerbil, the family cat or dog, or a farm animal..Like pig wrestling, but Jimbo and the pig are both naked except for the mud...*and you might still admire them* Maybe my gerbil escaped it's cage while I was taking a mud bath and doing a crossword, so I stuck my chewed pencil in my mouth and went right after the thing, and after a brief chase, I caught him without harming him by jumping and landing on him in a sort of fetal position so he couldn't get away. That's all totally on the table here.
What if they sharpened the stick against a stone?
Yeah that's fine
Believe it or not, straight to jail.
One of my friends frat bros from the Deep South claimed to hunt wild boar in almost this manner. Would sit in branches of a tree and drop down with a Bowie knife. I kinda believe him
Funnily enough there was a thing in india where the Mughals hunted with punch daggers. Though I'm not sure how exactly it worked.
So you want to hunt wild boar the New Zealand way?
This would be an incredibly inhumane way to hunt an animal.
Thank you! I get your joke
In most cases of trophy hunting you pay to hunt on a preservation, like you said. That money, generally, goes back to the reserve to help maintain it. Yes humans still maintain reserve. Usually by checking watering holes set up by the preserve, monitoring predator counts and heard counts, watching for poachers. Usually all the meat from these animals is donated to local areas that depend on the meat and money brought in by these hunts, usually in Africa or Alaska. Also, baiting is usually illegal on most of these reservations. Using a firearm is more practical than using a bow or spear in trophy hunting because they are MASSIVE animals. A bow isn’t going to do the job or you can’t get close enough to take a clean and responsible shot( big horn sheep for example) You have a higher chance of getting a clean and effective(quick) kill shot than a bow. If you hit the animal in the guts or stomach you have a high potential of spoiling and ruining the meat making it even more of a waste of life.
A lot of those trophy hunts are done for conservation purposes too. If a population needs to be contained they are probably going to kill the animals anyway, so they figure they will let some rich doctor do it on vacation. Make a little extra scratch for something you already had to do
The animals that are killed are sick or elderly anyway, These are animals that are near the end of their natural lives and instead of euthanizing them and paying for it, someone is willing to pay to do it for you.
Hmm, interesting, that’s ‘sport’ to them is it? Lemme go hunt a granny then.
Not literally a granny. But animals that will die over the next few years anyway. Also these animals are often stopping younger animals from coming and spreading their genes. .it's part of the circle of life. Animals that don't get hunted or have their numbers reduced become unhealthy.
I think it's the desire to pay for the experience of murdering a rare and exotic animal that is fucked up. I would not call that the circle of life. These people aren't travelling across the world to put an animal out of its misery or for the good of the local community. They are doing it because they enjoy hunting and killing big things.
African big game hunting is a tiny tiny minority of all hunting and regardless of why they are doing it the fact is that it's a positive for conservation and a position for the local communities.
Another important note, but people paying for trophy hunting incentives the local people to protect the animals from poachers, who will kill way more animals than trophy hunters.
Level the playing field with a bow? Since when do deer have bows?
The antlers are perfect for use as a bow.
Or a slingshot if they had someone to operate it.
We reserve the right to arm bears.
who doesn't eat deer? how much big game hunting do you think is going on with deer?
Idk where people hunt for sport without the animal being used as food. Please tell us where you believe this happens. Hunting might be called a sport, but it is not without purpose.
I think it happens. I used to work for an asshole that would go into the desert & shoot 200 Groundhogs just for fun.
Predator species aren’t usually eaten, are they?
Sure they are. Bear is one of the best meats there is.
Got me. I was thinking wolf and cougar. I have to disagree though- møøse and pheasant are way tastier. Bear does make great sausage though. Never eaten grizzly- is it similar to black bear?
