Interesting F&S article by David Petzal on respecting your quarry

[Caveman]

I came across this article while surfing field and stream.  It sums up what I've been trying to articulate to other hunters for some time.  What are your thoughts?

 

http://www.fieldandstream.com/blogs/gun-nuts/2013/09/presence-death

[Elmo]

I agree.  Whenever I look down on a kill, I get a mixed feeling of joy and sadness.

[Pygmy]

Petzal has been one of my favorite gun writers for years...

I don't watch many of those hunting shows with the jerks whooping and high fiving, because it turns me off...

Save that s**t for something else, like when and if the Giants ever win a game....<<smirk>>..

[Terry]

Something I agree with 100%.

What makes me even more sick are phrases like "smoked them", "whacked one", or the likes.

[verminater71]

i'm sorry, this guys off his rocker,  maybe to much acid during his hippie days

 

I feel bad when I see road kill, only because it's a waist, and I would rather take it myself

 

we are the top of the food chain, that simple,  I've never felt sad about a kill

 

have you ever watched a pack of coyotes bring down a deer, they don't feel bad, they star yipping and barking they're excited

[SteveB]

The day I feel sad about killing a deer is the day I quit hunting.

 

[Doc]

I have to admit that I have never felt sad or felt remorse over a successful hunt. And yes there is a certain level of celebration that I go through. No it may not be some of the crazy stuff that you see on TV, and if I am alone, you really won't hear a thing. That doesn't mean that I am not elated. Sure I have respect for the animal to the extent that I am concerned with ending its life in as humane a way and with the least amount of suffering as I can. But my purpose for being out there hunting relates to reducing that animal to a food source, and I don't apologize for being very happy to do exactly that. 

[New York Hillbilly]

The first animal I killed was a woodchuck. I was with my hunting mentor, my uncle Pete, and I was 11 or 12 years old at the time. He stood next to me watching the woodchuck through his binoculars, while I lay in the grass staring through the scope mounted to his .22-.250. He quietly coached me through the shot, reminding me to breath in and out slowly, then ease the trigger. It was as if the gun went off on its own and with the shot the woodchuck was no more. I put the safety on and left it on the ground resting on its bipod. Uncle Pete was all over me with the "way to goes", and "damned good shot"as he was patting me on the back. I think he was actually as surprised that I connected, as was I.

 

We walked out to the woodchuck and at the sight of what I had just done, I cried. I'm not embarrassed to say it. He took the opportunity to explain what I just did was right, at many levels. He also said it was ok for me to feel the way I did, and did not make light of or make fun of my reaction. I guess thats why we were so close. To this day I still sit and reflect quietly over the animals I shoot and kill. Thankfully, I no longer fall apart crying like that day. I leave that for when I'm watching movies like "Ole Yeller", "The Biscuit Eater", or "Where the Red Fern Grows". They get me every time....LOL!

Edited September 22, 2013 by New York Hillbilly

[Caveman]

I'm not saying you need to cry or become a vegetarian.  But we should keep in mind that we are in the woods to extinguish a life.  As creatures aware of our own mortality we should be especially empathic if for no reason other that we appreciate our own lives (something most predators are incapable of).  Again, I am always excited to fill a tag.  But I have not killed one animal when my excitement wasn't tempered by a sense of respect for my quarry and an odd sadness at what I had to do to continue my own life.  I don't think that makes me any less of a man or any less of a hunter to admit that.    

[New York Hillbilly]

We"re singing from the same hymnal Wildcats 160!

[Terry]

I don't get sad either, and I celebrate inside, but I don't say disrespectful things. I feel it takes away from the seriousness of what actually just happened, I took somethings life.

I also have been laughed at when I told someone that I won't hang an animal by it's neck due to respect. To each their own I guess.

[SteveB]

   I don't think that makes me any less of a man or any less of a hunter to admit that.    

 

No it doesn't.

But neither does it mean there is anything wrong with someone who does not feel the same as you.

[Early]

Oh, God:  I am going to cry!  You guys who use trail cameras, hi-tech weapons and ammo, hunt over food plots (aka bait piles) and then claim to "respect" your quarry are NUTS!  All of your "cover my ass" arguments are simply bull!  Hey...I go hunting...if I score, I celebrate...Big deal!  If I had a great deal of "respect" for the game animals I hunt...I would not hunt them.  You apologist hunters should give up your guns and join PETA!

Edited September 23, 2013 by WNYBuckHunter
inappropriate language. Please keep it clean-ish.

[Caveman]

Oh, God:  I am going to cry!  You guys who use trail cameras, hi-tech weapons and ammo, hunt over food plots (aka bait piles) and then claim to "respect" your quarry are NUTS!  All of your "cover my ass" arguments are simply bull!  Hey...I go hunting...if I score, I celebrate...Big deal!  If I had a great deal of "respect" for the game animals I hunt...I would not hunt them.  You apologist hunters should give up your guns and join PETA!!

 

So you don't agree?

[blackradio]

I get a little sad. When I find the deer I usually stand over it or sometimes sit next to it for a few minutes and just think about what happened. It's a beautiful thing.

