# I don't 'get' hunting **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 21, 2009, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-hunting/514605 "2009-10-21T14:38:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-hunting/514605/101 "2009-10-22T03:39:29Z")
> [@ivn1188](#): > > Can we get a cite for this, if we’re being factual? Berries and the like aren’t high in caloric density, whereas a single buffalo could feed a lot of people. > > You _do_ have a cite? Right? No. She’s right. Bramble and Lieberman out of Harvard spent a lot of time trying to figure out what changed between australopithecus and Homo Erectus. The former was not eating any meat, the latter was. The problem was that Homo Erectus had been around for two million years whereas the bow and arrow had been around for 20,000 years and the spear for 200,000. For 1.8 million years Homo Erectus was eating meat that he got **with his bare hands.** Persistence hunting is reliable and can produce a steady supply, but in most climates their is a seasonality to it, plus, we clearly didn’t evolve as strict carnivores. The diet we evolved to eat, involves about 75% of our calories coming from the plant world. We evolved from plant eaters who learned to supplement their diets significantly with meat. ---
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-hunting/514605/102 "2009-10-22T03:40:32Z")
> [@ivn1188](#): > > Can we get a cite for this, if we’re being factual? Berries and the like aren’t high in caloric density, whereas a single buffalo could feed a lot of people. > > You _do_ have a cite? Right? You forgot about nuts. Nuts, baby. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-hunting/514605/103 "2009-10-22T03:46:16Z")
> [@Scylla](#): > > You forgot about nuts. Nuts, baby. Suck it, you Republican, Dick Cheney face-hunting creep… 🙂 As quoted by me: \*I’ve never hunted in my life but I appreciate those who do so responsibly. There’s nothing creepy about it because the OP is attributing some kind of cheap thrill to the killing process that in the minds of the hunters I know, just isn’t there. Sure, there’s the “nice shot, Jenson” aspect (just like killing the DEATH STAR), but it’s fleeting and arbitrary. The hunters I know want the meat, and I’m glad for it…because they are willing to share the meat with me and suffer the truly icky parts of field dressing an animal like a deer that I don’t have the heart for (although I have eaten pickled deer heart…JUST LIKE ROAST BEEF!). OP, you are kinda creepy in that you somehow vicariously associate the “thrill of the kill” as the be all and end all of hunting…when mostly that just isn’t true. This isn’t some 1924 African Safari so a British Lord can get a tiger pelt for his estate house…it’s deer and other herd animals that quite frankly aren’t hunted enough. I bet you would feel differently when you and your car was destroyed because of a collision in a state where the bag limit is too low to thin out the deer herd.\* Please refute, OP. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-hunting/514605/104 "2009-10-22T03:52:03Z")
> [@Scylla](#): > > You forgot about nuts. Nuts, baby. Wasn’t acorns one of the staples of the Native American diet? I think I read that somewhere… ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-hunting/514605/105 "2009-10-22T04:07:28Z")
> [@ExTank](#): > > Wasn’t acorns one of the staples of the Native American diet? I think I read that somewhere… They are mighty fine for fattening up Serrano ham pigs for slaughter, and add to their nutty flavor…but sadly, they aren’t hunted. So these are not the hogs the OP was looking for. ---
**Author:** ![Tristan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tristan/32/18058_2.png) [@Tristan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tristan)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-hunting/514605/106 "2009-10-22T04:35:13Z")
OP won’t be back, you’re (and I’m) all posting in a troll thread. That being said, I am 34, and have never actually gone hunting. I was brought along on a few hunting trips as a child, but did not shoot anything myself (and in the one instance of deer hunting, deer are magical creatures that become invisible, it would appear. At this point, I would love to try, and I live in the right place (Semi-rural Western PA) but have no clue how to field dress a deer, or cut one up, or anything of that nature. And I am just self conscious enough to not want to be the idiot grown man who doesn’t know that stuff around here… ---
**Author:** ![ivn1188](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e480ec/32.png) [@ivn1188](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivn1188)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-hunting/514605/107 "2009-10-22T06:18:40Z")
> [@Scylla](#): > > No. She’s right. Except for this: [http://escholarship.org/uc/item/4wc9g8g4](http://escholarship.org/uc/item/4wc9g8g4) easily found cite which disagrees that more calories came from gathering. The idea that women supported the hunters in hunter-gatherer cultures is _at best_ plausible. It is by no means at all an accepted conclusion. Regardless of what we “evolved to eat” which is, to me, a ridiculous concept, stating controversial ideas as obvious fact is just wrong. Especially, as in this case, without providing a cite. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-hunting/514605/108 "2009-10-22T13:46:30Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > I think it’s a little dishonest to say it isn’t. > > Odesio I think you’re speaking out of turn. When I hunt, it is easily my least favorite part of hunting. I hate taking the life of an animal, but it’s something I got past. You can take your little “dishonesty” bit and shove it. Not all of us are like you. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-hunting/514605/109 "2009-10-22T13:49:38Z")