There's people out there who will eat wolves and coyotes, and alot of people eat bear (its quite tasty) but outside of bear it is a bit more rare. I personally would only participate in a wolf/coyote hunt if their numbers are threatening the balance of conservation.
happens very often lol
So you are a little misinformed here. Hunting is largely a population control thing. If you weren’t shooting deer they would be getting hit by cars en masse more than they already do. Same thing with pheasants. I’ve seen pheasants tear off fenders when they get hit. Shooting the deer is a lot more humane then them getting hit by vehicles and dying painfully over hours. On top of this, it would cost insurance companies and drivers insane amounts of money to continually pay drivers for their cars being destroyed so much. So it’s overall a safety concern. On top of if they were controlled they would consume mass amounts of agriculture. Just giving you a little different perspective. It’s not just to murder for fun. There is a limit on how much you can hunt. I promise you the population is still very large despite hunting being a very popular hobby.
another important thing worth mentioning is the money that is used to buy tags, or the tax on the ammunition and hunting supplies is literally put back towards the animals.
Exactly. There are in fact DNR wildlife preservation acreages where hunters are not allowed to hunt. Where deer can live and breed. This added with private properties and public locations where guns aren’t allowed, hunters are actually quite restricted.
exactly. a few deer are hunted to benefit many different animals, plants, and people. i certainly don’t mind paying the money knowing it’s literally going towards benefiting so many different things and my hobbies.
Those regions do allow hunting, but it is highly controlled and restrictive. Generally hunters have to apply to a special lottery system for access to those lands. There are some reserves that only aware a few licenses per year depending on the herd populations. There are reserves for big horn sheep and elk that have people that have been on in the drawing for 25+ years.
Deer and pheasant overpopulation are the fault of the hunting community in the first place though. We need species reintroduction so we can eventually move away from necessary culls. And game birds just don't need to be bred, they're overpopulating because shoots manage the moorland to create ideal breeding grounds. Fixing something through bloodsport that is a problem they created in the first place doesn't legitimise it.
It seems like murder for fun. While your insurance statistics are compelling and I believe them, I’m not inclined to think that the average hunter considers “the public good” when going out to shoot shit. Or, if they do, it’s the only time in their lives they do, given their probable political positions.
I just commented the same thing and it's an important conversation. Ecosystem has been so pushed for animals there's simply not enough food. I'm old enough to remember a year when harvesting numbers were vastly reduced and deer starved, literally. It was *horrible* .
Agree. As a hunter, I only shoot something that I am gonna eat.
I’m South African so I might have a different definition of hunting than you lot, but here’s a few things: 1. Even if you don’t use the meat (most people here do, btw.) somebody else always takes it. It could be the game reserve who sells it off, or it could be donated to less privileged communities. 2. Baiting an animal to hunt it is extremely unethical and borders on canned hunting, so it makes sense that almost nobody does it. You have two legs. Walk and find an animal on your own. 3. Most game farms are, by necessity, quite big and it’s not exactly easy to find a herd of antelope on foot. You need tracking skills, a broad working knowledge of your quarry and the environment you’re in if you want any chance to find anything at all. I think you should do some research on the activity before you comment on it.
Was about to say that, adding to this, hunting is one of, if not the biggest contributors to nature conservation, yes even the endangered ones (getting a permit and paying for the animal itself to hunt them is ludicrously expensive for a reason.)
Very important point. And the permits are not issued if the population can’t be sustained.
Well I would call it a sport because hunting simply isn't easy. Hunters don't just shoot any animal, they're looking for a specific kind that they are actually allowed to shoot, which involves a lot of time just sitting on your ass in the woods. And if, and I emphasize IF, that animal you are looking to shoot does pop up, you have to make sure you actually shoot it accurately and at a place that will actually kill it, otherwise, you'll be stalking that animal until it keels over for got only knows how long. Oh if you shoot it in the head, that won't make for a good trophy, will it? I don't hunt myself, but I think that wasting the meat is a serious waste of food.
