Why Do You Hunt? Meat? Sport? Trophy? Socialize? Many reasons?

[G8rHunter]

I was reading an article about 1,000 hunters in North Dakota polled and very few men hunted for meat. However, twice as many women hunters said they hunted for meat. Many men said they hunted for other reasons than for food. I suspect most men will have a multiplicity of reasons, and it will be interesting to know what is the biggest motivator for women on this forum. For the life of me, I love venison too much to merely go for a trophy mount, although my rich uncle's den wall was covered with trophy kills!

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[RVTECH]

Many men said they hunted for other reasons than for food.

This is true - if you were to break down the cost of an average hunting trip on a per pound basis of the yield of the animal taken (if so) you will find you are not hunting 'for food'.

 

[clearconscience]

Trophy hunting makes me sick.

I hunt due to the history of hunting in this country. It was moving to this country and being free from tyrannical rule that allowed people to hunt to survive and feed their families. Which only the royals and wealthy could do in Europe.

There's a history both politically and ingrained in our DNA to hunt. To forage for food.

I hunt for meat.
For fresh, unmolested meat.

So I know if times get hard, or civilization as we know it collapses I can still feed my family.

 

[Capn Jack]

Since I've used up all of the bison meat I had for jerky,
I've been hunting the BOGO meat coolers at Safeway.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

To quote Metallica :
"I hunt , therefore I am...
Harvest the land , taking of the fallen lamb..."

I hunt for the meat...yet there are far more cost effective ways of feeding my family.

Its about the hunt..being out in the land , taking an active role in life and death.
Experiencing the world and life around me...seeing new and old places...
Watching both plants and animals in life , in a natural setting is very enjoyable to me....Learning and re-enforcing my respect for life.

Being able to learn what the forest and field is trying to teach and tell me...
Practicing my hunting , camping , land nav , etc...skills is always better in the "wild" . rather than reading or watching , about them , on a video or TV show.

Hunting can teach you many things if you are willing to learn.
Andy

 

[Capn Jack]

Being on the water, or being in the forest, it really doesn't matter if you catch a fish, or fire a shot.
Just being there....

 

[deadeye]

The meat is all I hunt for doesn't matter what the rack is as long as it's legal and the body is big.
Some may have big racks but you can't eat the antlers they're too hard on the teeth.

 

[MannyGlocks]

Meat hunter here.

Ever eat fresh Deer liver and tongue?

Great stuff.

Venison is great, but their viscera is delicious too.

I've hunted for many years, birds/mammals/fish.

In the thousands of birds and fish and in the hundreds of mammals.

Was never interested in so-called trophy animals. I didn't turn my nose up at them, just not interested. If I was hunting deer, I preferred big does.

Of all the vegans I've known personally, they went (ultimately and surreptitiously) back to meat eating.

One of them proudly (arrogantly) announced she would never eat anything with a face.

Yeah, sure.

6 months later she was wolfing down hamburgers/beef steak/pork chops, etc...not in front of me though as I'd razzed her about being a 'holier than thou' vegan previously...she was a colleague of my wife and confessed to her and she in turn advised me.

We both laughed.

I wanted to (but didn't give in to temptation) do the old "I toad ya so", but couldn't as she'd quickly realize my wife alerted me as to her backsliding into into sinful meat eating.

What puzzles me is how often highly educated (the vegan is a mathematician) these 'vegans' often are, but are socially inept/fake do-gooders.

 

[Stomper]

Why is the question here even being asked when it was prefaced with the disgust of trophy hunting? Are you expecting people to just validate you, or is there an actual conversation to be had?

Another thread to clog up the forum that boils down to "preaching to the choir."

Hmmm.... he said he loves venison too much to merely go just for the trophy hunt, indicating he's a hunter for the meat regardless of the rack. I didn't pick up any "disgust" for trophy hunting being communicated by the OP.

 

[G8rHunter]

Trophy hunting makes me sick.

I hunt due to the history of hunting in this country. It was moving to this country and being free from tyrannical rule that allowed people to hunt to survive and feed their families. Which only the royals and wealthy could do in Europe.

There's a history both politically and ingrained in our DNA to hunt. To forage for food.

I hunt for meat.
For fresh, unmolested meat.

So I know if times get hard, or civilization as we know it collapses I can still feed my family.

I'm with you, man!

 

[G8rHunter]

To quote Metallica :
"I hunt , therefore I am...
Harvest the land , taking of the fallen lamb..."

I hunt for the meat...yet there are far more cost effective ways of feeding my family.

Its about the hunt..being out in the land , taking an active role in life and death.
Experiencing the world and life around me...seeing new and old places...
Watching both plants and animals in life , in a natural setting is very enjoyable to me....Learning and re-enforcing my respect for life.

Being able to learn what the forest and field is trying to teach and tell me...
Practicing my hunting , camping , land nav , etc...skills is always better in the "wild" . rather than reading or watching , about them , on a video or TV show.

