Is hunting a sport?

[Doc]

3 hours ago, Curmudgeon said:

I agree with First-light. Hunting is much too serious to be a sport. It can be a way of life. It is highly social. It is certainly part of my household economy. I might find it educational and spiritual. A sport? I don't think so.

Hunting puts me in a ecological niche. I am the apex predator controlling the burgeoning deer population. I am working cooperatively with family and friends to feed our families. I am helping the native vegetation. Sport? Fooey!

Serious? ...Well, I can tell you that there are a lot of people who take their bowling, baseball, soccer, pool, football, etc. very seriously ..... even those that merely spectate. Also, I know a lot of hunters that do not take their hunting seriously, and some even go out of their way to keep from becoming too serious and intense. 

Educational/spiritual??? .... Probably not for the majority of hunters or even a very significant minority.....lol. There may be moments of spiritual reflection as I sit there waiting for the game to begin.

Highly social? Yes, it can be but doesn't have to be. But then all sports have some element of social activity. The Super Bowl parties come to mind and all that TV sports programming is probably about as social as you can get.

Do I do it to perform my ecological civic duty? No not really. I don't go out there saying to myself that I am doing it to control the deer population? .... No, that may be a wonderful outcome and useful by-product, but the only time I think about the benefits of hunting on the environment is when I am trying to win an argument with an anti-hunter ....lol. Otherwise my mind is filled with strategy and timing to make my competition with the deer come out in my favor. I wonder how many people walk out the door on their way to their stand for the express purpose of "helping the native vegetation. Again that is a useful outcome, but not really a motivator for participation.

In terms of hunting for sustenance, the only people that I know that have to do that are a few very, very, poor families that happily take donations and all the deer that they can legally take. For them there is not much sport to what they do. But I think that most of us have not been in that situation in a long time if ever. Somewhere back in our lineage, maybe ......way, way back.

So lets face it, we are in competition with the master of the woods, the whitetailed deer. We are pitting our efforts and skills and competitive spirit against theirs (and its not all one-sided either). We have rules, and a huge playing field, and a great competition. That sounds like a sport to me. There are winners. There are losers. and there is strategy and planning. There is equipment needed to play. By golly, it is a sport by any definition of the word!

[airedale]

About Hunting, Opinions from the past

 

“I do not hunt for the joy of killing but for the joy of living, and the inexpressible pleasure of mingling my life however briefly, with that of a wild creature that I respect, admire and value.”

John Madson

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“Go afield with a good attitude, with respect for the forest and fields in which you walk. Immerse yourself in the outdoor experience. It will cleanse your soul and make you a better person.”

Fred Bear

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“It has always seemed to me that any man is a better man for being a hunter. This sport confers a certain constant alertness, and develops a certain ruggedness of character….Moreover, it allies us to the pioneer past. In a deep sense, this great land of ours was won for us by hunters.”

Archibald Rutledge

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“If some animals are good at hunting and others are suitable for hunting, then the gods must clearly smile on hunting.”

Aristotle

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“In a civilized and cultivated country wild animals only continue to exist at all when preserved by sportsmen.  the excellent people who protest against all hunting, and consider sportsmen as enemies of wild life, are ignorant of the fact that in reality the genuine sportsman is by all odds the most important factor in keeping the larger and more valuable wild creatures from total extermination.”

Teddy Roosevelt 

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“The real archer when he goes afield enters a land of subtle delight. The dew glistens on the leaves, the thrush sings in the bush, the soft wind blows, and all nature welcomes him as she has the hunter since the world began. With the bow in his hand, his arrows softly rustling in the quiver, a horn at his back, and a hound at his heels, what more can a man want in life?”

Saxton Pope

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Edited February 26, 2017 by airedale

[Core]

I think it depends on how you're doing it. If you're walking onto your deck and shooting a deer in your yard it's no more a sport than going to wegmans. If you're hiking for hours then skillfully coming up on an animal and taking it with a weapon you have practiced with, yes it's a sport.

