Hunting versus Killing

All these posts are valid🫣
Personally...if I could(money wise...there is nowhere that isnt taxed?)...I would take some gear, find a spot in the woods, go live in those woods and never bee seen again🥴...
I grew up out in the sticks and the fields...
Nature is my home...this city crap is not for me😅😬🤷‍♂️
 
All these posts are valid🫣
Personally...if I could(money wise...there is nowhere that isnt taxed?)...I would take some gear, find a spot in the woods, go live in those woods and never bee seen again🥴...
I grew up out in the sticks and the fields...
Nature is my home...this city crap is not for me😅😬🤷‍♂️
you can but it is more like hiding i think the days of finding a spot and building a cabin homesteading are gone . ( OR ARE THEY?)
 
you can but it is more like hiding i think the days of finding a spot and building a cabin homesteading are gone . ( OR ARE THEY?)
I'd love the answer to that question...
I remember being a kid and watching the old westerns...
Go into the mountains. Stake a claim. Build a cabin(house...id lean toward wigwam style maybe..)and a dig out a small cave(storage and safety for storms... preferably nor far from a stream or water source....live there forever....
What a dream....now kids want to grow up and be nonsense for lack of a more polite word🫣
 
you can but it is more like hiding i think the days of finding a spot and building a cabin homesteading are gone . ( OR ARE THEY?)
Nope. Not if you come to Deep East Texas. Gotta purchase the land though. No staking claims anywhere around here that I know of. Plenty of hunting grounds in the region.
 
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I'd love the answer to that question...
I remember being a kid and watching the old westerns...
Go into the mountains. Stake a claim. Build a cabin(house...id lean toward wigwam style maybe..)and a dig out a small cave(storage and safety for storms... preferably nor far from a stream or water source....live there forever....
What a dream....now kids want to grow up and be nonsense for lack of a more polite word🫣
their are two lots near me where couples bought a lot and put a pre fab small building on it (like you see for sale for a yard ) with a porta potty out back . they "quit" there weekday jobs and live in here weekends in their small home . no electric or water hook up and fish in the lake / and rabbits caught in a box trap . yup they pay tax on the lot but here taxes are really a joke .
 
Getting along with wildlife is an amazing experience. For over 20 year we have had deer give birth on our property and the doe will introduce them to us and let them know this is a safe place. I used to have a small buck sleep 20 yards from the bedroom and talk to him all the time , like we do with all of them. I feed birds and chipmunks and squirrels , crows ect . I give the squirrels , grey diggers and chipmunks ample warnings to stay out of the bird seed. I don't find it very sporting shooting a hungry animal that's feeding. The crows didn't come around for 10 years or so after I shot one. His mom and sibling stayed calling out for him, I felt like crap. They have parents and siblings babies that they care for and love each other . I'm glad to have the crows trust back and help the mom out with feeding her hungry fledglings at times .

My best experience with wildlife is when I rescued a baby robin that fell from its nest and was in the middle of the road. We fed it berry's, worms and baby parakeet mix. Got to watch her first flight and when she was a bit older I was calling her and she flew down from a tree she was in and landed on my shoulder. Amazing. She also comes back yearly and raises her family here. We don't have as tight of bond as when she was younger but she still visits me and if she gets tired of me shooting, she will land on top of my target knowing she's safe. Anyway animal are amazing creatures and so much fun to watch and get along with. But I still don't hesitate putting down the trouble makers.
 
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Hunting IS about killing. You're hunting for something to kill to put it bluntly. Enjoying and respecting nature and life is a part of that. Not destroying life unnecessarily, not wasting the game after taking it's life, not damaging the environment accessing and using hunting areas, etc. One can also enjoy life and nature outdoors aside from the hunting aspect. I used to love hiking and exploring new areas where I had never been before. I can't stand that much walking due to health issues these days but still love being out in wooded areas. Hiking, camping, birdwatching, nature photography, mountain climbing, canoeing, etc., there are many ways people can embrace the outdoors and life beyond the mundane drab drag of everyday life.

Elimination of vermin animals is a bit of a different subject. More about killing than hunting, to remove pest, undesirable, disease spreader, crop depredations, invasive and such species.
 