> [@Tristan](#): > > OP won’t be back, you’re (and I’m) all posting in a troll thread. Yes, but trolls are always in season, you don’t need a tag, and there are no bag limits! ---
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-hunting/514605/110 "2009-10-22T14:29:52Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > No, no, no. Fishing is about _drinking beer_. As Grandpa Rhymer used to say, “You have to be careful to use the right bait, because if you mess up and use something the fish will actually nibble at, you might spill your Bud.” I was known, when younger, to cut the hook off my line because the fish were bugging me by nibbling/biting too much… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-hunting/514605/111 "2009-10-22T16:05:10Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > You have got to be kidding me. You underestimate the blood lust some people have. Hunting is probably a healthy outlet for some people, like porn being a release for potential sex offenders. It is better than the alternatives. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-hunting/514605/112 "2009-10-22T16:13:56Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > You underestimate the blood lust some people have. Hunting is probably a healthy outlet for some people, like porn being a release for potential sex offenders. It is better than the alternatives. I don’t underestimate anything. My position has never been that all people feel a certain way. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-hunting/514605/113 "2009-10-22T16:55:25Z")
Alright, now that that’s settled, who wants to fix me some venison? ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-hunting/514605/114 "2009-10-22T16:58:55Z")
> [@BlinkingDuck](#): > > I was known, when younger, to cut the hook off my line because the fish were bugging me by nibbling/biting too much… 😃 Um…are you implying that we’re not supposed to do that? ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-hunting/514605/115 "2009-10-22T17:14:07Z")
In modern hunting and gathering cultures, most of the calories definitely come from the women’s work, which can be pretty difficult work when you look at the kind of starches that are available in those parts of the world - they require a lot of prep work. “Gathering” isn’t just nuts and berries, of course. ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-hunting/514605/116 "2009-10-22T17:23:03Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > In modern hunting and gathering cultures, most of the calories definitely come from the women’s work, which can be pretty difficult work when you look at the kind of starches that are available in those parts of the world - they require a lot of prep work. “Gathering” isn’t just nuts and berries, of course. Well, what is your definition of “gathering?” And what about Eskimo tribes? They don’t seem to consume much in the way of gathered foods, at least as a percentage of their daily caloric intake. ---
**Author:** ![whole\_bean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@whole\_bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whole_bean)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-hunting/514605/117 "2009-10-22T17:31:51Z")
> [@Scylla](#): > > I like hunting. > > I like killing. > > I like carving. > > I like grilling. > > I love the outdoors. > > I find it thrilling. > > Fresh meat is healthy and filling. > > * * * > > Seriously, what the fuck is wrong with all the pussified people that have a problem with hunting? Somebody oughtta drop them in the middle of the woods a la Bear Grylls for a proper taste of reality. > > I know that when I’m dealing with somebody that has a problem with hunting that I am dealing with a total idiot. It’s the best test I know. You don’t have to enjoy it, you don’t have to do it, but if you have a problem with it you are a moron. > > Four million years of evolution has made you a collossal hunting badass. Everything about you that makes you human, makes you a hunter. Evolution has sacrificed just about everything else to make you the ultimate hunter. > > You are weak. The muscles in your body are inferior from a strength standpoint. The weakest chimpanzee in the world can kick the ass of the strongest man. They have different fast twitch muscles. > > Our muscles are built for endurance, not strength. We can run all day long in the heat of the day because we can sweat, have no hair on our body and are loaded with slow twitch muscles. We have the biggest asses of any primate to propel us long distance, binocular vision, and a special ligament in the back of our neck to turn our eyes into “steady cams.” while we run. There