Hunting can teach you many things if you are willing to learn.
Andy

EXCELLENT!

 

[The Heretic]

I used to hunt.

I hunted partly for meat, as an excuse to have guns (I don't need an excuse anymore) and to be out in the woods.

I don't anymore due to my health, the fact that it is cheaper to buy my meat than hunt for it, and the fact that I don't really care for deer meat. Elk meat, good, but I am apparently not a very good elk hunter. I live in the woods, so I don't need to hunt to be in the woods.

 

[DuneHopper]

Cost is and issue for the hunt, that and now I can get my meat wholesale and no hormones etc.
I just get it at the source, still would like to go Hog hunting...

 

[slimmer13]

Trophy hunting makes me sick.

I hunt due to the history of hunting in this country. It was moving to this country and being free from tyrannical rule that allowed people to hunt to survive and feed their families. Which only the royals and wealthy could do in Europe.

There's a history both politically and ingrained in our DNA to hunt. To forage for food.

I hunt for meat.
For fresh, unmolested meat.

So I know if times get hard, or civilization as we know it collapses I can still feed my family.

Theres nothing wrong with trophy hunting if either the hunter also utilizes the meat and /or if it must be done to control either their population or its prey's population (wolves).

I think its better to allow trophy hunting for certain species like wolves or mountain lions, than do like CA where they outlaw their hunting and then have to spend tax money to control the population. Why not let people spend money on licensing and sporting goods etc to do it instead of paying a sharpshooter to kill it and bury it in a hole?

So what if people go out and look for the biggest buck they can find? What does that harm anything?

 

[G8rHunter]

Why is the question here even being asked when it was prefaced with the disgust of trophy hunting? Are you expecting people to just validate you, or is there an actual conversation to be had?

Another thread to clog up the forum that boils down to "preaching to the choir."

Dude, do you have an ax to grind? I understand that the assumption could be made that I was poo-pooing trophy hunting, but it was not even in my thinking. I have a great admiration for my uncle, and I would never speak disparaging of him! He regularly brought by meat from his hunts for my family. He tried his darnedest to invite me to go hunting with him, and I only realize, if I had gone with him, what an education I would have received!

 

[clearconscience]

Theres nothing wrong with trophy hunting if either the hunter also utilizes the meat and /or if it must be done to control either their population or its prey's population (wolves).

I think its better to allow trophy hunting for certain species like wolves or mountain lions, than do like CA where they outlaw their hunting and then have to spend tax money to control the population. Why not let people spend money on licensing and sporting goods etc to do it instead of paying a sharpshooter to kill it and bury it in a hole?

So what if people go out and look for the biggest buck they can find? What does that harm anything?

I would agree with this, I don't admire or respect people who hunt and don't eat the meat.
I know there's a lot of conservation and money that goes into animals that is produced through trophy hunts. Especially in Africa. Hunting lions, giraffes, elephants makes me sick, but I understand the reasoning behind it. You hunt one to save the heard.

But I can't stand behind someone who kills something just to have their kill admired by others.

I don't take pleasure in ending an animals life.


And i have yet to meet a vegan, vegetarian, or gluten intolernt clown that wouldn't kill a burger or tacos after a night of drinking.

 

[P7M13]

I have happened upon many hunters in the woods. All of them express the desire to harvest, listening to their answers, they all want to GTFO of the house or office.
Had a manager who would get stir crazy every fall. Asked him why he became so anxious, he replied, "I need to kill something." As he explained, it was his outlet for shoveling manure for a year in the job and living in a loveless marriage. His misery permeated the office, I left the company.

For me, harvesting is secondary, but since I don't raise my own cattle, it's me out getting honest meat. When fly fishing (I don't angle), I always catch and release. Though I rarely do it any more, it's one of the most peaceful activities I know.
When I'm out hunting coyotes, rodents or pests, it's to kill, plain and simple.

What puzzles me is how often highly educated (the vegan is a mathematician) these 'vegans' often are, but are socially inept/fake do-gooders.

An obvious tipoff is the vegan who has leather clothing or accoutrements. I have been rude enough to reply, when the disclosure comes in the first five minutes, "....then why are you wearing leather boots?"

I bought a "Korean Chicken Salad" for the wife the other day, and she bit into the chicken (vegan) and spit it out. "WTF is this ?? !!" Apparently I hadn't read the label. We both shared our disgust and threw it out.

 

[edslhead]

I think I'm like most hunters, I go for the campfires and beer.

 

[aksu747]

Haven't been on a hunt yet but after tasting deer and elk, I would like to go on a hunt some time.
Especially a elk hunt.
They are good eating that's for sure, I think elk taste better than beef.(probably healthier too)

 

[Tangent123123]

On the very few times I've gone hunting, I've never even caught a glimmer of game. But then I'm blind as a bat, so no great surprise. It's a good excuse to get outside and do something outdoors when you spend most of your time in the city. I am one of those people who takes pleasure in the doing of something, even if I'm not very good at it.