I really think hunting as a sport is a gross hobby to have.
I think that people who enjoy taking an animal life for fun does not have much appreciation for life.

On the other hand, hunting for survival is fine!
I know some people who even in developed countries hunt and eat game meat as their only source of meat. I do not judge people who do so, as I do not always agree with farming practices either. I think if they are hunting in a legal, population regulated area and eat meat in moderation (NA society overconsumes meat in ridiculous amounts) then it is a perfectly valid way for them to get their meat and they probably actually appreciate the life of the animal that was given up even more. I actually kind of respect these people!

I have also heard in Australia kangaroos are frequently hunted as they overpopulate many areas and actually pose a threat to their own species as well as the environment. In cases like these I suppose hunting is OK as long as the population is controlled and their are standards to the hunting practices

Lilu9 wrote:

Hunting is unfair. You want a grizzly? Put the gun down, go and get it with your teeth and arms. Then probably it would be fine and pretty natural to me. Otherwise I just don't get it. Pretending what? Executioner, terminator or playing real life paintball?

Haha I have thought this before as well
Firearms really do give people an unfair advantage in the hunt
But it is all about moderation and respecting the animal's life I think

Human beings definitely impair the nature.

Human beings are part of nature, so you could argue that no matter what we do it's "natural". However, I disagree with hunting for sport. Taking a life for entertainment is something that shouldn't even exist, other animals don't kill just for the fun of it. I agree that hunting for survival is good, and in fact hunting your own meat is probably better overall than supporting the mass production of meat from farms. Not that the farmers would agree. :p

If I may be so bold as to put my thinking in here.
Man, should never be called a predator. Put a naked man against almost any naked animal and who wins? The animal of course. We are predators because we use weapons, which give us an unfair advantage over our prey.
Throw down your weapons oh great hunters and hunt on fair terms ... see how many 'trophies' you can collect then. Maybe a mounted frogs head wont have the same appeal???
I do hunt. I take my hawk out and match nature with nature. I only kill if animal the hawk has caught is struggling, then I kill in the quickest way possible, causing the least stress to the prey.
I only allow my hawk to catch what it will eat, and I feed it what it has caught.
That, people, is nature versus nature " border="0" />
(Whoever regards Eagles as Lesser predators has obviously never seen an Eagle take a wolf .... or fight off a bear or drag a deer off a cliff, or fly off with a goat ....)
May I also suggest, that mankind is evil, never can an animal be called evil, for animals do not torture each other, if and when they have to kill, it is done for a reason, even cats playing with food, is to hone their hunting skills ....
Just the opinion of someone that watches animals and actually learns from them
" border="0" />

I do a lot of hunting myself therefore have a strong opinion on the subject. I will be the first to say I hate trophy hunting. I only hunt what I will eat. I do not believe in hunting for sport. My family's main source of meat is what I bring home from my hunts,it is good for us in a couple of ways. One, game meat is much healthier than store bought meat,less fat, don't have to worry about things like steroids,etc. Also for a family of 5 it is much cheaper. A deer on average cost me about $30 by the time I buy a permit and some shells.If I use my bow it's even cheaper.We process our own meat so there is no butcher fees. I will not shoot a buck just for his rack,if there is a bigger doe close by I will take her...we can't eat horns, again I hate trophy hunting.

I also feel hunting is better then store bought meat because my family only takes what we eat.With store meat those animals are raised by the thousands and killed, butchered not even knowing if all the meat will be used.Time comes, it expires at the store and it's thrown out,that is a waste of a animal.I feel when one works hard for their food they also do not waste. My family and I have a very large garden,many fruit trees and a larger berry patch,again we do not waste those as well since we put a lot of work into those foods too.

I fight very hard for wildlife,I oppose the destruction of habitat,I support limits on how many animals can be taken and I am a firm believer in only allowing hunting during certain times of the year.I will turn in a poacher in a heartbeat. I spend a lot of time in the woods just watching nature,there are many times I have lied down my gun and sit on a log and watch mother nature do her thing,I have had squirrels sit on branches beside me and bark at me,I had a baby raccoon confused as he sit no more then 10 feet away trying to figure out what I was and I cherish those moments so I get very upset when people say that because I hunt I don't care about animals.I am sure like a lot of other hunters we do more for wildlife then most of the people who condemn us.

