I’m interested in hearing what Lemmings think about hunting. I started hunting deer years ago because I wanted to be a part of the process, like if I couldn’t handle killing and gutting an animal I shouldn’t be eating meat. IMO, it’s much more humane than what factory farmed animals endure. Less suffering overall than most natural deaths. Overpopulation causes disease and starvation and we killed off their predators, so we kind of owe it to nature to fill the ecological gap.
Also, I fucking love it. I watch the sun rise, think, record birds I’ve seen, think, watch squirrels play, think a bit more, and sometimes, I get some food.
Idk. I’m not looking for approval or trying to change your mind, just wondering what people think.
My dad has been bow hunting and black powder rifle hunting for my entire life. he only uses primitive arms because he says “it’s called hunting, not killing” and advanced weapons make it unfair. Most years he gets one or two deer. Some years he gets none. Sometimes he just sits in his tree and watches nature and doesn’t even pick up his bow. Sometimes he gets incredibly emotional when he gets a kill.
A few years ago I learned how to tan the hides because I’ve always wanted to, and because he was becoming more and more passionate about not wasting any part of the animal. You can do it with simple chemicals or you can use the animal’s brain!! (Unrelated fun fact, every mammal except the squirrel and the bison have exactly the right amount of brain matter to tan their own hides!)
I think it’s great if you’re doing it respectfully and consciously, and abiding by local conservation guidelines.
I started hunting deer years ago because I wanted to be a part of the process, like if I couldn’t handle killing and gutting an animal I shouldn’t be eating meat.
Sorry for the extreme parallel, but… “If I can’t handle murdering a defenseless child, I shouldn’t be in the military.”
Have you considered… just not doing that?
Also, I fucking love it.
I guess there’s the answer.
I tried writing my comment as nicely as possible, but the post seriously reads like a billionaire’s diary. I don’t know how else to put it.
Hunting for food is fine.
Hunting for trophies is not.
It’s absolutely necessary around where I live. If people don’t hunt the deer, they get killed by cars and that’s much worse for everybody involved.
I don’t have the spine to do it, but I’m all for people who do. Also, hunting is about the only reason people should have guns imo.
Shooting a deer that’s lived wild and free, making every effort to make the kill as quick and painless as possible seems like just about the most ethical way to get meat that I can think of. And especially in areas where the deer population is too high, it’s really important for managing the ecosystem. Plus, ammo and equipment sales get taxed specifically to fund conservation, which is important.
I also feel like if you can’t stomach the process of killing and cleaning an animal, maybe you shouldn’t eat meat at all?
By and large, I think hunting for food is a great way to get more in touch with where your food comes from, one of the most ethical ways to acquire meat, and a nice excuse to sit quietly in the woods without interruption. Trophy hunters can fuck off tho.
https://tvpworld.com/88387508/polish-hunter-kills-neighbor-after-mistaking-him-for-a-boar
Probably every year there is similar accident.
Hunting is fine. All that thinking will get you into trouble though. /s
Just be safe, responsible, and don’t poach. As long as you’re doing it for food or going after something like feral hogs, I think its fine, even important.
I think wild hunting is harmful to the environment, and hunting overall causes unnecessary suffering for the animal.
Overall, I’m turned against it. But if you really need to follow primal urge, at least put it to good use: some wildlife preservation projects require control of animal population, and a man with a rifle is by far the most common way.
Also, make use of your game, at least. Don’t hunt for trophies.
In many places deer are culled so they don’t become overpopulated then starve to death. You claiming it’s bad for the environment and it causes unnecessary suffering, as compared towards the meat industry, is simply ignorant.
I wrote this in the second paragraph
Just like humans have done for millennia and are meant too. Hunt. Cook. Feed. Then shit.
Rinse and repeat.
I’m from Finland, which has a 1340km border with Russia.
When my grandad grew up you’d either hunt or fish if you wantes to eat. My dad hunted. I’m the only one of my siblings with a hunting license. I was raised with a lot of “when the Russians come”-mentality.
I’ve been moving countries, so I’ve had to give up my rifles and I’m not that passionate about it that I’d figure out where to go do it. But I do think it’s a good skill to have, and I keep my license active.
And my two spaniels would love it.
I’m a Russian, living close to the Finnish border.
I’m absolutely not coming to attack Finland. You’re cool folks. Also, Helsinki rocks, and I really regret not coming to Tampere and Jyväskylä when borders were open. Oh, and food is first-class, too.
The only thing I’d say is: do something about Imatra. This place is depressing AF for a presumed tourist hotspot, especially through the fall and overcast.
As long as it’s done responsibly and legally I have no issues with it.
It’s legal so it’s cool is such a weird mindset
Not in this case, because hunting legally means you are preserving the ecosystem, culling a population that would likely starve in the winter and preserving breeding stock to keep the species going in a healthy manner without genetic bottlenecks.
MIssouri has some absolutely amazing wildlife preservation because conservationist make common cause with hunters.
Great point. The people in charge of regulating hunting, are the same people that decided that they love nature enough to dedicate their lives to protecting it. They aren’t trying to “sell more licenses” or promote hunting, they’re just maintaining the balance, and keeping people and nature safer.
I mean, ideally, yes; I wouldn’t romanticize the entire hunting population, given the amount of garbage I see in the woods.
Oh of course, there are assholes in every group! But I also wasn’t even talking about the hunters themselves, but the DCNR or whatever your state calls them.
Yes. I just visited Missouri once and whatever department in charge of hunting/preservation put out this amazing magazine just absolutely dripping with love for nature, a combo of hunting advice, animal lore, and scenery porn. I remember one article in particular about how to stack brush to encourage critters to grow; sure, maybe you want to grow critters so your beagle can flush them out and you can shoot them, but still, kinda cool to have SOME responsible stewardship with the land instead of playing Playstation all day.
Obviously depends on the country, but in most develop countries the law is reasonable enough that it’s a useful shorthand for what is ok in day-to-day situations.
if I couldn’t handle killing and gutting an animal I shouldn’t be eating meat
I had this exact line of thinking. But for me that means I don’t eat meat anymore. Killing really turns my stomach, and I don’t actually need meat to be healthy.
But I love hiking and camping, I just bring my own food instead of a gun or fishing pole.
There are mostly two:
- hunting is good
- hunting is bad
Hunting is meh. Some hunters are bad, careless or dangerous
I grew up listening to the sound of rifles from my bedroom and being warned not to go into the woods during the season. Whoever y’all are, you should be in jail for hunting in a populated area.
Then after the season was over, we had to haul trash out of the woods. Whoever y’all are, you need to got back to Scouts to relearn “leave no trace”
I made a post a month or so ago ( https://piefed.blahaj.zone/c/asklemmy@piefed.blahaj.zone/p/982397/have-you-ever-encountered-large-carnivores-in-the-wild ) in which I referenced a book I was reading. It gave me insight. It blew away my prejudice towards hunters. I’m trying to eat as little meat as possible because of how we treat industrially produced animals, but this book taught me, showed me, how much reverence and respect most hunters have towards their pray.
Do you have any epic pictures to share?