[First-light]

2 hours ago, Doc said:

Serious? ...Well, I can tell you that there are a lot of people who take their bowling, baseball, soccer, pool, football, etc. very seriously ..... even those that merely spectate. Also, I know a lot of hunters that do not take their hunting seriously, and some even go out of their way to keep from becoming too serious and intense. 

Educational/spiritual??? .... Probably not for the majority of hunters or even a very significant minority.....lol. There may be moments of spiritual reflection as I sit there waiting for the game to begin.

Highly social? Yes, it can be but doesn't have to be. But then all sports have some element of social activity. The Super Bowl parties come to mind and all that TV sports programming is probably about as social as you can get.

Do I do it to perform my ecological civic duty? No not really. I don't go out there saying to myself that I am doing it to control the deer population? .... No, that may be a wonderful outcome and useful by-product, but the only time I think about the benefits of hunting on the environment is when I am trying to win an argument with an anti-hunter ....lol. Otherwise my mind is filled with strategy and timing to make my competition with the deer come out in my favor. I wonder how many people walk out the door on their way to their stand for the express purpose of "helping the native vegetation. Again that is a useful outcome, but not really a motivator for participation.

In terms of hunting for sustenance, the only people that I know that have to do that are a few very, very, poor families that happily take donations and all the deer that they can legally take. For them there is not much sport to what they do. But I think that most of us have not been in that situation in a long time if ever. Somewhere back in our lineage, maybe ......way, way back.

So lets face it, we are in competition with the master of the woods, the whitetailed deer. We are pitting our efforts and skills and competitive spirit against theirs (and its not all one-sided either). We have rules, and a huge playing field, and a great competition. That sounds like a sport to me. There are winners. There are losers. and there is strategy and planning. There is equipment needed to play. By golly, it is a sport by any definition of the word!

It's all how you define sport. I don't hang up my gun like a pair of cleats after the game. By golly in the end something dies. 

[JALA RUT]

Hunting is referred to by many as an outdoor sport, including the DEC but to me I consider hunting more of a passionate outdoor activity, another avenue that satisfies my passion and love for being in the outdoors, being in tune with nature on all levels...the scenery, the animals, the adrenaline rush and thrills such as the chance of seeing and hearing a buck grunting following a hot doe, seeing that gobbler strutting in display while stretching his neck out gobbling, hearing a grouse drumming on a log, listening to a pack of coyotes breaking the dark night silence with their howling songs, and yes...the harvest from the preparation to the shot to the delicious meal on the table from the game.  Although hunting is my favorite passion, aside from spending precious time with my family, I still consider it an outdoor activity like wildlife photography, hiking, camping, and other outdoor activities that I partake in to keep me in tune with the outdoors, to satisfy that hunger and passion to be outdoors.  I actually went for a hike this morning and even though I wasn't hunting, I felt the same passion and satisfaction while walking around with a camera...to me it is a loved outdoor activity.  In fact here's a couple pics from todays hike...Wooly will like this one, it shows a buck that has shed it's antlers.  Time to get out there and look for some sheds...another outdoor activity that I love!

Edited February 27, 2017 by JALA RUT

[Steve D]

Survey Says

Check for youself...depends on who you ask (go figure)

http://www.debate.org/opinions/should-hunting-be-considered-a-sport

[Doc]

6 hours ago, Steve D said:

Survey Says

Check for youself...depends on who you ask (go figure)

http://www.debate.org/opinions/should-hunting-be-considered-a-sport

Kind of a small sampling, but it is interesting how all of those that responded that hunting is not a sport were clearly anti-hunters. I'm not sure what can be made of that, but apparently once you get outside the hunting community, the definition of a sport takes on a different emotional level.