Now some say guns give us a unfair advantage. Yes and no, if you have never hunted then you don't know how disadvantaged humans are in the woods.I have watched groups of guys push a woods for deer and the deer set out of the side of the woods and fall in right behind the hunters and the hunters never know lol.It's not shooting fish in a barrel like the hunting shows make it out to be.Last year in Ohio 420,000 hunters got 90,000 deer...looks like the deer won to me.Now I don't use baits,or high powered rifles where I can shoot from a long distance.Those items do make it unfair in my eyes and I do know a lot of people use them, guess I'm old fashion when it comes to that.

I also get upset when someone has the nerve to tell me how evil it is to go out and shoot a deer while they are eating a cheeseburger. 100% vegetarians I will listen too since they are not being a hypocrite. My favorite comment is when some tells me "the reason it is okay to eat cows,chickens,pigs is because they are ugly and raised to be slaughtered but wildlife is a thing of beauty and should not be killed"....really...and I am the evil one lol.
Before I get off my soapbox I will finish with one thing....after every kill I follow a Native American tradition and thank the animal for their sacrifice to feed my family and I......how many did that at McDonald's today?

W0lverine wrote:

If I may be so bold as to put my thinking in here. Man, should never be called a predator. Put a naked man against almost any naked animal and who wins? The animal of course. We are predators because we use weapons, which give us an unfair advantage over our prey. Throw down your weapons oh great hunters and hunt on fair terms ... see how many 'trophies' you can collect then. Maybe a mounted frogs head wont have the same appeal??? I do hunt. I take my hawk out and match nature with nature. I only kill if animal the hawk has caught is struggling, then I kill in the quickest way possible, causing the least stress to the prey. I only allow my hawk to catch what it will eat, and I feed it what it has caught. That, people, is nature versus nature " border="0" /> (Whoever regards Eagles as Lesser predators has obviously never seen an Eagle take a wolf .... or fight off a bear or drag a deer off a cliff, or fly off with a goat ....) May I also suggest, that mankind is evil, never can an animal be called evil, for animals do not torture each other, if and when they have to kill, it is done for a reason, even cats playing with food, is to hone their hunting skills .... Just the opinion of someone that watches animals and actually learns from them " border="0" />

I have to disagree. Man is a predator. Predatory behavior is not limited to naked, physical prowess. The mind the best weapon a predator can have. Our minds are capable beyond that of all other life on the planet. Our minds have developed new ways to increase our chances and weapons are tools that our minds have conceived. Several animals use "tools" in very creative ways to catch food and if other animals had the capacity to create and use tools to increase their chances, as we do, I bet they would use them.

I'm personally a hunter, but my opinion only extends as far as those who hunt for food. Sport-Hunters disgust me, I don't see a point in voluntarily killing something you're not going to eat, and isn't going to serve you a purpose in its demise in any way. I guess you could say that I take a Native American p.o.v. on it.

If its not going to kill/eat you, I say leave it alone unless you're hungry.

Also a hunter.
(deer, moose, fox, and a little bit lagopus. Participated in a wolf-hunt once)

I see no problem as long as it's sustainable hunting-quotas regulated and controlled within a well-working set of laws. Which "motivation" each hunter got for it's decision to hunt, is of no interest/importance <b>as long as</b> it's within the previously mentioned laws/quota.

Btw, beeing a good hunter is based mainly on having a good attitude me think. The most important one is having an in-built instinct that says <i>don't shoot unless you're 110% fucking sure to actually hit your exact target and to do anything within your power to avoid letting the animal suffer (humane killing)</i>. And by "suffer" I also include "starve to death due to over-population" = hunt!


Personally, I hunt for several reasons. Contributing to keeping i.e the moose/deer-population down is one of them, sport/kick is one, contributing to my own food-budget is one, and having great nature-experiences is another. Hell, the wolf-hunt I participated in was purely out of curiosity, and what a jolly good fun it was.

As for the "fist-fight a bear instead of shooting it"-argument:
Nature gave the bear claws and teeths, but it gave us the brain to develop weapons and traps.

Do you think eating wild game is bad these animals find their own food they don't eat harvested crops that burn flailing. Fuels to harvest and they spay chemicals on the crops which is killing our fish and wild life