What's your take on hunting? (personally and in general)

I pretty much agree with you!  I was thinking about this myself last week.  I am not sure I have what it takes to kill, I can't even kill roaches and I hate those.  But when it comes to eating meat, I feel much more comfortable knowing that something was given opportunity to grow freely and play and live with family.  In fact, I feel like I shouldn't even eat meat if I cannot be comfortable with the processes involved, but I do.  And unfortunately, some of us are so far removed from our food sources that I think it is harder for us to adjust than normal to the idea of killing.  Sadly, I was about 8 years old before I knew that chicken fingers came from chickens.  I just never made that connection.  If I wasn't such a wimp, I might be a hunter, and maybe someday I will be, but like I told my boyfriend, until I know that I can aim well enough to kill quickly, I don't want to hunt.  I do, however, like to get some of the game from my friends that do hunt, nothing quite like free range, all natural, wild game.

I do agree with you as well! I hunt my self. My family also uses every thing compleatly. We use the hide, tan it ourself, as well as the insides and bones we use for dog food, the meat we eat and if we do happen to have extra we donate it to the food pantries. with all of the hormons in everything as well as the pestisides I am more comforatable eating a wild animal,

My sister raises her own Pigs. I only eat her pork. there is a huge diffrence in the taste of the meat when they are fed veggies and fruits as opposed to the ones that are feel the "pig feed" from mass produced feed lots

I definitely don't approve of hunting for sport.  If you just want a pair of antlers or a deer head for your mantel...I'm sure there's something fake that will serve the purpose. 

As for hunting for food, I think KayMMIV and jodee have the right idea.  If you're going to eat meat and if you're going to hunt, it's great to use the entire animal.

Same here.  Hunting for food is fine, but hunting for sport is not cool.

Yep, same here!  Hunting for sport is not only cruel but kind of psychotic to me...why would you want to hunt and kill an animal just for fun and not for survival???  I also agree that the whole animal would need to be used in order to classify it as not for sport!

I think hunting is necessary due to our ever changing eco-systems especially here in Canada where the deer popluation can get out of control because of the demise of the Grey Wolf (human caused demise that is).  We are in essence needing to step in because of our own ignorance and keep some animal populations under control when their natural predators are endangered or extinct.

I am okay with hunting for food, because humans killing animals is part of the natural food chain.  Factory farms are not part of nature's intended food chain.  As someone who is not comfortable killing animals, I do not eat meat- but I respect those who do kill their own food.

Hunting for sport is more complicated.  Like PUREShop and KayMMIV have said, the deer population in some areas is out of control.  There's 1.5 million deer-vehicle collisions annually in the United States; 51% of those crashes are in Pennsylvania, Michigan,  Illinois, Ohio, Georgia, Virginia, Minnesota, Texas, Indiana, South Carolina.  Humans killed off the preditors, so now we do have to help control the deer population...but other than that, I also find that to be an unhealthy activity.

I have very strong feelings about hunting. Since I was little I thought that there is nothing noble in killing defenseless animals for sport. On the other hand, the way animals are treated in captivity is way worse.

About the deer population getting out of control, it's a matter of perspective. It's humans who are moving into the areas that these animals live in that is the root of the problem. Better urban planning would eliminate some of the problem (but that's another story). For many reasons, it doesn't make much sense to built isolated houses in the woods and the complain that the animals are bothering us. We moved into their territory (and eliminated their predators so we can feel safe); lets not forget that!

When hunting, I strongly support using the entire animal and not be wasteful. Some of the best meat I have had was some venison that a friend gave me some years ago. It definitely smelled better than the meat from the supermarket (that I don't even want to touch anymore)!

Yeah...the entire balance is kind of out of wack.  We as humans keep expanding out into the natural habitats of other animals (oh, urban sprawl...).  A while back in my home town, a mountain lion strayed in.  It ended up getting shot and killed by a police officer.  While clearly it would have been terrible if the mountain lion wanted to have lunch on a small child...it was pretty tragic.  Because we keep expanding our towns and cities and populations, predator populations are decreasing.  It's not their fault we're encroaching on their territory. 

I am not a hunter, but I do come from a hunting family. I do not have a problem with hunting for food or for sport. Most of the time, sport hunters donote the meat to food banks anyway so its not like its going to waste.

