Please explain the "fun" of hunting

[BrassyPhrase]

@Gray_Ghost

It’s also fun to outwit game. One of the hunts I remember most, didn’t even happen during hunting season. We were visiting a dam in California, when Pop saw some deer feeding in a meadow a few hundred yards away. Despite not being in camo, but by taking into account the deer’s head position and the wind direction, we were able to sneak up to 65 yds of them. (The exact distance is from pacing it after the wind shifted, and Bambi went Mach 1 out of the area. Practice enough bowhunting and you get good at telling the difference between 35 and 40 yards.) Took us about an hour or so and it was a blast. Nothing died.

I had to read that a few times to see that you actually did the ‘hunt’ not the killing. I was thinking “Hey, I was mentally composing something about ‘ethical hunting’ (not an oxymoron) and then you said you killed something not in season!”

BUT YOU DIDN’T

So I was very yay!!! You are the person I want to talk about.

It’s what I call "the ethical hunter’. I’m not a vegetarian, I’ve tried and I’ll never be. So, for some game, I have no problem at all about hunting. Deer are gorgeous and majestic, but they can be pests and they aren’t rare. Elk aren’t endangered, I don’t think. If you follow the rules, pay your fees, only take what is allotted…I have no problem with hunting. It’s not my thing, but I read a lot of good stories and arguments on this thread. (And some I know from just life, reading about public lands, etc.–those licenses and fees (and deer leases kept more natural) help pay for more natural land.)

My dad used to fish. Mostly bass fishing (with lures) but I’ve gone fishing with him. He had two daughters and some of the nicest times with him at the ages that he would’ve been taking out his sons, was my sister and I (at different ages) sitting in boats quietly in the morning not catching anything.

Some of the times when I was a young girl/ teenager that I ever really sat and talked with my dad.

Fresh caught fish does taste MUCH better. *(His fishing club did do taking out disadvantaged kids and fishing trip fish fries and fundraiser besides just fishing.)

He was mostly catch-and-release b/c with fish it works, they go back and have more fishiebabies and you can catch more fish later! But he caught two that he won tournaments in his fishing club and had mounted. They were on the walls for years. I noticed he’d taken them down one day that I was visiting and asked why and he said, “You know, I wanted a trophy, but now I really wished I’d put those fish back in the water.”

I’m rambling here, I know. But in my life I know people who enjoy hunting and I’ve been the benefactor of some venison chili (more than once) and I was taught well and I say “Oh thank you, that’s great!”

So here’s the end:tl;dr

But no, I find venison gamey too. Fish is awesome fresh. I have cleaned fish, I hated it. But the fish was great. I get that hunting can be fun, but I get that from a video game. (I think most of the fun of hunting is the chasing.) Also–(burying it here) sitting in a deer blind and getting shitfaced/high and blamming away at deer is not ‘hunting’. In the same way that dropping dynamite in a lake is not ‘fishing’.

[kopek]

@Lasciel

Now fishing? Booorrrring.

Try flyfishing; its a sort of fish hunting. You target a species and spot, sometimes a certain fish, and try to get him. Some people who hate bait and spinners find the long rods just the thing.

[Whatever4]

@JuliaSqueezer

I’m not a hunter, but growing up in Northern Michigan, many of my family members were and continue to hunt deer with guns. Some skill at shooting a gun (or using a bow and arrow) would be an important draw, plus that whole getting away and not shaving, hanging out in the local bars and playing poker at deer camp.

One thing about the actual hunting that seems to have changed, at least in my family and friends who still live in that area, is that they no longer really “track” deer. The style of deer hunting seems to have evolved.

Hunting used to involve long treks, looking for signs (tracks, scat) following them, then killing and dressing and dragging the carcass out of the woods. Now, they go to the local gas station, buy 50 lb bags of carrots, and drive to the woods where a deer blind awaits. They bait their station or blind and sit there all day and wait for deer to smell carrots and wander into shooting range. Boom! Dead deer.

Hunting over bait really bothered me when I moved here (da Yoop), but then I read that more deer are killed in Michigan by cars than by hunters and decided not to get upset any more. I haven’t had venison in a very long time, but quickly sauteed venison tenderloin is food for the gods.

[Whatever4]

- YouTube

Practically a hymn in these here parts.

