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

[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.