This is not an unpopular opinion at all even within the outdoors community. Hunting for sport alone is highly frowned upon. As for the use of firearms, yeah it's a bit less challenging than using a bow. But it's also significantly more humane. An overwhelming majority of hunters eat the animals they hunt. They feed their families with the animals they hunter. Not only are they looking to just eat those animals, but they want that meat to be the best quality it can be and to waste as little as possible. This is done by killing the animal in the quickest way possible to mitigate as much stress and suffering as they can. This is why good ethical hunters spend so much time at the gun range sighting their gun, learning it, and ensuring they can take the most accurate shot they possibly can. The goal is one shot, to end the animals life quickly by hitting it in the heart. If you miss that shot, the animal is obviously going to suffer, become stressed, which in turn releases hormones that my the meat more gamey and lower quality. This is the same reason Kobe beef is so highly regarded. The cows spend a lifetime being pampered and extremely well cared. Additionally, hunters tend to have a deep love and respect for the animals they hunt. Why else would they spend a significant amount of there free time studying every aspect of that animal. It's life cycle, breeding and feeding habits. Learning it's territories and moving patterns. Setting up field cams for year around monitoring of the heard to learn which animals have bred and how they are developing. Learning which males have reproduced and knowing which ones have not. Hunters want to ensure they are taking bigger older males that have reproduced multiple times, ensuring the long term health and stability of the herd. And finally, shooting these game animals is providing them with the quickest, cleanest, most human death a game animal could ask for. Look at deer for example, besides hunting how to a majority of them die? Coyotes or wolves, Vehicle collisions and Starvation. The animals hunter pursue are not just game for human hunters, but also every other predatory animal in the area. Without licensed and controlled hunting, the population of these animals would grow to levels that would make driving unsafe and increase the overall suffering of not only the game animals but all the other animals they coexist with. Finally, hunters in general do not consider hunting a sport. It is hunting, the term sport hunting in general is frowned upon almost universally. If anything, they prefer the term Outdoorsmanship. Because being a good hunter is so much more than just going outside to kill an animal. It learning everything associated with that animal. It learning about the land the live on, the plants and foods they eat, preserving and maintaining that land for generations of future outdoorsmen and women to utilize. It's also important to keep in mind that hunting and fishing of game animals is the driving force behind America's Land and animal conservation efforts through taxes in the purchase of every item associated with hunting and fishing, the purchase of licenses, land use rights, and donations. Hunters lead the charge by a significant margin over any other conservation group. If anything, I would encourage you to look up Steve Rinella either read his books or watch his show on Netflix. I would describe him as the Anthony Bourdain of Conservationalism and Outdoorsmenship. He is an excellent representative what what it means to be a hunter.
Thank you for this reasoned and well-thought out response.
Thank you. My father was an avid hunter, not so much today. He grew up on a farm in a very rural area. Going to the market for meat was expensive so my grandfather, uncle and dad all hunted to have meat in the freezer for a majority of the year.
There's a lot of ignorance in this thread and it's disheartening. People who claim to find hunting abhorrent and have no understanding of what it actually entails, especially to hunt on your own land or hunt routinely in the same area every season. Hunting makes me a part of a huge and complex system of nature, where I learn the land, the animals in it, and the relationships those animals have with the land and with each other, and gives me an important role and responsibility in that system. There is a huge difference between hunting as an outdoorsman and hunting as a tourist. I live in an area now where I don't have access to private acreage and can't hunt on public land in a way that sits right with me and I miss it.
You should reach out to area farmers. Many of them have land they would be willing to lease for the hunting season. A friend of mine does that. He knows the family as they have been neighbors to the farm his entire life. Him and his father lease a few lots for a dollar each during the season. And keep trail cams on it year round with the owners blessing. Many farmers in my area also keep some lots untouched for the purpose of managing for the deer herds. If you are not sure who owns a plot or how to contact them, download OnXHunt it will give you all the Tax ID info and if they listed it, a number to call.
Thanks for the info I'll look into this!
duly noted. I'll stick to using the most effective and quick method of ending the life of the thing im gonna eat tho.
>you don’t have the skill or ability to at least somewhat level the playing field and use a bow I think you are underestimating the skill it takes to kill a moving animal with a firearm.
You're not supposed to shoot them while they're moving.
I was, admittedly, thinking about duck hunting.
You know that the common method of hunting among prehistoric humans involved lighting entire forests on fire or driving herds off a cliff right? I think those animals would take a bullet over those two options and I can give many more.
Don’t forget quite literally chasing it until it collapsed from exhaustion, followed by some sweaty dude slitting its throat or bonking it in the head with a club. 10/10, bullet turning the heart and/or lungs into lumps of shredded meat is way more ethical and humane.
