Have you ever killed an animal or maybe even a person in self defense?
If you have done this more than once how did it make you feel the first time?
How do you feel when you kill something?
Reason I ask is because I got invited on a hunting trip and refused…when the family came back one son was excited about killing a rabbit the other had done the same but was remorseful?
I myself would never go hunting unless I needed to for food…and I would make a horrible Soldier or Police Officer because I’d be to unstable after killing even one person let alone dozens of people.
Ran over a momma cat and 3 of her 4 kittens when I was 19. Was an accident. And yes, for that, I am going to hell.
I went hunting once. In general I am dead against it, but a local farmer had a bad groundhog problem, losing a few cows a year when they broke legs in the holes. He was having them all poisoned the next day, so I felt good that any I shot wouldn’t have to die a much more horrible death.
I don’t feel guilty for doing it, but I feel guilty for enjoying it so much. I think humans still have a fair bit of the hunting instinct in them.
This is not a General Question, but rather a poll, so I moved it to IMHO.
START, read the forum descriptions before opening a thread. The descriptions are there for a reason.
Lynn
For the Straight Dope
Hm, chickens, ducks, turkeys, sheep and deer for food. No major feelings there [unless you want to count feelin that the plucking process is messy and a big pain in the rump…] Dogs, relieved to keep my animals safe upset at owners for letting their dogs run rampant illegally. Ran over a cat by accident about a year ago, felt truely horrible, found the owner and bought her a replacement from my family vets office [people post kittens and puppies on the board there. I dont want to patronize a critter farm=( and refuse to go to pet stores.]
Have always put down all my own injuredbeyond help or terminal pets and non-food destined animals*, always feel incredibly sad about it but it is my responsibility.
*non food animals are for example a normal food animal that has a medical problem that renders them inedible, like sheep pseudotuberculosis.
I killed a rat, once. (A wild one, not a pet.) Little bastard. He got his.
Killed a deer once; severed it in half. That’s what you get for totaling an '84 Cutlass Supreme, Bambi.
I chased a mouse under a fold in my rug, and punched it to death through the carpet.
Chickens. Rabbits. Never killed a deer or elk personally but I was there when it happened and I helped gut and skin them.
They were food. I feel sorry for people who never have fresh meat. It’s 100x better than anything you’ll get at the store.
I ran over a squirrel once, but it was his own stupid fault. I saw him ahead in the road. I slowed way down - I was pretty much moving at idle, figuring he’d bolt one way or another. Then from the rear of the vehicle, I heard a sickening thump and I knew I’d run over him. What a haunting sound.
I saw him flopping back and forth on the road behind me. A few hours later when I was driving in the opposite direction on that road, he was dead. Stupid squirrel - he must have just sat there.
Shot an elk and lots of pheasants hunting. Skinned lots of others. Shot a few varmits (I did some ranch type work and they don’t want rodents digging holes that can break legs). Beat a badger to death with a stick(fucker had been shot at least three time and we were out of ammo and it was killing a dog) Gas-chambering a bunch of baby skunks was the weirdest feeling one though.
Lit a squirrel on fire once.
He fell down the chimney, we started up the fireplace.
Was pretty gory actually, it climbed up on the grate, which cut it’s paws up, then it scratched at the glass, leaving bloody claw marks.
Didn’t really feel all that much. I dislike squirrels, and if it’s dumb enough to find its way in to a chimney (which had a grating over the entrance) and then fall down it, it deserved to die.
I killed a rat in a trap once in an apartment I was renting. The only feeling was elation (SUCCESS!). And squeamishness when disposing of the remains…that sucker was HUGE.
I ran over a possum and I felt really bad about it. I still say it was the asshole in front of me’s fault though: he’d been weaving back and forth most of the time we were behind him (we beeped the horn to get his attention when he nearly went over the ravine on the other side of the road- luckily that woke him up. at that point we began to think about looking for a phone booth to call the cops before he hurt someone. Sadly we lost him before we got his plate down, since we didn’t want to be on his bumper…) and when he slammed on the brakes and swerved, I figured he was just doing the like. Who knew he really saw something? 
I hope I never hear that sound again- thump + screaming friend.
Other than that, though, I’ve never knowingly killed anything that didn’t have at least 6 legs. I don’t even like to fish, since it’s possible they might feel pain, according to some recent studies. I don’t eat them, so why torture them by catching and releasing them? It’s not like that teaches them to avoid hooks…
I’ve whacked the odd squirrel that wasn’t fast enough to make it across the street in time. I did try to slow down.
Can’t think of anything I’ve personally killed other than insects (I was quite the murderous bastard with ants and such as a child), but I wouldn’t have anything against hunting for food. Hell, all the other carnivores do it. Well, except for the scavengers.
Doing whatever has to be done with the guts of an animal after killing it is a different issue altogether. Ugh.
I used to work in a pet store that specialized in reptiles. I killed lots of rats & mice to sell and to feed the critters. My boss had a carbon dioxide tank, so we’d put them in a plastic bag, fill the bag w/ CO2 and they’d just “fall asleep”.
I used to have a tegu and a snake, and fed them live (stunned) mice, until a mouse managed to bite my tegu’s eyelid… (my fault, not the mouse’s)
I popped a rabbit that was eating my roses. No remorse. I popped an opossum that had decided to live under my shed. My terrier took offense. So did I. I have killed, with my cars, a fat raccoon and a German Shepherd dog. I felt bad, even though I was Weeding Out The Slow And The Stupid, a noble pursuit.
I have killed hundreds of fish, for food. There’s nothing more natural than that. God blessed the bluegill with the tastiest meat in the water. Thanks, God, and thanks for horseradish, too.
4 parts Miracle Whip
1 part prepared horseradish
Enough ketchup to make it pink
Not hot enough? Add Frank’s Red Hot Sauce to taste.
Oh, yeah, babe. Oh, yeah. 
Ran over a squirrel by accident. (That, or the squirrel committed suicide by car)
I felt awful!
Rabbits, wood pigeons, feral pigeons, rats, grey squirrels, magpies- Airgun hunting, mostly for vermin control, but wood pigeons to eat, along with the occasional rabbit. I also killed a rabbit with because it was so far gone with mixy that I could just walk up to it without it seeing me, poor thing. Add to that lots of fish (I refuse to eat the mackerel that you buy in the shops having eaten it freshly caught) and one cat that was lying in the road, with it’s back end squashed, having been run over no collar and crawling with fleas, so I can only assume that it was a stray .
As for the feelings involved, the stuff that I kill hunting, or fishing gives me no real excitement, although there is satisfaction involved in getting a difficult shot. The mixy bunny and the cat, however, made me feel very sad, but also that I had done the right thing.