Oh yeah baby........Beware Bambi lovers

Yeah, Whitetail Deer.

If we had anything else, it would be hilarious to see a redneck go "what the heck is that"? LOL!

 

Same here, gal1998. The deer population in Indiana has skyrocketed. Car-deer crashes are sadly far too common, and some years ago there was a big problem in one of the state forests where the poor things were starving to death.

The white-tail deer were all but extinct in Indiana in the 1920's. They were re-introduced from stock out west and strict hunting laws were instituted. Now, 80 some years down the road, white-tail abound here. With no natural predators (the coyote is making a comeback as well, but their numbers have not impacted the deer population much as of yet), regulated hunting is the only way to keep the population down.

 

i have been following this thread with interest and the predominant posts seem to come from the USA, is it the American phycy that "i gotta kill something"

the only dissenting voice was Grumbles a UK citizen and he got slapped down very quickly.

i love guns (after all i was in the military for 20 years) and enjoyed shooting but the clay pigeon variety, now i realize it is not the same as hunting but it is just as competitive also for the big guns target shooting is a challenge as you have to be proficient over a number of distances, i enjoyed going to Bisley (a yearly competition in the UK) where the range was up to a mile.

i used a CAL GUSTAV 7.62 target rifle.

i believe in the American right to bear arms it's just this seeming compulsion to hunt that i have a problem understanding.

i have read posts that say the deer population is getting out of hand in some states,well surely a cull would be the answer.

i do not wish to degenerate anyone here i just felt i had to give my ten cents worth.

as a postscript congratulations Lev on your proficiency with a weapon.

 

So . . . nobody else in the world hunts . . . and are you saying there are no hunters in Belgium? I don't believe for a second that is true. You asked Is it just an "American I gotta kill something" phenomena? Is that what you think of Americans? We all just gotta kill something?

Not true Bill - though there are a lot of hunters in the US - could be because we are a large (and young - compared to most) nation, and still have large tracts of wild public land that enables sportsman.

 

Pity that we can't use rifles in this part of Michigan. Otherwise I'd have a 30-30 instead of the wimpy 30-06.

Oh well, Archery Rules anyway.

 

I've often wanted to try Archery hunting - my elder brother was quite the marksman with a bow.

 

I'm not a fan of the sport of hunting, either; can't seem to derive satisfaction from shooting something. (though if it's your thing, it's your thing)

However, I do eat meat, so as far as I can see, that leaves me a choice of either hunted wild game, or farm-raised and slaughtered meat.

IMO, hunting is a far more sanitary, and humane means. Stock farms are often overpopulated (increasing risk of disease), and sometimes (particularly for veal farms, I think) are a cruel environment for the animal.

Not to mention the numbers. Usually, there is a smaller hunter-to-kill ratio while hunting, where there could be hundreds if not thousands of slaughters from a few workers on a farm in the same amount of time.

Like it or not, humans have evolved as omnivores, eating fruits and vegetables, as well as having the capacity to eat meat. I think hunting is probably the least destructive way we go about it.

 

OK......let me try and open some of your minds a little......even though LauraR hit it spot on here I don't feel a need whatsoever to justify my interests and actions, but a few of you simply have no clue.

I grew up and lived in the UK for 37 years, where guns were not legal and rarely got seen unless you were a farmer who had a rabbit problem or enjoyed some pheasant. I never even saw a gun in my life, let alone held one. I was a vegetarian for 20 of those years as soon as I got out the family home as I hated the bad quality meat that was all we could afford in the stores. I made myself sick to the point of almost a wheelchair simply for having a bad diet.

I now live in the USA. The first firearm I held and shot was 30-06. We target shot at a 3" square bathroom tile. My 3rd shot ever and I blew that baby to smithereens. So I went hunting with my husband. I'm an outdoors, camping, hiking, biker chic type, so this was another pursuit that fitted in with my lifestyle. Having been seriously ill for many years I'm not the healthiest person on the planet, and at 41 getting out into the rugged terrain of Oregon, carrying a backpack and rifle in the crappiest of weather was a huge endurance test for me. This is no hunting show you might see on the Men's Channel. Oregon has some of the hardest terrain, and add to that logging has been so intensively restricted over the last decade, that all the woods are very thick with scrub, brambles and huge windfalls. If you are not scrambling on your hands and knees (or sometimes even your stomach) to get through it, you are climbing over huge cedars lying repeatedly one after the other in your path. You have to do all this QUIETLY so you don't spook the animals, and at the same time ensuring your gun is safe, ready for action, and a ton of crap and water hasn't fogged up your scope, so you can actually see through it, should you come across that deer. I did this for miles and miles and miles, and days and days and days for the last 4 years, and did not see anything but 2 does and a yearling (which I didn't have tags for). This year my hard persistent work paid off and got myself a spike and a 5-point blacktail. Do you realize how hard it actually is to SEE a deer in thick undergrowth before it sees or even smells you? One twig snapped and it is long gone before you even knew it was there. Hunting fair? You bet your sweet butt it is! Man in the woods is like fish out of water compared to a deer. Even if you do see one, getting a potential clear shot is nigh on impossible with all the scrub due to logging restrictions. We don't have a population problem of deer here in Oregon because we have a cougar problem - in fact almost the opposite. They are a natural predator of deer, and each cougar kills a minimum of one deer a week. You can guarantee that death is far more agonizing and drawn out the one slug I lay down. The cougar problem is so bad they have actually killed 2 in the last year WITHIN my city boundaries.

So maybe you are starting to get a real idea of the immense persistence it takes to actually get a deer out here and the huge achievement it has been given my own personal walk. I still hate store meat - it really doesn't help my health as a result of the chemicals that go in to mass-production. If you think slaughter houses are a kind 'walk in the park' for the animals and the lifestyle they have while being fattened for slaughter, go visit an abbatoir. Get the real picture. In terms of wastage, there is none except the bones and a cereal bowl of small pieces. Even the skins are used by our son-in-law who is a taxidermist. The horns are mounted. Had we taken these animals to the local butcher and had them cut up you can guarantee 30% wastage.

As to Americans having a "gotta kill" ethos, just not true. Yes, many people love to hunt in Northern America, as they do in other countries, but you will find far more nascar enthusiasts, football fans, basketball supporters etc etc. I have many friends (and co-workers) who do not like or support hunting. Equally they have interests or support things that I do not like or agree with. It is ok to have those, but it does not mean we have to judge or flame people because of it. None of us have been, are or will be perfect in this world

If any of you still have concerns over the fairness and need to do what caevman did long before I ever did (and much more successfully too, I might add) I personally challenge you to come out to Oregon next hunting season and keep up with me, let alone actually score a hit. And for the record, I'm physically still hurting far more than the deer ever was




@Bill....Bisley in Gloucestershire? We probably walked right past one another!!!

 

these guys get to kill deers, meanwhile the whole world cries foul to Michael Vick. I'm not condoning Vick's actions, but seriously, why is killing a deer allowed, legal, and not considered immoral?

 

Educate yourself. No need to debate it with opinion.

State Web sites with hunting information and regulations.
http://hunting.about.com/od/stateinfo/State_Web_Sites_with_Hunting_Information_and_Regulations.htm

 

Some of you seem to have problems following a simple instruction - thread closed. Thanks for playing.