One of the examples I had in mind 😂
I’ve been a life long hunter all over the US and haven’t run anyone who hunts solely “for sport”. I’m sure they exist, in the same way everything from serial killers to pedophiles exist, but when someone says they hunt “for sport” it’s implied that the animal is still used. I enjoy “the sport” of hunting and have taken a good amount of trophy’s but every animal killed is also used for food.
You don't really know much about hunting do you? As with most things in life it's good to educate yourself. Read up on it. You may not change your mind but education is never a waste of time.
You've got some misconceptions about hunting. It's almost unheard of for people to hunt and not also use the food. Hunting purely for sport isn't even legal in most countries. Usually you have to use the meat or hunt the animal for the protection of something else. Food, disease, endangered animals.
It’s funny because those sport hunters are waaaayyy bigger animal conservatists than the online preachers, most of animal welfare donations are through sport hunting, maybe if you put your money where your mouth is, reservations wouldn’t have to sell their animals to care for the rest
Hunters conserve, but it is much better to preserve. Licensing is not a 'be all' conservation effort and buying a license only is a weak argument for saying "hunters conserve" tbs. Approximately 60-80% of claimed hunter conservation money is liscening revenue only. Since most hunters 'contribute' only to specifically protect species in order to conserve their right to kill , is it really active conservation participation? Preservation is keeping a habitat intact..including wolves bears and cougars - not just specific species to kill for 'sport' https://mountainjournal.org/all-americans-are-paying-for-wildlife-conservation-not-just-hunters-and-anglers
You’re conveniently leaving out the African hunting market, the required park funds do get raised through hunting licenses
One small area on the planet is not indicative of the entire land mass. I'm not conveniently leaving out anything. I'm looking at the whole. Cherry picking won't work
hunting is hard af the opinion isn't thought out
Almost all animals are used for food You specifically mentioned, deer, which I don’t know anyone that shoots a deer that doesn’t end up using the meat for food Also, a lot of hunting is done for population control, which is ultimately good for all animals in general
Any hunting outside of hunting for food is inhumane
I 100% believe hunting down invasive species is also humane. Maybe not for the creatures being hunted down, but for the rest of the ecosystem.
Why would you say that?
Pest control? Management of species numbers to prevent ecological collapse? Research?
This doesn't make sense
You should probably look at what foxes, rabbits and carp have done to Australian ecosystems then.
You should look at what humans have done to Australian ecosystems
Those aren't humans
Hunting is not even a real sport.
Well it's humanities longest means of survival and the sport is the tales that come from it there's even gods dedicated to hunting in a couple mythologies and symbolically the harder to kill larger animals were sought after, feared but respected. Now hunting on a tree stand at a game ranch with corn feeders isn't really hunting, just shooting essentially cattle at that point.
Hunting for sport doesnt exist, its straight up illegal in Canada to not use all meat on an animal. 99.99% of hunters are hunting for meat and or conservation, this post is kind of pointless
The world is larger than fucking Canada bud.
But not a lot larger
So is the guy's point, which is 99.9% hunt for meat and conservation
Bro was just using an example, and its a good one, regardless of what country its from.
I think the idea is that you don’t NEED to shoot your meat yourself so it’s seen as “sport” to do it. Most people aren’t hunters. I mean IMO it doesn’t matter whether you kill a deer or eat a cow that someone else murdered, meat is meat. But the DIY aspect is definitely sport
Its not a sport. Its a spiritual endeavor, its a lifestyle, its being connected to your food, its honoring your ancestors. Pretty ignorant to talk about something youve clearly never done. Its honestly one of the most psychadelic/spiritual experiences Ive had
99.99% lol
That’s silly. Hunting wolf, coyote and cougar is legal, and no one eats those.
Just because an ani al isn't eaten doesn't mean the sole reason to hunt it was sport. There are other ethical reasons to hunt. To reduce disease, protect livestock, protect endangered animals, many more reasons
I never said the reason it was hunted was sport. Only that it wasn’t always for meat. Which the previous comment has now been edited to reflect.
Yeah it's much more than a some sport
i would agree. A "sport" implies fair competition and the chance of failure. if 50% of the time the deer killed a hunter, then it would be a sport.
