The Elusive Hunter

Discussion in 'Turf and Surf Hunting and Fishing' started by RightHand, Nov 28, 2006.


  1. RightHand

    RightHand Been There, Done That RIP 4/15/21 Moderator Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    A good article in Newsweek
    The Elusive Hunter

    It's a way of life that dates to the dawn of the nation. But hunting is on the wane in America. A sportsman's lament.

    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15892909/site/newsweek/

    "...... I have a son and daughter of my own now, and I would like the chance to pass on some of what my father taught me. It's hard to write this without sounding a little mawkish, but what I learned from hunting is that things in life aren't always black and white, and that they're not always easy, but the effort put in has a direct correlation to your success. You have to do it right. You respect the gun, you respect the animal and you respect the rules, and that translates to real life. It's hard to kill something, but you develop deep appreciation of animals and the outdoors when you do it regularly. I know nonhunters think that's absurd logic, and I understand why. But if it's part of your culture and part of the road to being a man, you find a way to face up to the hard parts and the raw emotions of it and you do it honorably. Shooting an animal is often a gut-wrenching act, and not one that's taken lightly by anyone I know. You respect it, you honor it and you never waste it. Most of all, you just give thanks for it."

    By Steve Tuttle
    Newsweek


    © 2006 Newsweek, Inc.
     
  2. Tracy

    Tracy Insatiably Curious Moderator Founding Member

    Well said.

    Thanks for sharing that, RH!
     
  3. Quigley_Sharps

    Quigley_Sharps The Badministrator Administrator Founding Member

    What Tracy said, thanks RH
    I try to make a clean kill, just as quick as I would want to go.
     
  4. Blackjack

    Blackjack Monkey+++

    Well said
     
  5. gillman7

    gillman7 Monkey+++

    That is one of the reasons that I believe that the generation of kids now are so desensitized. Everything is TV and video game kills, and all of their food is prepackaged and shrink wrapped at the store. Teach them the value of life, and the stark reality of death. I remember taking my kids hunting and letting them know that we don't use wildlife for target practice. Unless we are clearing out pests, like coyotes or crows, you only shoot what you are going to eat. Even when we had wild pigs tearing up our deer habitat, we would take them home to the freezer. It gave my kids a new appreciation to their venison when they actually had to help field dress them. I am willing to take their friends with us when we hunt, but sometimes I have to educate their parents before we go, because many of them have no idea what really hunting is all about. Preserve this for future generations, take a kid hunting, volunteer to help with Youth hunts, or there are organizations that work with physically limited kids to allow them special hunts that are always looking for volunteers. Sadly, we do not have them in Oklahoma right now. I have had the honor of taking kids that my kids were friends with hunting that do not have a male figure in the house, and it is an eye opener for me and my kids. It is a priviledge and we need to share it as much as we can.

    I will now get down off of my soapbox........
     
  6. TailorMadeHell

    TailorMadeHell Lurking Shadow Creature

    Good post RH. I was taught many things about hunting when I was little and they stick with me to this day. I remember one time that I shot a Cardinal with my bb gun. The bright red thing went flop on the ground and I walked over to it. It didn't move anymore, it was gone. I remember seeing them fly around the yard and how they sounded. I got my bb gun and thought I was a fierce hunter. This was before my grandfather told me about what it is to be a hunter. So here I was a big brave hunter and had killed my first bird. So why did I feel so bad? I picked it's silent body off the ground and carried it back to the house. I wrapped it in paper and dug a little hole under an oak tree and buried it. I was miserable. I had taken the life of a creature that gave joy to me. I wasn't planning on eating it. I just wanted to shoot it.

    I was talking to my grandfather about this and he told me that you never shoot at anything you don't intend to kill and you never kill anything unless you need it to eat. He said that each creature is kin to us in that God created them and us. We are brothers here on this planet and we must all get along. Humans who dump pollutants in the water, air and burn forests down are all killing the creatures that we should be watching over. We are stewards and everything moves in a cycle. We eat them, they eventually will eat us. So what I felt that day was guilt at needlessly killed some beautiful creature and in the manner I did it, it was a waste.

    I think about that all the time and especially when I pick up a firearm. I understand the respect thing and think of it as a spiritual thing as well as filling ones body with nourishment from the creature who gives his life for yours. Okay, I'm done with the depressing spirtual journey. I'm gonna go kick a bum. Haha. JK.