However, I realize hunting is an artificial means to attempt to keep the respective hunted animal's population in check. Because we have removed most of their natural predators many animal populations explode. Deer are a prime example of this around Ohio and Pennsylvania. Because there are very few wolves and other predators hunting is essential to keeping the deer population under control. I would prefer reintroduction of natural predators but in lieu of that hunting is the next best thing. And it does help feed the hungry.

I am no hunter - tho to be honest, I have done in some rabbits... we had an overpopulation when our neighborhood was first built.  The situation was totally out of control.  We still have wild rabbits, but the population is reasonable now :-)  These were not eat'n rabbits, but I suppose it was possible to.  So my confession is complete...

Hunting "game" is something I just could not do unless it was truely for food.  Use the whole animal.  I think this thread has hit the nail on the head in that for "sport" is not good, but for survival is fine - and natural.  Hunting for food also has the spin off of helping with over-population.  We have deer down here in Orange County - I have even seen 3 car strikes over the last 10 years (they are not over-populated here).  My brother in Missouri says it is kinda crazy how many accidents happen due to the large numbers of deer there.  ...no wolves or cougars - you get thousands of deer!  Too many deer left unchecked, and the herds become unhealthy due to starvation and other issues.

Perhaps they can have regulations that as much meat as possible is either consumed via the hunter, or the hunter must turn the meat in to be made available for purchase (which the hunter would be paid for providing)... I don't know if there are such rules, or if it is done anyway.  Just a thought.

I'm not a hunter, but I used to fish when I was younger and did target shooting.

Hunting has it's place, but I don't think that hunting is the best way to control a pest population. Why don't we also try to increase the predator numbers? Pest control can also be done through other means (I've heard of Canadian Geese being culled placing fake eggs in nest!).

One positive aspect of hunting that is often talked about is that it encourages people to be good stewards of their environment. I think this is especially true for anglers, but am a little skeptical about this for those who hunt pests like deer. I guess pest control is a form of environmental stewardship, but moves to make hunting more environmentally friendly are often met with skepticism and resistance by hunters (ie - banning lead shot).

I enjoy hunting. Anyone who does it for the right reasons (food) knows the absolute thrill of escaping it all just to be in the moment. The peace that mother nature brings is indescribable. Seeing the sun rise or set along with the awakening of the forest is just a huge rush. Hunting in itself is not about the killing of an animal. I think that is more the tranquility of being in the woods, and the chance to be totally alone with yourself. Seeing a variety of wildlife and providing food for your family is just an extra bonus.

My brother is out visiting for the holidays from Missouri (same brother I mentioned above) and we talked specifically about this.  He does not hunt either, but has many neighbors that do and has become familiar with how it works in his state.  First - reintroducing natural preditors is great, but this last year 100,000 deer were killed in just Missouri alone!!!  That is more than a healthy preditor population that is compatible with the human population can even handle.  I think wolves and maybe even cougars can be reintroduced where feasible, but hunting will still be necessary... 

He also told me something that I thought was really cool.  The folks he is around - and those peoples friends as well, all hunt for food.  He said it's $80 to "process" your kill, and you get a pile of essentially organic packaged meat that you can take home for your family, or donate to the needy - many on food stamps in Missouri (and I imagine it's the same in most other states) are able to get this meat as part of their food allowances.  The butchers donate their time to process the deer for this purpose.  So I felt that even tho I am not a hunter, I can see this being something many choose to do if you live in the right area.  ...and all that venison (sp?) is really offsetting beef consumption - so there is that to consider as well.

It is not just a matter of our invading the territory of the deer. Deer without predators will breed to the point of starvation. Come to think of it, every species will breed to that point of starvation, and so it has always been

The single most important reason for hunting is to avoid having large numbers of the hunted species starving. If they and their competitors for food have lots to eat, no need to go harvest them. If their pasture is being eaten down so that they will not get through the winter, we should not even hesitate to save them from starvation.  Even if we have to convert the meat to dry pemmican, the prime objective here is to avoid starvation and avoid having overpasture destroy the pasture lands.

We avoid those problems by making sure that the hunted species always have excess food available by next spring. If they are even close we have to take action. And if we have drought so that pasture is sparse, we have to act early rather than late.

We should hunt seals if the fish the seals eat are in rapid decline, not as punishment to seals, but to prevent having seals destroy their own feedstocks.

When deer and rabit are in rapid decline, as during a drought, we may have to hunt some predators like wolf / coyote, not because those animals are evil or our competitors, but only because they may extinguish their own food supply. That should be done only with a very good knowledge of the  numbers involved.