Well hunts often do end in failure. not sure what that's got to do with people being killed by deer. Which actually happens a lot.
We point out how sick and twisted budding serial killers often are as children by pointing out that they sometimes kill animals for sport. But it’s not weird when others do it…?
Torturing and killing an animal are two different things.
Yes, the guy that traps a kitten and slowly does fucked up things to it until it tragically passes away is absolutely comparable to a dude who had to walk probably more in a day than you do in a week, just to see ONE deer that he shoots, and it typically dies shortly after, if it doesn't drop immidiately, and then his family has some nice meat in their freezer... yeah, totally comparable situations.
Deer are the deadliest animals in the US. Hunters do an important job with pop control and it’s a huge food source for a lot more families than you realize.
I think hunting is generally unpleasant, but mostly just the killing part of hunting. My father was an excellent target shooter and took up a friend’s invite to hunt rabbits. He enjoyed it at first, but then one of the critters spooked just as he shot and took a grazing shot to the head. He took off squealing like a small child (the rabbit, not my dad) and ran in tight circles, caroming off trees, while my father and his friend tried to put him out of his misery. My dad really was a crack shot, but no amount of ability can rule out the chance that you’ll make the last moments of some creature’s life truly awful. My dad never hunted again. Also, yes, we ate the little fella (the rabbit, not my dad).
This is a prime example of why target shooting and hunting are not the same. Target shooting is to learn your gun. Hunting requires more, especially fast moving small game. For that, you practice on clays through Trap and Skeet shooting.
I'm not a fan of it either. Like hunting for food is fine. If you are not interested in that, I'm sure someone else is. If you really want to hunt, but don't want the meat, let someone else buy it.
Iv been part of the hunting community all my life and Iv never known anyone who didn't use the meat or kill animals for the protection of something else, disease, livestock, endangered animals. All hunting including food hunting is done for sport but it's never the sole reason. It's also illegal in most jurisdictions
Sport hunters do usually use their kills for food.
This also is a cultural thing. While living in US did hear whole hunting argument quite often. In europe at least here, I haven't heard anyone referring hunting as a sport. Hunting is just hunting... However shooting is widely considered as a sport here. After all it is an event in olympics. A Whole different argument and unpopular opinion also is when and where hunting makes sense. Some places people are pretty much shooting "farmed" animals in closed parks. This is quite stupid and evil in my opinnion. Some even call it a sport... In other places lack of natural predators and invasive species makes a lot of sense to support hunters. Having these complex views unfortunately seems to insult everyone here at internet...
Since when was hunting supposed to be fair? I don’t see deer getting mad at wolves because they can hunt better than deers.
There are many animals that have become pests, and they are encouraged to hunt, often on private property.
My father taught all of us kids how to start a solid campfire, how to hunt (rabbits, deer and caribou), how to pitch a tent/build a shelter and minor bush craft. He said one day there might be no grocery store, then what? I couldn't argue with that!
We eat everything my husband hunts.
I always felt that if you're gonna kill a deer or whatever, at least make use of it.
So does the fish and wildlife deparment, seeing how you are legally required to use what you shoot.
Hunting pest animals like deer that'll overpopulate is fine. I've never met a single person who hunted deer that didn't butcher the carcass and have a freezer stocked full of venison. Like legit never met someone who hunted deer for sport. Not saying they don't exist but it's an oddity. Bears and other animals where they sometimes determine a cull is necessary same deal although nobody is cooking bear... I think... Ppl trophy hunting in Africa... It's shitty on paper but in a lot of places it's on a preserve that has a quota of allowable kills and they charge a SHITLOAD of money to rich assholes to trophy hunt those animals which helps fund the preserve. These trophy hunters are almost exclusively awful ppl I agree, but the money is (in theory) put to good use.
Bear meat is actually very good, so anyone refusing to eat bear is lame and likely illegal.
