I think grouse/pheasant shoots still have beaters
Isn’t it at least possible to make the argument that controlled hunting of endangered species might be the best way to ensure their continued survival? It is certainly an argument I have heard about elephants in Africa - an elephant is often extremely harmful to a village community with all the damage it can do. In the absence of a legal ivory trade, the elephant is worthless to the village, so the villagers have no interest in prevent the poachers from killing it. Legalize the ivory trade in a limited fashion, and allow the local villagers a financial stake in the continued existence of elephants, then there becomes a reason to tolerate the property damage.
I am sure a similar argument could be made towards, for example, hunting tigers.
I object to the thread title. As both a hunter and someone that raises and slaughters animals for my family’s consumption, let me tell you that I have never once considered the act of killing to be “fun”.
I enjoy hunting, being in the woods is very relaxing to me, pitting my senses and strategies against those of wild animals gives me a sense of accomplishment, but in the moment that I pull the trigger or release the arrow I have never felt anything but regret and respect for the animal whose life I am taking. The reason I do it is because I enjoy eating meat, but the killing act is not fun.
The same goes with the animals I raise. I try not to become emotionally attached to my animals, but I do enjoy being around them and watching their antics. I raise them under the most humane and natural conditions that I possibly can, and I hope that they have enjoyed their life, free from hunger and predation. I have to remind myself that the purpose of their existence is to feed humans, and when slaughtering day comes, I thank them for providing meat for my table, and respect them by not wasting what they have provided. In no way do I think that anything involved with slaughtering an animal is “fun”, it is a necessary task that must be performed because I eat meat.
Recreational hunting is something that I would never choose to do, nor would I ever want to have antlers, horns, or other trophies on my walls. Still, in one respect the hunting community has a positive impact that should not be overlooked by those who care about animals and the environment. Like environmentalists, though for very different reasons, hunters care about the environment. They have to, because they know that in order for there to be deer for them to shoot at, there must be a stable ecology in the hunting area that can support the deer population. Obviously this isn’t applicable to every hunting scenario; the sort of “hunting” where they just release some pheasants to be shot at would be an example of that. But for the classic image of someone just heading out into the woods during deer season and having a shot I think it does apply.
A thoughtful passage. Can you picture a scenario in which the enjoyment of meat becomes outweighed by the regret and respect?
Sailboat
For myself the answer is no. Almost. The killing of something that was put here by God for my nourishment is a thanks to Him. The killing and eating of anything else would be an insult to my God. Therefore the beasts of this world are for my sustainment. The regret and respect for my food are simply my respect for my God.
I beg to differ. Killing things for fun is just stupid. The providence of children. Killing is a most serious thing. Man or animal, it is something not to be taken lightly. If you think killing is fun, Have you ever killed something of a higher order? It is defiantly a rush. You speak of killing animals as sport and fun. Have you ever killed something that could fight back? A beast so powerful it could fight back? A rifle at 700 yards is not a sure thing. Anything a few hundred yards closer? Something up close and personal? Maybe knifes range? Let me know how you feel then. When your balls drop is when the party starts.
Hijack:
I don’t have a dog in this fight, but can we please hear the story of the elephant and tiger hunt in detail? Where did it go down? When? Did both hunts happen on the same trip? Was it a sanctioned cull? Was the tiger a man-eater? Were the kills clean? What kind of rifle and range? Did you hunt off the back of a domestic elephant? How many gun-bearers were lost? Did the host family have a legal right to hunt? Did you wear a mask on the back of your head when stalking the cat?
That’s about all I can think of for now.
Don’t hold your breath waiting for an answer T_SQUARE.
The OP has a habit of starting a thread and then just vanishing, leaving the rest of us to argue the pros and cons
As I see it, this isn’t black and white, it’s all shades of grey. There’s a continuum between “killing an animal out of pure necessity” and “killing an animal purely for fun”, and meat-eating lies somewhere along the line while hunting lies some of the way - maybe all the way - further along.
Humans are either designed or evolved partly as meat-eaters, and given that we’re about the only species that cares one whit about the welfare of its meat animals I don’t think we need guilt ourselves excessively over eating as Nature has fitted us to. The thing is, I’ve just looked at that last sentence and it’s hard to argue that the word “hunt” can’t be fitted into it almost as well. I personally abominate killing for fun, but I find that my disapproval lessens when the prey is dangerous, or when the hunter must work hard for his kill; when push comes to shove, there are some forms of hunting I find less objectionable than others, even though I would not myself want to do any of them.