With regards to hunting being an “experience” and a cherished opportunity to enjoy nature. Thursday I was at a permission, and obviously the mission is killing, you have time in between kills to just take in nature. At one point a very big doe was walking through, oblivious to my presence. And of course I watched for opportunities if it was deer season by looking through my scope and placing the crosshairs right on the pumphouse.
At one point a male cardinal landed on a large tree stump 25 yards in front of me and a beam of sunlight was illuminating the cardinal and stump. It was one of those scenes where you wish you really had a nice camera to zoom in and capture that moment. That brilliant red was amazing. Those are the things that really make hunting a memory. And being in the woods very quiet and still so nature doesn’t know or mind that you’re sharing their space. Good stuff.
 
With regards to hunting being an “experience” and a cherished opportunity to enjoy nature. Thursday I was at a permission, and obviously the mission is killing, you have time in between kills to just take in nature. At one point a very big doe was walking through, oblivious to my presence. And of course I watched for opportunities if it was deer season by looking through my scope and placing the crosshairs right on the pumphouse.
At one point a male cardinal landed on a large tree stump 25 yards in front of me and a beam of sunlight was illuminating the cardinal and stump. It was one of those scenes where you wish you really had a nice camera to zoom in and capture that moment. That brilliant red was amazing. Those are the things that really make hunting a memory. And being in the woods very quiet and still so nature doesn’t know or mind that you’re sharing their space. Good stuff.
Yessss! That's another reason I would love a scope cam🤗
 
When I am. Hunting, I am hunting, but when I am at the farm pesting, I am killing. I know it sounds awful, but that is the reality of it.


From reading this thread I come away with the impression that
➧ for some people
hunting is ethically superior.
Pesting is ethically inferior.

➧ Or at least:
Hunting is something to be fully enjoyed.
Pesting is not to be enjoyed — it's a necessary evil.

➧ Some seem to say:
▪ Over a DRT killshot when hunting you are allowed to feel elation, joy, pride.
▪ Over a DRT killshot when pesting you are not allowed to feel elation, joy, pride.



🔺 Am I understanding this correctly?
I find this a pretty complicated topic. And there are usually more sides to the issue than I can see at first (or second) glance....
We all like to take the moral high road on this one, of course, including me! 😉

Matthias
 
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How do you make folks understand that hunting is not about killing something? Hunting is to immerse yourself in the experience. The simple act of being in the in the wilderness is to become one with and respect the forest, fauna and animals that reside there. I've been on many hunts where I never fired a shot, but returned home renewed for the experience itself. A person who takes pleasure in taking a life, simply for the act of the killing has a rotten soul. I hope this message resonates with you all and helps you become a mature hunter.

I leave you now with this quote from George Bird Evans:

"The child tells what he got for Christmas, the mature man tells how he spent the day; the immature hunter tells how many birds he shot, the mature gunner tells of the experience."
 
I am not going to rehash all that has been said on these pages , but i do think many of the same thoughts and emotions .
Thank you all for taking the time to express your feelings .
Stan in KY .
As a life long bird hunter and AKC field trial competitor, given the choice between my gun and dog, I'll leave my gun at home. Bill and Addi.
 
From reading this thread I come away with the impression that
➧ for some people
hunting is ethically superior.
Pesting is ethically inferior.

➧ Or at least:
Hunting is something to be fully enjoyed.
Pesting is not to be enjoyed — it's a necessary evil.

➧ Some seem to say:
▪ Over a DRT killshot when hunting you are allowed to feel elation, joy, pride.
▪ Over a DRT killshot when pesting you are not allowed to feel elation, joy, pride.



🔺 Am I understanding this correctly?
I find this a pretty complicated topic. And there are usually more sides to the issue than I can see at first (or second) glance....
We all like to take the moral high road on this one, of course, including me! 😉

Matthias
I agree mostly. The part about “pesting is not to be enjoyed” to me doesn’t sit right, with me anyway. To carefully aim and that pellet lands precisely in an ethical kill zone to me gives enjoyment, or at least a good feeling of accomplishment. But I’m thinking you sort of meant that without saying it specifically.
 
I agree mostly. The part about “pesting is not to be enjoyed” to me doesn’t sit right, with me anyway. To carefully aim and that pellet lands precisely in an ethical kill zone to me gives enjoyment, or at least a good feeling of accomplishment. But I’m thinking you sort of meant that without saying it specifically.
I agree with you; think they meant some "enjoy" just killing things...which is not cool
 
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