[Peremensoe]

@nogwart

I’ve had HUNDREDS of meals prepared with “hunted” meat, and it has never, EVER, tasted good. NEVER! Really! NEVER!

So… after, say, the first ten such meals that you hated… why did you eat the next 200?

[Oliveritaly]

@Soylent_Juicy

As a vegetarian for the past six years, I’d just like to say that IMHO you’re doing meat right. Thank you.

I personally think that people who hunt for “sport” - i.e. trophy hunters, like those who go to Africa just to kill an animal - are mentally unstable. I do not see the “fun” in that, I see cold-blooded killing. That is just my opinion. BUT I have absolutely no problem with hunters who hunt responsibly and use what they kill for food, warmth, etc.

I hear what you’re saying but often those hunters pay fees that then go back into protecting the species/habitat. It can have a positive effect.

[TonySinclair]

I think this is from Larry the Cable Guy, or one of those other redneck tour guys:

---

My friend was very proud that his deer hunting was successful. “Yup, I got my buck last week. I was using a handloaded .30-06 with a muzzle velocity of 2900 fps. I had on camouflage gear and masked my scent with doe urine. I tracked him for three miles.”

I said, “I killed a deer last week, too. I was using a 1983 F150, with a velocity of 60 mph, and the damn thing stepped right out onto the road in front of me. I blew my horn and flashed my lights and hit my brakes and tried to miss him, but he somehow managed to stay in front of me.”

---

I’ve had a near miss myself. I was driving on a country road on a foggy night, and suddenly found myself in the midst of a fucking herd of deer. By the grace of God, I managed to swerve back and forth around several deer without hitting any of them, but they were no help at all.

So I’m with Larry. I can see the appeal of hiking in the wilderness, but shooting a deer while you’re doing it is IMO just the “adult” equivalent of a playing a video game. I’m not condemning it, but I’m not impressed.

Still, I guess it’s better than Cheney shooting his friend’s face when the clipped-winged birds were too fast for him.

[Rick]

It was Ron White. His brother was telling him how hard it is to shoot a deer.
His response is: Slow the bullet to 55 mph put lights and a horn on it and the deer will jump in front of it.

[jz78817]

@TonySinclair

So I’m with Larry. I can see the appeal of hiking in the wilderness, but shooting a deer while you’re doing it is IMO just the “adult” equivalent of a playing a video game. I’m not condemning it, but I’m not impressed.

not my life’s ambition to impress you.

[Count_Blucher]

Say, is this the wrong thread to talk about going out on a friends boat with a cooler of beer and some deep-sea rods? you know… BSing and bonding and fishing until the sun goes down, then heading back to the dock to unload, tie-up/wash-down/clean the boat, and then go clean the fish?

Because that’s fun too.

[Labrador_Deceiver]

@TonySinclair

Still, I guess it’s better than Cheney shooting his friend’s face when the clipped-winged birds were too fast for him.

Clipped winged birds? Where do people get this bullshit?

[jz78817]

@Labrador_Deceiver

Clipped winged birds? Where do people get this bullshit?

like I said, it’s amusing to listen to people who don’t hunt talk about what hunters do (or should do.)

[Crafter_Man]

I’ve been hunting whitetail deer for about 20 years. I have a couple tree stands on our property.

It’s difficult, or perhaps impossible, for me to explain to a non-hunter why I enjoy hunting. It’s like trying to explain (to some people) why I enjoy solving math problems, and why I enjoy working on a car. I like to do it, yet I can’t explain why.

As alluded to above, most of my deer hunting is done in a tree stand. Sitting in a tree stand in the middle of the woods for two or three hours is an almost holy experience. After about 45 minutes of getting in the stand, the woods “comes alive” as the animals become acclimated to my presence. I’ll see squirrels running up-and-down the trees, song birds flying around, and the occasional possum. It’s quite beautiful, and it’s not something you can experience by tromping through the woods. It’s also therapeutic for my head; when I’m in the tree stand, no one (wife, kids, coworkers, etc.) is bugging me or nagging me. I can relax, clear my head, and coexist with nature.

So even if I don’t see a deer - which is the case 95% of the time - it’s still a very wonderful experience.