I agree completely with this. Hunters were the original conservationists in this country, even if it was simply for thier own selfish reasons. Ecological management wasn’t practiced as fully as it is these days, but it was a start. It angers me when my fellow hunters denigrate “tree-huggers” or the like. We are all in this together, and if the environmental conservationists and the hunting community could ever see past their petty differences and work together, it would be a powerful force for change.
I have considered this. My meat consumption is much less now than it was when meat came in plastic-wrapped styrofoam packages, and I tend to waste much less than I did before. I think it is much more likely that I would discontinue raising animals for slaughter than stop hunting, though.
Deer hunting is a very strong part of my family tradition, there are members of my family that I only see for one week each November, and skipping that camaraderie would be difficult. Another factor is that I deer hunt at my great-uncle’s farm, where controlling the population of local herd is a real concern, both for the herd’s health and my uncle’s pocketbook. I have read that Native Americans considered killing an animal as that animal giving itself to the hunter as a gift, if he was found worthy. So that is what I strive to do, I try to make myself worthy of the gift of its life, and as part of that I do my best to ensure a quick, clean kill and to use as much of that animal as I can.
August There is a world of difference between hunting and killing deer, not an endangered species, and killing tigers and elephants both of which are endangered in India where the OP says he killed them.
He further says that he did this so as not to commit a social faux pas.
It is possible that they had to stalk and kill a man-eating tiger or a rouge elephant, but that’s not a game for boys, so I doubt they would send the OP, who admits to being a rookie, on such a quest.
I guess we will never know, sense the OP isn’t interested in regaling us with tales of adventure.
Maybe his 30 days expired. He was listed as a Guest.
Virgins are too much trouble to deal with. I could certainly never get with a religion that burdened me with that. MY God promises me 17 highly experienced ladies if I commit atrocities in His name. A much better deal.
Well I’m not a religious man but I’d really like to know more about your religion.
Just out of interest yannow 
…with a view to becoming a convert
Sorry. It’s like Hinduism; you must be born into it. Maybe your next life?
The OP seems to indicate that eating meat is morally wrong because meat can only be obtained through the death of an animal, and that a vegetarian diet does not result in the deaths of animals. This is not entirely correct. Modern agriculture uses not only pesticides that kill insects, but also heavy machinery that tends to run over and crush cute little bunnies and gophers and the like, and tears apart countless earthworms. If I were to eat only vegan foods bought at my local supermarket, animals would still die for my sustenance. I could avoid this needless death by growing my own food in a garden, using techniques that don’t poison or mangle other animals. Unfortunately, I can’t do this and maintain my current lifestyle; this would take a great deal of my time and energy, perhaps all of it. I would not have the time or money for such modern luxuries as going to movies, reading books, or debating morality on the SDMB. My life would seriously lack for enlightenment and fulfillment.
If I choose to live a “supermarket vegan” lifestyle, I am still killing animals for my own enjoyment. For fun, if you will. The only difference between this lifestyle and a meat-eating lifestyle is the degree to which I am willing to inflict death upon lower animals for my own sake. Calling a supermarket vegan morally superior to a meat-eater is like calling the murderer of seven humans morally superior to the murderer of thirty humans.
I understand te point tat you are makin, but I don’t tink tat you’ve successfully establised tat untin and meat etain lie at substantially different parts of te scale. (p.s. keyboard broken)
Patience! I can’t be on te SDMB every day!
Sinceq, I tink, my randparents or maybeq my reat-randfater, my family and te family tat I was stayin wit (wo ad ad reat power sinceq time immemorial, solidified durin te raj and continuinin now in te India left by Mountbatten (and no furter details about tem - indeed I’ve already iven you enou information to identify tem - ow many placeqs ave bot tiers and elepants, after all)) ave been on very ood terms, and we reularly visit eac oters’ ancesteral omes. On one of tese occassions, tere was a unt oin on, and I was invited to join in, knowin full well from te animals ondisplay in te cvorridors of teir palaceq if notin else tat I mit beq sootin tese majestic creatures. And so I did, altou aruably it wans’t my weapontat killed te elepant, oters in teparty avin muc larer caibre weapons firin at te same time, it was certainly mine tat ot te tier, not so muc strait between te eyes as strait between te ribs.
I must apoloise for te partial illeibility of te above, two letters don’t work at all and some oter keys produceq interestin results.