[Mossberg500Guy]

Shooting is a sport, but when we contemplate if hunting is a sport within its self I do not consider it as a sport... Look at it like Martial Arts its like Shooting, its a forum of practice and skill but when one uses their skill of Martial Arts for self defense or in this case using a gun to hunt an animal is to sustain our way of life it isn't a sport within its self but that's my opinion, someone may have a different view but I don't find the need to label it.

[Doc]

2 hours ago, Mossberg500Guy said:

Shooting is a sport, but when we contemplate if hunting is a sport within its self I do not consider it as a sport... Look at it like Martial Arts its like Shooting, its a forum of practice and skill but when one uses their skill of Martial Arts for self defense or in this case using a gun to hunt an animal is to sustain our way of life it isn't a sport within its self but that's my opinion, someone may have a different view but I don't find the need to label it.

You don't recognize an element of competition between you and the deer? Is it not true that just like any other sport, your skills improve with practice and time? Like any other sport, do you not see the elements of challenge.

No, it is not necessary to label it as a sport, but we all refer to it as the sport of hunting and if the term fits why not use it? It has been referred to for centuries as sport, and I do see elements of competition, strategy, winning and losing, developed skill, and all the features that are associated with sports and sporting activities. I also see no reason to avoid calling it a sport unless there is something about the political correctness of the term that some may feel that the anti-hunting crowd might be offended by. I am not affected by that sort of thing, and will continue calling it a sport as it fits all the criteria of that definition.

[Buckmaster7600]

For those that say hunting is a sport what do you consider war? In the end the goal is the same.


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[vizslas]

I dont see it as a sport. Thats like saying my wife is a sportsman when she goes grocery shopping. wait until I tell her she is a sportsman.She will be so excited. For me its more like connecting with my ancestral  tree. I want to be remembered as a good provider and a great hunter. Sporting  is a word that has been attached to make it less bloody for those who disagree,and maybe sell more license .tennis , swimming, darts and bowling are sports. It could be a sport if the deer knew the laws the rule hunting. Shooting a deer in the head does not count as a sport to me. Its killing the deer so I can feed it to my family. So lets call each other killers.

[vizslas]

according to some feeding myself could be a sport. I used to be bad at it but with some practice i got better at it . Now the spoon and fork are under my controll

[airedale]

46 minutes ago, Buckmaster7600 said:

For those that say hunting is a sport what do you consider war? In the end the goal is the same.

The goal may be to kill something but I do not have to kill, there are many days when I do not kill especially when Deer hunting, I give a lot of free passes these days in my old age but I still enjoy my time in the field, the chase, matching of wits, watching a good hunting dog perform and do what it was bred to do, I still will enjoy the sport of hunting game taken or not.

As Fred Bear said,

"It will cleanse your soul and make you a better person.”

Edited February 27, 2017 by airedale

[Curmudgeon]

1 hour ago, Doc said:

You don't recognize an element of competition between you and the deer?

Whenever I ask the deer that question, they are mute.

[The_Real_TCIII]

Whenever I ask the deer that question, they are mute.

If they could answer I bet they'd say "I don't want to play, thank you though"


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[Jeremy K]

On 2/25/2017 at 9:09 AM, Doc said:

Dictionary definition of "SPORT"

1    An activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.

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Well, I think hunting, fishing and trapping all fit that definition. Every year I learn more and more about the "physical exertion" part of hunting. Do we compete? There is no doubt that it involves competition between the hunting individual and the prey. It may also take on additional features and motives, but the combination of challenge, competition and skill all are large components of a sport.

Yes there may be PC reasons for shying away from the word "sport", but unless you are hunting solely for necessary, life dependent sustenance, sport seems to cover it pretty well.

I couldn't find that definition anywhere . Can you shoot me the link please.

EDIT: I was doing 2 things at once ,i was looking at the definition of sportsman.

