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Eleanors38

(18,318 posts)

77. There may be a pleasure in killing, but I cannot relate...

Fri Oct 2, 2015, 03:30 PM

Oct 2015

I have killed plenty of deer, dove, squirrel, etc for consumption and the pleasure of hunting them. But the actual killing act does not spur some unmentionable pleasure in the loins. I am happy that I make a skillful wing shot, but in that second I am watching the bird's fall so that I can retrieve it. Then I am happy for the experience.

With deer, I am absorbed with correct breathing, proper rifle form, aim, stance and bullet placement (on/in the vital area). The act of killing is complex and deserves a measure of orthodoxy. Is it exciting? Yes, in the since that my breathing must be consciously controlled, my heartbeat is accelerated, and my movements subject to trembling. Yet even here it is best to "call the shot:" Through the reddish flame front, the kick and the world-filling report, you should have an instant snapshot of where the cross hairs lie on the deer's body. This better ensures a clean kill (the deer goes down on the sport, or runs maybe 70 yards and falls, never again to rise).

Maybe this is what some call taking pleasure in killing, sharing with ancient humans the same emotions coursing through the blood. Is it really "pleasure?" Is it ambivalence of the highest order? Will I grow tired of it? I don't know, but it is in us whether we choose to experience it or not.

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I don't get hunting... [View all] DemocratSinceBirth Oct 2015 OP

The eat what you shoot, covers probably 99% of hunters. ileus Oct 2015 #1

Your numberrs are way off Reter Oct 2015 #15

"From the hunters I know, I'd say only about 30% eat what they kill." cleanhippie Oct 2015 #29

Some of them are Reter Oct 2015 #91

Anecdotal evidence is fun. Act_of_Reparation Oct 2015 #71

Obviously you can't go by my small sample of 15 people or so Reter Oct 2015 #90

Then you don't know very many hunters. GGJohn Oct 2015 #97

Yeah I don't know anybody d_r Oct 2015 #105

I doubt Dick Cheney or Sarah Palin do. Or lion hunters on pricey safaris. nt valerief Oct 2015 #26

Most eat it but do it for sport. Not sure how it is challanging but ok. Nt Logical Oct 2015 #54

I did it some growing up Recursion Oct 2015 #2

Same, until I was 13. Lizzie Poppet Oct 2015 #27

I love fishing too Recursion Oct 2015 #43

My husband cooks ohheckyeah Oct 2015 #60

Oh, that sounds like a great way to prepare 'em. Lizzie Poppet Oct 2015 #62

I'm spoiled ohheckyeah Oct 2015 #63

I think the vast majority of hunters do eat what they hunt Travis_0004 Oct 2015 #3

I will just say I am thinking of the clown who shot the poor lion./nt DemocratSinceBirth Oct 2015 #5

I think the meat was donated. Travis_0004 Oct 2015 #8

That makes more sense - you might say sport hunting or trophy hunting el_bryanto Oct 2015 #10

It would be nice if they could get someone to donate butchering Marrah_G Oct 2015 #6

Texas has a well-run system of animal donation... Eleanors38 Oct 2015 #72

you think CreekDog Oct 2015 #89

Most hunters eat what they kill Marrah_G Oct 2015 #4

Setting aside whether you get it and whether it should be called sport... HereSince1628 Oct 2015 #7

This alarimer Oct 2015 #30

Yes, cameras, binoculars and even bird seed have been proposed in various places HereSince1628 Oct 2015 #79

The sport is in the fact that the animal I'm hunting can smell, hear and run much better than I can, Brickbat Oct 2015 #9

Yeh. I understand. Your gun is hardly even relevant. What total bullshit. HERVEPA Oct 2015 #33

Which is...not what I said. Brickbat Oct 2015 #41

Brickbat is right. Your gun (or bow, or hunting pistol, or whatever) is less important... Eleanors38 Oct 2015 #73

Good question. I eat my kills AND enjoy hunting as a "sport." Eleanors38 Oct 2015 #68

I get so tired of the image of the "good" hunter being a poor soul who has no other option Brickbat Oct 2015 #70

Yeah, and then there are the many animals who just get wounded and have Arugula Latte Oct 2015 #88

The number of animals not recovered by hunting is hard to determine... Eleanors38 Oct 2015 #100

I just cut down 5 new arrows for my sons first day of bow season tomorrow. ileus Oct 2015 #94

Enjoy! Good hunting! Brickbat Oct 2015 #101

been hunting all my life belcffub Oct 2015 #11

It is a tough subject Travis_0004 Oct 2015 #38

Only times I've ever been hunting JackInGreen Oct 2015 #12

I hunt for the food and the enjoyment. The 2 aren't mutually exclusive. Eleanors38 Oct 2015 #74

So, you're under the impression that hunters in the U.S. are not eating what ChisolmTrailDem Oct 2015 #13

They don't have to shoot back to make it sporting Shrek Oct 2015 #14

I feel the same way about fishing! Lizzie Poppet Oct 2015 #28

Congratulation for when you outwit the animal. I'm sure your weapon gives no advantage. HERVEPA Oct 2015 #36