    And gillman, don't worry, that was a good soapbox. Everyone needs to learn to respect nature more and children need to learn that what you shoot doesn't get up anymore like in a video game. There are many who try to teach and teach the wrong things because they were never taught the right way. Stupidity or carelessness begets stupidity or carelessness. It's a cycle that is depressing. When you teach others the right way to do something it is a great sense of accomplishment knowing that they will take the lessons they learned and teach them to others.

    I like the idea of teaching the children how to hunt and taking them on hunts. They get exercise, mental challenges, moral lessons and things that will build character. I'm a big advocate for teaching lessons to willing pupils, so the next time you want to jump up on a soapbox, I'll pull mine up alongside yours.

    Not to sound like a cornball though the children are our future. The power will be in their hands in a few years and with good lessons learned, they will bring us closer to being on track. Those raised by idiots or intentionally uneducated people will only further push us into a nightmare from where there is less hope of escape.

    Just my thoughts on it.
     
  7. Tracy

    Tracy Insatiably Curious Moderator Founding Member

    It applies to more than hunting. For instance; my kids have to catch and release, as they don't eat fish. They'll have the priviledge of bringing a catch home to share with the family when they intend to eat it.
     
  8. TailorMadeHell

    TailorMadeHell Lurking Shadow Creature

    Definitely applies to fishing as well. Nothing worse than seeing someone go catch a bunch of fish, throw them into the bottom of the boat and when they get back to shore decide they don't really want to 'hassle' with fixin' 'em up. They just dump them. Now think about the fish. They were laying there on the bottom of the boat, most of the time not in a live well and they try to get breath and can't. They flop around until they eventually run out of breath. That is also included with being grilled alive on hot metal of the boat until such time as your oxygen runs out. Not a nice picture to think of. The rampaging bear, down to the small chipmunk should be extended some courtesy and respect. Remember, we are living in their world. It is not the other way around. Take away the technology and cities and you have nature. I'm hoping some of the young are paying attention to what they may see here, and learn from it. Hope they teach their friends about it. Tracy you are right about the fish. We could all in some way do better by the creatures that we live around.

    That is also to say, no dumping your garbage in the lakes. Don't leave trash on the ground. Pick up spent casings even if you don't reload them. It's a whole way of life that as technology and apathy grows, we move away from. Those of us here have foresight into what could come from this behavior and we have lessons remembered to show us how to correct the problems. And we will do it too, one person at a time.
     
  9. Timberghozt

    Timberghozt Member

    Hmm..Good discussion..
    I beleive that animals were put on this earth for man....
    Hence,If I`m hungry..somethins gonna die..
    You guys that know me,know I am an avid hunter.I hunt all the time..
    It was burned into me at a very young age that it is our duty to the animal we hunt to kill it as quickly as we can and not make it suffer..I live by that.I won`t take sloppy shots.I know the exact moment I will shoot and where my bullet will be...and the results
    I hate a lot of these hunting shows on TV..All a bunch of crap to sell something..You ever notice they never show a lung shot animal heaving on the ground drowning in its own blood..or a guy with blood up to his elbows gutting a buck??They show a bunch of back slapping and hoorahs.I`ve seen some of those shows where you see dust at impact and their shots on many..SUCK...If the best I could do was emulate half of those fools and what they stand for hunting..I would quit...
     
  10. TailorMadeHell

    TailorMadeHell Lurking Shadow Creature

    Good to see you had time to stop in TG. Know you been busy and all. They only show the 'pretty' parts of hunting. That pic of that hog you posted with the blood by it's snoot would even be way too much for the TV viewers. Oh sure, you see the dead animal laying on the ground, though you don't see when they slice it open and take it's guts out. Maybe it's little things like that which make people forget about the mortality and morality of life. There is a code to live by. Death comes for us all and you better be right when it does. Okay, enough of an early morning ramble. Hadn't had my coffee yet. Haha. Welcome back.
     
  11. E.L.

    E.L. Moderator of Lead Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    Man, this hits home. That was my first kill to a "T" except it wasn't a redbird. I felt horrible. I was about 7, maybe 8 and had been shooting at birds with my pellet gun (a woefully underpowered pellet rifle that you didn't even pump up, nor had CO2 either) for what seemed like forevever and had never killed one. Of course the pellets were probably bouncing off. The magical time I did manage to kill one, it was about ten feet away and I managed to sneak up on it and make the kill. I felt so bad as I held it in my hands. I wanted to cry, but didn't. I took a couple of days off from bird hunting, but about a week later I took another. Then I didn't feel anything but joy. I have been a sadistic killer ever since.
     
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