Juan Foote

Hunting for food?

Hunting for trophy?


It was always an integral part of the culture in my upbringing. A lot of my family and friends do, I have but don't particularly actively seek to do so any more. I honestly prefer to fish, but haven't even done that in some time now. I 110% support hunting for food. I am in support of hunts to control or curb population. Not so much a fan of trophy hunting and more specifically certain types of it.

Seattle Forrest

As a hiker, you never see them more than about two miles from the road.

bikecrate

Yeah, food okay. Trophy hunting I don't get. Especially big game hunters who go overseas to kill rare animals. As far as local hunters go, when in season, they park their trucks up and down the highway. When they leave there is usually a bunch of trash left behind. Not a fan of that.

wgscott

I don't like killing animals, so don't hunt. I have killed some rats and gophers, but now have cats do my dirty work. Unfortunately they slaughter birds, so you can't win.

I have no problem with living in harmony with nature and hunting for food. But I don't do either.

fords4life

Some very broad generalizations in this thread so far. I hunt and am proud to do so. If I kill it, I know how it's been handled and it's as organic as it gets. Hunting and fishing to feed your family, friends, etc. is as natural as it gets and is good for the environment. We always pick up trash if we see it out hunting, or even out target shooting for that matter.

nondes 

Ontario has recently opened up a season for hunting cormorants, to "manage" the population, under pressure from the hunting and fishing folk. It's not even a managed cull. Hunting and fishing for food is OK, but cormorants are inedible. They have increased in numbers but are just reacting to the imbalances created by humans over the years.

FiftySix

My grandpa and dad took me quail and deer hunting as a kid. I've been dove and deer hunting as an adult.

I haven't been hunting in over 20 years because hunting became much too expensive. Lease costs alone have risen out of affordable range compared to what it was in the 20th century.

Fishing . . . done that too. Mostly from a boat in saltwater near the coast. To me, fishing is just like hunting if you don't throw the fish back.

So, I'm a grocery store hunter now that is far removed from cleaning animals anymore.

Edit to add: Always ate what we hunted.

Steve B.

Agree with this and for this purpose I'm OK with it. Trophy killing I don't get and am opposed to. Same with catch and release, why bother, the fish may or may not survive. Catch to eat, no problem.

coffeesnob

I am not against hunting. It just isnt for me. Like others have said , those who kill big game for sport I'd like to ........fill in the blanks

Digger Goreman

Totally unnecessary....

fujidon

Humans have hunted for many thousands of years. We probably wouldn't be here if they didn't. We no longer "hunt" for animal protein and instead raise animals for food.

Hunting today is not for sustenance, it's for maintaining a tradition and usually for sharing the experience.

I don't hunt. I have no interest. I'd rather hike in the woods. If hunters respect nature (they usually do) and make use of the animals they pursue (which is also about respect), I have no issues with it...
Just don't shoot me :-)

tyrion

I think hunting for food is more moral than eating factory farm meat. Trophy hunting - not so moral, IMO.

Marcus_Ti 

Last year I-680 from OMA to Iowa I-29 was closed for flooding....the detour sent you on a bit of a roundabout jaunt via Blair on HWY30 to the State Line to connect to I-29. Where am I going with this?

That entire state highway, cutting through the flood plain and private farm fields....for 10 miles, about every 1/4 mile had 'NO RIFLE HUNTING OR PARKING' signs on both sides of the road....because the local artillery fans would camp that highway and fill the shoulders to prove to everyone how small their manhood is....OH.....and trespass doing it.

FiftySix

Women hunt, too. Pretty sure they aren't worried about manhood.

FiftySix

I've learned to be mindful of what I wear while in the woods.

jon c. 

Trophy hunting is now so universally reviled I'm surprised it is still allowed to persist.

Otherwise, hunting is not something I do but I don't really care that others do.

There is a lot of deer hunting around my home. Quite close at times. So I do hope the hunters are responsible. Haven't heard of any problems though.

RubeRad

That sounds about where I land, except I have no family/friend culture of hunting. I don't own a gun (I'm not against it, I just see it as more of a burdensome safety/education/training responsibility than a benefit), but I am very attracted to the concept of free meat.

skidder

Trophy hunting? No

Hunting for food. Sure, I'm OK with it as long as hunters don't leave 'gut piles' along a trail or in/near a parking lot. Yech!!!

Me: Target shooting using a bolt-action rifle with 22LR ammo. Also used to do archery (target shooting, too), but shooting with a bolt-action rifle is just a special experience to me.

genec

For trophies, no; for food, OK.

Eat what you kill.

canklecat

I'm okay with hunting for food, pest control and trophies as part of herd management.

I've hunted for food and pest control, although it's been almost 20 years since my last time. I might again some day. I'm kinda tempted to try bow hunting or black powder season. And boar hunting with a spear is on my bucket list. It'll make a nice epitaph on my grave after the boar mauls me to death in the process.

But I wouldn't participate in trophy hunting and wouldn't publicize photos from trophy hunting. It comes across as tone deaf and tactless at best, and at worst arrogant stupidity in this cultural environment. People who oppose trophy hunting won't care about the herd management aspect. And, frankly, the reason why herd management is even necessary is because of human encroachment into natural animal territory, or mismanagement through introduction of destructive invasive species. So there are valid arguments against trophy hunting, even if I happen to disagree with those arguments. Herd management is necessary, whether we like it or not, and wealthy trophy hunters pay a lot of money for the privilege, which is intended to assist with maintaining a healthy herd, within the limitations of artificial boundaries necessitated by human encroachment.

downtube42

One day while out deer hunting at my sister's in the UP, I realized what I liked was being in the woods. Walking, seeing things, smelling the smells, the quiet and the sounds. So I ditched the gun, licensing, seasons, and dealing with the carcass that came with success. Now I hike and backpack, and enjoy it immensely. That was about 40 years ago. Can't say I ever missed anything about hunting.

I had the fortune to travel to Africa some years ago, went on a mini safari, and saw wild lion, giraffe, rhino, greater kudu, elephant. The thought that I somehow could have the right to kill one of those animals for the thrill, or for the trophy. I can't wrap my head around that.

ups

Apart from being an enjoyable outdoor tradition, hunting is a vital natural resource management tool. Unmanaged deer herds would cause untold crop and forest damage.

indyfabz

I have toured a lot out west and have talked to a lot of people who fill their freezers for the winter with things like deer and antelope. It’s especially convenient when you live 60 miles from the nearest thing resembling a grocery store and you’re socked in by snow.

Hunting for sustenance may not be technically necessary, but it certainly exists on a large scale.

vespasianus

What is worse, shooting a deer, elephant or tiger just for fun or eating a chicken sandwich knowing what goes into making that cost $2.99?

ahsposo 

Nothing more fun than killing beautiful things