Not only do I always eat what I kill, safeinOhio Oct 2015 #16

Growing up in the exurban south I have eaten alligator's tail. Tasted like chicken too... DemocratSinceBirth Oct 2015 #17

I get what you are saying. safeinOhio Oct 2015 #19

Very few hunters NEED to eat what they are hunting PowerToThePeople Oct 2015 #18

You might find it sick, on the other hand I find safeinOhio Oct 2015 #21

.. PowerToThePeople Oct 2015 #24

Can we assume you are not an omnivore? Snobblevitch Oct 2015 #22

so lets stop all hunting belcffub Oct 2015 #25

So it's more moral to eat chickens raised in inhumane conditions? cwydro Oct 2015 #31

I agree with all you have said. PowerToThePeople Oct 2015 #35

How are you defining "need"? Brickbat Oct 2015 #34

Awww, someone haz a sad. GGJohn Oct 2015 #98

Factory farmed animals aren't exactly living the good life.... think Oct 2015 #102

true PowerToThePeople Oct 2015 #103

Sorry. I missed the above post. think Oct 2015 #104

I've never known any hunter, myself included who didn't eat what they shot. Autumn Oct 2015 #20

I get hunting. What I don't get is the pleasure in killing. Tierra_y_Libertad Oct 2015 #23

There may be a pleasure in killing, but I cannot relate... Eleanors38 Oct 2015 #77

Sounds like pleasure to me. Tierra_y_Libertad Oct 2015 #78

I can't say. We live in a conservative society, suspicious of pleasure... Eleanors38 Oct 2015 #84

I don't get it, but properly regulated I can see its place. geek tragedy Oct 2015 #32

Specifically we would have to re-introduce predators that farmers don't want Recursion Oct 2015 #46

city parks need more predators that munch on chipmunks and squirrels geek tragedy Oct 2015 #47

The problem is coyotes have a way of munching on Fifi the Poodle, too Recursion Oct 2015 #49

mustelids could do, pit vipers and constrictors are generally geek tragedy Oct 2015 #50

I was even thinking "rattlesnakes seem like the most obvious choice" Recursion Oct 2015 #51

rattlesnakes are getting more dangerous than ever in parts of the west. geek tragedy Oct 2015 #52

I lived in Van Nuys which is a pretty densely populated L A suburb. DemocratSinceBirth Oct 2015 #56

DC is full of coyotes Recursion Oct 2015 #57

If you eat what you shoot, it's probably no more immoral than a trip to the supermarket. If . . . leveymg Oct 2015 #37

Lived subsistence in Alaska for more than a decade Scootaloo Oct 2015 #39

Heh. Brickbat Oct 2015 #42

Humans aren't the top predator out there. And despite what you might think, neither are bears Scootaloo Oct 2015 #44

Tell me all about it -- I live in Minnesota. Brickbat Oct 2015 #45

So, so true. Blue_In_AK Oct 2015 #58

There is hunting, and there is trophy hunting. Glassunion Oct 2015 #40

Thank you for adding the last sentence. jwirr Oct 2015 #48

I used to do it HassleCat Oct 2015 #53

Shooting a helpless animal is not a challange. Maybe bow hunting is. Nt Logical Oct 2015 #55

It can be very challenging Shrek Oct 2015 #61

Many game animals have plenty of traits that ensure they are not "helpless." Brickbat Oct 2015 #64

LOL, ok, then kill them with a knife. Fair fight. If hunting is so damn hard why are so many killed? Logical Oct 2015 #81

So many what, deer? There aren't. Brickbat Oct 2015 #83

That is a high percent. So must not be that difficult. nt Logical Oct 2015 #86

Why do so many get away or go unseen? Ichigo Kurosaki Oct 2015 #85

I refuse to bow hunt Ichigo Kurosaki Oct 2015 #80

I agree. Herding cows into pens, keeping chickens in tiny cages is no challenge at all. uppityperson Oct 2015 #95

Tradition! Iggo Oct 2015 #59

:'( darkangel218 Oct 2015 #65

If they are in it for sport only they should use nothing but a pocket knife nt LostOne4Ever Oct 2015 #66

And if it's a sport, I'm rooting for the non-humans. (n/t) Iggo Oct 2015 #76

Some people get hungry and don't live in a first world environment. Rex Oct 2015 #67

We've all got ancestors who saw people of the neighboring village as "meat..." hunter Oct 2015 #69

Sounds like Russian folklore. Rex Oct 2015 #75

People who eat meat but object to hunting are hypocrites. Cheese Sandwich Oct 2015 #82

Planting, propagating, and harvesting crops of all kinds also displaces many creatures mac56 Oct 2015 #87

deer hunters in this area madokie Oct 2015 #92

Population control, enjoying a hike in the woods, and sometimes tasty meat. X_Digger Oct 2015 #93

My grandparents were dirt poor laundry_queen Oct 2015 #96

Hunting is morally superior Kang Colby Oct 2015 #99