Edited February 27, 2017 by Jeremy K

[BigVal]

No clear answer, people on here will argue anything lol 

[Jeremy K]

1 hour ago, vizslas said:

I dont see it as a sport. Thats like saying my wife is a sportsman when she goes grocery shopping. wait until I tell her she is a sportsman.She will be so excited. For me its more like connecting with my ancestral  tree. I want to be remembered as a good provider and a great hunter. Sporting  is a word that has been attached to make it less bloody for those who disagree,and maybe sell more license .tennis , swimming, darts and bowling are sports. It could be a sport if the deer knew the laws the rule hunting. Shooting a deer in the head does not count as a sport to me. Its killing the deer so I can feed it to my family. So lets call each other killers.

noun, plural sportsmen.

1.

a man who engages in sports, especially in some open-air sport, as hunting, fishing, racing, etc.

2.

a person who exhibits qualities especially esteemed in those who engage in sports, as fairness, courtesy, good temper, etc.

Feel free to change the definition from the dictionary to meet your opinion. 

[Five Seasons]

Parts of hunting are sporting.

It's all just really a word I guess. I don't consider a football player a sportsman, but I do consider a hunter a sportsman. I don't consider hunting a sport in the athletic sense. It's not that some types of hunting don't require physical skill, but I also don't consider running on a treadmill a sport.

I suppose the only competitive part that puts it into the sports category is human vs animal.

[Five Seasons]

19 hours ago, Jeremy K said:

Baseball uses a ball and is hardly a sport.

yes men competing against each other for no other reason that to see who is better at the task than the other... certainly not the very definition of sports right there. It may not be the most athletic sport, but it is very much a sport.

btw, million of dollars to be had for such an easy task.

Edited February 27, 2017 by Belo

[grampy]

I've been stuck in the minor leagues of hunting, forever. I don't think, at this stage of the game, that I'll ever make it to, the major leagues. But I'm no longer a rookie!

[Five Seasons]

6 hours ago, Mossberg500Guy said:

Shooting is a sport, but when we contemplate if hunting is a sport within its self I do not consider it as a sport... Look at it like Martial Arts its like Shooting, its a forum of practice and skill but when one uses their skill of Martial Arts for self defense or in this case using a gun to hunt an animal is to sustain our way of life it isn't a sport within its self but that's my opinion, someone may have a different view but I don't find the need to label it.

part of the issue here is there is never an equal playing field in hunting. every animal, day and area are always different. Therefore it's impossible to judge skill. Sure we know some are better than others, but there's way too many variables. Where as in shooting the rules and field is the same. At the end of an hour we can clearly define who is the better archer or shooter.

[Curmudgeon]

So, if hunting is a sport, when did it happen?

I draw a line back to my Sami ancestors.  For them it was no sport. 

[moog5050]

I really enjoy hunting at this point in my life but would not call it a sport.  My simple rule is that if someone can smoke while engaging in the activity (I don't smoke but some do while hunting), its not a sport.  Doesn't mean it doesn't require skill, but not really a sport.  Kinda like bowling, golf, darts, etc.  That said, I don't think anyone has adopted my definition of sport.  lol

[BizCT]

I really enjoy hunting at this point in my life but would not call it a sport.  My simple rule is that if someone can smoke while engaging in the activity (I don't smoke but some do while hunting), its not a sport.  Doesn't mean it doesn't require skill, but not really a sport.  Kinda like bowling, golf, darts, etc.  That said, I don't think anyone has adopted my definition of sport.  lol

I agree about hunting but have to disagree on the golf side. Just because you can smoke while playing doesn't mean it doesn't take a lot of skill. I can drink beers during men's baseball, basketball, or softball leagues. Point is, golf takes an insane amount of practice and skill to be good. Not everyone can just become a scratch golfer with practice. Whereas with shooting a gun It's pretty easy to become proficient shooting a rifle. So then it's just a matter of having access to the right property.

In hunting a 12 year old girl with zero athleticism can kill record book trophies- more than a grown man. In other "sports" she stands no chance.


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