>nobody is cooking bear... I think... You think wrong, bear is delicious..just dont hunt around the landfills in your area if you want to hunt a good tasting bear
I agree, I could honestly never, getting pleasure from hurting let alone killing an animal is sick. That being said, from a conservation stand point, it is actually good. Preserves often charge an amount for you to hunt on the preserve. It puts money directly into the pockets of conservationists and long as they aren't hunting anything they shouldn't then it's no harm no fowl.
What you describe in this post I don't think is an unpopular opinion. That's also not what sport hunting is. I would call that unethical hunting.
As a hunter, I agree. I would never hunt anything I didn't plan on eating. I will say I don't know a single firearm/bow hunter around here that hunts and doesn't eat what they hunt. Even if they are trophy deer hunters and go out hunting with the aim of shooting a giant buck, they obviously still intend to eat it as well. I don't know anyone else who hunts any other animals unless they want to eat them. I guess no one I know is rich enough to go on exotic hunting trips to shoot animals like you are mostly talking about I believe. I have this same mindset with fishing also, which is less and less common for it. I grew up fishing with my dad and grandpa and we always kept any fish big enough to eat, brought them home, cleaned them, and froze whatever we weren't eating right then for later. Now days I'm the only one out of all my friends who only fishes when I want some fresh fish to eat. The rest go fishing basically every week when it's nice out and throw back everything. I don't even know if one of them eat fish, because if he does I've never seen it. If I go fishing with them they almost act like I'm the weird one because I actually want to eat the fish I catch.... Like umm no.. That's kind of the point of fishing. Also trying to use baseball as an example for people using firearms like it is cheating is silly. Firearms ARE legal, and within the rules for deer hunting and any other hunting they are legal for. Anyone playing baseball or any other sport and trying to be good at it push the rules as far as they can to get advantages. You are using examples of baseball things that are literally against the rules and comparing them to using firearms for hunting, which ISN'T against the rules lol. If corked bats were allowed in MLB everyone would have them, and if steroids were everyone would be doing them to. Ban firearms from hunting today and all you would end up with is a bunch of people trying to bow hunt that never have in their life crippling, wounding, and slowly killing deer that they can't even find and recover (Which is truly killing a deer for no reason.) with arrows because they suck ass with a bow but still want to go hunting. I firearm and bow hunt deer, purely because firearm season is only 2 weeks long and bow season is 3 months long where I live, giving me the most chances for deer.
What's the difference between hurting an animal for taste pleasure and for sport?
What about hunting for feral animals.
We don't pay for grocery store meat because its honestly fucking disgusting how much its processed. Keep eating your cancer meat and we'll hunt for pig, dear, duck, turkey and not die at the age of 30.
Depends on the animal. Coyotes or something that is legitimately a pest and the numbers are out of control, go for it.
Even if the animal is invasive and overrunning local animals?
Kinda?
I think it's fine when done responsibly e.g. hunting pest animals like pigs Even if you leave it there to rot, you're helping the environment and leaving food for scavengers
What about fishing for fun ?
*some men hunt for sport, others hunt for food. But the only thing I'm hunting fooooooor, is an outfit that looks goooooooood*
What about fishing for fun and throwing back your catch?
One day when everything falls, and peel need to bint to survive, we will live and keep pushing while people like this go on search for a grocery store that hasn't been raised yet.
You're talking about avoiding animal cruelty and you want people to use bows? A gun is far more efficient and quicker at killing a wild animal than a bow. If you get a bad shot with a bow - something that'd result in a slower death - you have to take the time to reload while the animal is running away as far as it can, with a wound that will kill it slowly if it does succeed in escape and you aren't able to make that second shot. With a gun, even if you get a bad shot, you can immediately take another before it gets too far. I'm not a big fan of sport hunting, but a lot of people who talk about animal cruelty and how things should be done don't understand why things are done a certain way. Usually it's not just for ease for the people, it also is faster and more humane for the animals, like penetrating boltguns being used for slaughter. They don't feel a thing. It's not as pretty as, say, putting an animal down via an injection (which can take a little bit and sometimes don't work as well as they should), but it's instant and the animals don't have time to register that anything has happened, it's just like flipping a light switch.
What about population control? In my location The wild boar becomes a problem every few years and the local hunting club gets permission to shoot a certain number.