is no other animal on the planet that can cover the distance we can in the heat of the day. > > We evolved to persistence hunt, to chase after game all day and run it down until it dies of heat exhaustion. Even our brains evolved empathy to allow us to think like an animal and track it. Even the way you breathe has evolved to allow to you run with endurance. Every other running animal is limited to one breath per stride, but we can take fewer or more depending upon our needs. The cartilage in your knees depends upon a lifetime of running to provide it with the blood flow to keep it strong and vital. If you don’t it atrophies and is prone to injury. If you don’t follow the forms you’ve evolved to, you atrophy into a fat useless waste of protein. > > If not a hunter, you are nothing. You are a hammer pretending to be a screwdriver. > > * * * > > There is this pretend ethic that killing is wrong. Killing is not wrong. Suffering is not wrong. I have news for you. You will die. Because we are particularly inhumane to each other chances are you will suffer immensely for a long time before you die. No one here gets out alive. > > As the Radiators say, it’s the Law of the Fish: > > “The big ones eat the little ones. The little one’s have to be fast. It’s the law of the fish now, Momma. You got to move your ass.” > > Somebody else said: “The Gazelle wakes up every morning knowing it needs to be faster than the slowest lion if it wants to live. The Lion wakes up every morning knowing it needs to be faster that the slowest gazelle if it want to eat. But, come dawn, Lion or Gazelle, you best be running.” > > In the book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, the author shows how wild caught game is much more nutritious than farmed, so there’s that, too. > > I hunt, because that’s who I am. It’s who you are too, you just don’t know it. > > If you have a problem with hunting, you are an idiot and a moron, you are a pretender to an ethic that does not exist, and has no validity. > > Your mere humble existence cause suffering and pain and death to the animal kingdom. No way around that. You gonna hide from that? You waste of breath. I think you have a responsibility to see things die, to kill them with your own hand, so that you know you place in this world, your role, and the **cost** your existence inflicts. > > How can you not “get” hunting. That’s like a car not “getting” driving, wanting to stay in the garage all day. If you don’t “get it,” there’s something wrong with you. There’s something broken. > > What’s broken is this: > > The universe is a cruel and unfriendly place. You are in the precarious situation imaginable. You live on a tiny little rock, hurtling through frigid airless space. The conditions that support you, the warmth, liquid, light, the entire environment, is the most transitory, fleeting and fragile thing you can imagine. > > You’ve been dying since the day you were born, and suffering too. There is no difference between death and suffering, and life and joy. They are not even two sides of the same coin. Just like there is no hot and cold, only temperature; there is no suffering and death and joy… only life. And. that will end. > > Take part in it. Run. Hunt. Breathe. Eat. Kill. Fuck. Raise Rugrats and teach them to do the same. > > If you have a problem with hunting, you’ve lost sight of this. You are a ship adrift. A thing without purpose. > > **I** have a problem with people that have a problem with hunting, just as I have a problem with anybody who is a conspicuous waster. You are wasting life. You have it wrong. You’re fucked up. > > Now get out there and kill some things! Horseshit. The “universe” is completeley indifferent to you or your attempts to compensate. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-hunting/514605/118 "2009-10-22T18:01:28Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > As a kid my family fished much. Not much beats very fresh seafood IMO. But let me tell you, those were some DAMN expensive fish we were eating. And thats not even considering our time invested. > > I suspect with most hunters its the same. Its lots of things, but for most of them I bet thats also some damn expensive meat. Brings to mind something from Dalmations; second Chapter, Verse 19 Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day. Teach the same man to flyfish and he’ll drop $900 at Orvis in the next week. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-hunting/514605/119 "2009-10-22T18:02:17Z")
I’ve read the whole thread now, and come to two conclusions. 1. nice pickup **Guin** 2. I want to go hunting with **Skald.** and **ghardester**. (Scylla too, but it might be too cosmic for me. ) ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-hunting/514605/120 "2009-10-22T18:05:56Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > I went turkey hunting once. > > As god as my witness, I thought turkeys could die. > > I was mistaken. I’ve never gone to that mall again 🙂 Actually, wild ones do fly. And if you ever get the chance to legally “wing-shoot” one, do so ---------- they fall in a most amazing manner. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-hunting/514605.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-hunting/514605.md?page=7)