[Crafter_Man]

@August_West

So there are just some of the reasons why hunting is “fun”. Although that’s not probably the word I would choose.

Agree; I wouldn’t use the word “fun” to describe hunting, as I think it trivializes the whole experience. It is definitely enjoyable, but it goes much deeper than that.

[HeyHomie]

@chiroptera

This could well be the case - I wonder if the OP (or you) like lamb, mutton or goat meat? I’m guessing not, since those are also quite strong-tasting, aka gamey meats. If that’s the case, pretty much no recipe will make them taste good to you.

I’ve had lamb (and possibly mutton) at an Indian place. Neither liked it nor disliked it. I don’t think I’ve ever had goat meat.

[Scumpup]

@jz78817

like I said, it’s amusing to listen to people who don’t hunt talk about what hunters do (or should do.)

True. It’s their sense of moral and intellectual superiority, even as they make it manifestly clear that they know fuck-all on the subject, that really sells it.

[cochrane]

@Count_Blucher

Say, is this the wrong thread to talk about going out on a friends boat with a cooler of beer and some deep-sea rods? you know… BSing and bonding and fishing until the sun goes down, then heading back to the dock to unload, tie-up/wash-down/clean the boat, and then go clean the fish?

Because that’s fun too.

I believe George Carlin said, “Give a man a fish and you’ll feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and he’ll sit in a boat all weekend and drink beer.”

[chiroptera]

@Crafter_Man

I’ve been hunting whitetail deer for about 20 years. I have a couple tree stands on our property.

It’s difficult, or perhaps impossible, for me to explain to a non-hunter why I enjoy hunting. It’s like trying to explain (to some people) why I enjoy solving math problems, and why I enjoy working on a car. I like to do it, yet I can’t explain why.

As alluded to above, most of my deer hunting is done in a tree stand. Sitting in a tree stand in the middle of the woods for two or three hours is an almost holy experience. After about 45 minutes of getting in the stand, the woods “comes alive” as the animals become acclimated to my presence. I’ll see squirrels running up-and-down the trees, song birds flying around, and the occasional possum. It’s quite beautiful, and it’s not something you can experience by tromping through the woods. It’s also therapeutic for my head; when I’m in the tree stand, no one (wife, kids, coworkers, etc.) is bugging me or nagging me. I can relax, clear my head, and coexist with nature.

So even if I don’t see a deer - which is the case 95% of the time - it’s still a very wonderful experience.

Local news outlet recently put out a call for reader-submitted “View from the blind” photos. Some of them are really gorgeous.

I imagine it would be pretty nice to just find a place to be still and watch. I go for lots of walks and hikes out in nature, but often with other people and almost always a dog or three, which scares off most wildlife.

[Chefguy]

@Soylent_Juicy

I personally think that people who hunt for “sport” - i.e. trophy hunters, like those who go to Africa just to kill an animal - are mentally unstable. I do not see the “fun” in that, I see cold-blooded killing. That is just my opinion. BUT I have absolutely no problem with hunters who hunt responsibly and use what they kill for food, warmth, etc.

Sadly (and oddly), a part of my brother is of that mentality. He’s been a hunter since he was old enough to hold a gun, so probably about 65 years now. He’s hunted moose, caribou, Dall sheep, deer, bear and birds. He used to hunt for the meat, as he and his family didn’t have two nickels to rub together. Not getting a caribou or a moose was a serious problem for the coming winter. He came to detest the taste of game, and in later years when he could afford to buy meat at the store, he gave the game meat to his kids or to companion hunters, except for perhaps some mooseroni.

He considers himself a conservationist (despite his radical right-wing views), and I agree to large extent. But he does harbor this ‘kill whatever walks’ mentality. His greatest regret is never having been able to go to Africa to kill everything he saw. Any time he sees a large cat or other animal on TV, he points his finger at it and ‘shoots’ it. I truly don’t get it.

[Peremensoe]

@Labrador_Deceiver

@TonySinclair

Still, I guess it’s better than Cheney shooting his friend’s face when the clipped-winged birds were too fast for him.

Clipped winged birds? Where do people get this bullshit?

I can’t say for sure whether the quail at Armstrong Ranch had their wings clipped, but they were certainly pen-raised. Cheney has done many canned hunts, before and since the one where he shot Whittington.