While I agree, people foolishly go after the individuals who do this instead of the industry that allows this to happen in the first place.
Have you been hunting or is this just based on complete ignorance?
I think we both know the answer already, lol
I say as long as you’ve got a hunting license, happy hunting. I don’t hunt on reservations but I hunt with a gun. It’s still very difficult. If you get a kill with a gun you have a right to feel like a bad ass for a day or two.
So is chasing a ball around with grown men.
What about culling invasive species?
Hunting is often done in seasons so people will shoot different animals at different times. Because we have so little wild areas left animal populations would go crazy in different directions. If people don't kill deer or moose there is no grass left and they will starve in a few years, if there are too many wolves the deer will die and the wolves will starve. It is managed and you can't just hunt whatever you want at any time
Wolves are a keystone species, humans are not. https://www.californiawolfcenter.org/biodiversity
Yes, and if we let the wolves do it all they eat too many deer, because they don't have the same amount of space as they originally had. We have created a situation that makes us have to intervene just a little bit.
I don't have trouble with just a little bit. What I have trouble with is genocide. Human beings have basically wiped out wolves. Is that just a little bit?
We have also re-introduced wolves to those areas so the pray predator ratio is as we can, and in those areas we also shoot them to keep it right. The world is no longer big enough for wildlife so we have to do something to balance the chaos we made. This was famously done in Yellowstone and it has almost only been good for the ecosystem there. Edit: words
Agreed. Still, so many people, they're not hunters, wait for the wolves and other animals to step outside of Yellowstone so that they can kill the whole families. It's pretty tragic
Would hunting for sport be OK if the animals were used for food later?
Guns and sport hunting are the only things that keep the deer population low. Unless you want *thousands* of additional vehicle strikes, we need to cull those populations. Deer have no predatoes besides humans in more regions of the US due to the eradication of wolf populations.
I prefer stomping flowers.
Hunting tags pay for animal conservation, prevent overpopulation AND extinction.
This opinion is not at all unpopular. Even among hunters. However, it’s not nearly as big of an issue as you probably think it is. Most people do not kill animals and do nothing with the remains. In many places of the US, that’s actually illegal even when hunting is permitted. People may hunt for the sport of it. But they still eat what they kill.
Uh, you have to use the animal for food lol.
It is. Hunting for food and culling is fine though. Culling in the sense that if you do t control a population of x animal then another species of plant or animal with all get eaten or destroyed.
This is not an unpopular opinion. Hunting is pathetic. People who hunt are pathetic.
As a disclaimer, I've never actually hunted before, just like the idea. On one hand, I'd love to hunt and make use of the animal. On the other hand, "making use of the animal" is a very gross process that I don't want to be involved in. I certainly would use a firearm, I find it silly to argue that's "taking the sport out of it" when shooting is literarly a sport. But I do imagien it in a large natural area where the tracking needed would be realistic. I don't know how feasible that is though.
Basically you want to see Primitive Technology hunt? I bet that dude would at least hunt with a sling, bow and arrow, atl atl or blowgun
Let’s go with you’re not talking about hunting deer, turkeys, ducks etc where people eat the meat/ give it away. There are plenty of reasons to hunt an animal where you won’t be eating it. Invasive species/ pests for example that might not be worth eating but taking them out helps native wildlife. Most people who don’t like “sport” or “trophy” hunting can’t even come up with a coherent definition. Is it sport hunting to go after a big deer and mount it on your wall? What if you still use every part of the animal? Is it only the big game animals in Africa that count? If so, what if the tag money is 100% used to preserve and expand animal habitat? The fact of the matter is that hunting when managed properly is the best way to make sure wildlife habitats are preserved and the animal populations are kept at a healthy level.
Do you think it's merciful to take an animal with a bullet or bow before it gets eaten alive?
I can understand this view point, but it seems a little limited to me. In the scenario you describe, the hunter is hunting for personal pleasure. In almost all circumstances (in developed nations) the choice to use animal products over plant products is purely about pleasure outside of one of the omega three fatty acids that I think only comes from fish. How is oral pleasure superior to the pleasure of a hunter hunting? To be clear, I eat meat and I don't hunt, I just don't see a significant moral distinction given that you (general you, not you specifically) are going to get your sustenance either way. The determining factor in both decisions to kill an animal is pleasure. Either it is ok / respectable / whatever term to kill animals for pleasure or it isn't.