[Witty]

If I want to give my dad or one of my buddies a high five or a quick hollar because we just had a succesful hunt I will do so. I bought my lisence just like you did, I have the right to take a few minutes and enjoy the moment. We put a lot of time in scouting, hanging stands, triming shooting lanes, target practice ect. Please don't preach that if I celebrate a kill with those I hunt with I'm not respecting my quarry. I have a great appreciation for the animals I hunt. To this day my eyes still tear up when I take an animal. If you want to get on someone for not having respect for the game we hunt talk to the paper plate shooters, tresspassers and deer jackers. Not the guy who puts the time in to make sure it's done right.

[Witty]

Oh, God:  I am going to cry!  You guys who use trail cameras, hi-tech weapons and ammo, hunt over food plots (aka bait piles) and then claim to "respect" your quarry are NUTS!  All of your "cover my ass" arguments are simply bull!  Hey...I go hunting...if I score, I celebrate...Big deal!  If I had a great deal of "respect" for the game animals I hunt...I would not hunt them.  You apologist hunters should give up your guns and join PETA!

 

I can barely hear you while you are on that really tall horse.

[nyantler]

Oh, God:  I am going to cry!  You guys who use trail cameras, hi-tech weapons and ammo, hunt over food plots (aka bait piles) and then claim to "respect" your quarry are NUTS!  All of your "cover my ass" arguments are simply bull!  Hey...I go hunting...if I score, I celebrate...Big deal!  If I had a great deal of "respect" for the game animals I hunt...I would not hunt them.  You apologist hunters should give up your guns and join PETA!

Holy Cow! Finally something you and I totally agree on... good form Early!!

[cdmckane]

I guess I'm somewhere in the middle on this one.  While I'm excited that I've filled a tag (I'll send pics to my brother and father in law right away), I also respect the fact that an animal had to die to fill my freezer.  I actually get the same feeling when I go to pick up the cow I get butchered every year.  I understand the respect that's held at the time of the take, but, honestly, I feel it more when I take a package of venison out of the freezer to thaw for dinner. To me, it's how one balances these two emotions that matters. 

[pawle76]

sorry but I'm guilty of celebrating afield after a kill. I try not to be loud in case there are more deer in the area as I do hunt with other people. I see no harm in celebrating with out going overboard. Some of those bafoons on TV look like jack asses like Mike Wadell playing air guitar and screaming his head off.

[Red]

I can watch where the red fern grows over and over again great movie I read the book in school that was even better then the movie

The first animal I killed was a woodchuck. I was with my hunting mentor, my uncle Pete, and I was 11 or 12 years old at the time. He stood next to me watching the woodchuck through his binoculars, while I lay in the grass staring through the scope mounted to his .22-.250. He quietly coached me through the shot, reminding me to breath in and out slowly, then ease the trigger. It was as if the gun went off on its own and with the shot the woodchuck was no more. I put the safety on and left it on the ground resting on its bipod. Uncle Pete was all over me with the "way to goes", and "damned good shot"as he was patting me on the back. I think he was actually as surprised that I connected, as was I.

We walked out to the woodchuck and at the sight of what I had just done, I cried. I'm not embarrassed to say it. He took the opportunity to explain what I just did was right, at many levels. He also said it was ok for me to feel the way I did, and did not make light of or make fun of my reaction. I guess thats why we were so close. To this day I still sit and reflect quietly over the animals I shoot and kill. Thankfully, I no longer fall apart crying like that day. I leave that for when I'm watching movies like "Ole Yeller", "The Biscuit Eater", or "Where the Red Fern Grows". They get me every time....LOL!

[WNYBuckHunter]

I have to admit that I have never felt sad or felt remorse over a successful hunt. And yes there is a certain level of celebration that I go through. No it may not be some of the crazy stuff that you see on TV, and if I am alone, you really won't hear a thing. That doesn't mean that I am not elated. Sure I have respect for the animal to the extent that I am concerned with ending its life in as humane a way and with the least amount of suffering as I can. But my purpose for being out there hunting relates to reducing that animal to a food source, and I don't apologize for being very happy to do exactly that. 

 

Couldnt have said it better Doc.

[phade]

I don't like it when I make a bad shot for the reason of the animal suffering more than it should ideally.

 

If I down a buck, I don't care what you think. I'm celebrating in the way I see fit. It won't be overboard, but I don't really care if you think it is. Celebrating at a succesful hunt is warranted. I put in the hard work. I reap the rewards of success or share in the success of a friend. I spend more time prepping for hunting than I do actually hunting. It's meeting a goal. It's completing a mission I have.

 

One thing that always irks me, are the ones who say taking a pic of the buck in the back of a truck is in bad taste. That you need to have nice field pics. Sure, a nice field pic is indeed fun. But, what I remember most, is the buck in the back of the truck, and that's the pic I like to have, if I can. The journey ends there, for me. If you don't like it, pound sand.

[moog5050]

As long as the pic is in the back of Phade's truck and not mine, I am OK with that.

 

If I felt remorse or sad for killing the deer, I would not hunt and respect the opinion of those who feel that way (such as my father).  In fact, I know hunters who no longer hunt because thye felt that way.  I believe one should respect the game, but my goal as a hunter is to successfully kill that game and I have no problem in celebrating the success.

[WNYBuckHunter]

phade, that was the one pic I forgot to take of my buck last year. Tailgate down, buck in the truck.