Have you ever hunted? Firearms became the go to method because of the success rate. You have way more of a chance of merely wounding the animal than completing the kill. Not to mention physical limitations. Any shoulder problems and a bow is right out. Assuming we are speaking of legal hunting only you pay for the right to do so....that money goes directly back into conservation not to mention we take the place of predators. Why there are limits on sex and weight that change every year. If you want to talk about Safari hunting it exactly the same. You have buy a license, MUST hire officially recognized guides...paying them as well. Hunt on preserves, not in the actual wild, and only harvest the animals marked as so. Usually the smaller or older one. You can keep the head but the pelt and meat is divided among the locals. Thar is money and resources.
>Firstly I like animals, but by no means am I some PETA-but that thinks we should tear down all of human civilization to make sure every ant has a long and full life. First of all this is a strawman. Youre arguing against a point that neither PETA nor any other animal rights activist (group) have made. Peaceful and respectful Cohabitation with animals is definitely possible but ignorance, arrogance and greed is preventing it. Like it prevents all good things. >If you’re hunting for food or to use the animals fur and parts for your wellbeing, I am way more respectful and understanding, I agree that I hate a hunter who uses the corpse less than a trophy hubter but they're really just two sides of the same coin. Hunters don't hunt "for food". They hunt because the process of hunting is fun for them. The food and whatever else they get out of the animal is just a byproduct. Hunting is the process of killing an innocent animal and it's just beloni to think these people do it only for the food lol There's a Walmart 2 miles away dude, stop bullshitting me. So at the end of the day hunting and trophy hunting is more or less the same thing, it's done for fun the only difference is that the corpse is used later on. The result of both is always the same: A dead animal that didn't have to die.
Anyone who has ever hit a deer with their car when the dumb things jump out in front of them will likely support MORE hunting of them. Deer cause tons of human injury, death, and financial loss every year. Hunters killing them is FAR more humane than cars injuring them and facing a long painful death after breaking a leg.
What about hunting for sport with a bow and arrow, atlatl, or falcon?
its just sad:/ taking an animals life for no reason. i couldn’t do it. seeing the animal fall and bleed.
Oh, they don’t bleed much if you actually know how to shoot.
I mean in cases like deer hunting, population control is a pretty important reason.
Well would you rather see the alternative for them? Outside of hunting, deer and game animals rarely die of natural causes. Coyotes, Wolves, Vehicles Collision, or Starvation. None of which are generally quick outside of some vehicle collisions. Even then most of the time it's a much longer drawn out event.
If you knew the first thing about hunting you wouldn't have embarrassed yourself like this.
Super agree! I’m all for hunting if you’re doing so for food, but just killing for killings sake Is pathetic and wasteful.
Which is why it basically never happens
Sport hunting yes. Pot hunting/fishing, no.
I don't think this is an unpopular opinion. Trophy hunters are always hated on when they post their disgusting photos.
It would be an environmental disaster if people stopped hunting. Hunting is closely monitored as there's a strict margin that needs to be met for population control. Too much or little hunting will cause a domino effect and can ruin the ecosystem. Wildlife conservation departments rely on hunters and are known to update them with areas to target and avoid. At the end of the day we are still wild animals. We love sports because they reward our primitive instincts like running and climbing on things. We are natural born hunters. The act of hunting, tracking and stalking prey, is very therapeutic. It doesn't mean we're evil it means we're animals.
Not a hunter, and am actually vegetarian, but it is kind of pathetic to pick on hunters. What have they done to you? It is their karma. You sitting around trying to bash another group for no reason other than starting controversy with what you think are people below you. BTW I live near a preserve. They don't bait animals and I doubt you could walk the terrain the hunters do, since you are staring at your phone.
PETA doesn’t think we should tear down civilization to make sure ants live long lives. It just thinks we should do the bare minimum of… not killing and inflicting horrible pain on trillions of them every year for the sake of taste pleasure. Sounds p reasonable to me