Originally Posted By DVC_dad This is a show that an old friend of mine from high school, her husband is producing. The show will air beginning January, more info such as networks and show times is on the website after the video. If you are NOT a hunter, and have always wondered WHY people hunt, perhaps you may want to watch to get a better insight into how and why those who DO hunt, do so and love it. The video really does a good job of discussing WHY people hunt and why they think it's a wonderful way to spend time with friends and family. The link is here: <a href="http://www.michaelwaddell.com/bc-teaser" target="_blank">http://www.michaelwaddell.com/bc-teaser</a> In any case, I would be interested in what anyone thinks of the video, pro or con.
Originally Posted By DVC_dad Oh and there are some video clips of elephants and other endangered animals, these are shot only with a camera.
Originally Posted By FenwayGirl Thanks for the link. I have been married to a hunter for 33 years and I still don't get it. I just figure if it makes him happy...
Originally Posted By Ursula I won't watch the video until they arm the animals. Then it will be a sport.
Originally Posted By SingleParkPassholder Yeah, I have no interest in learning why people hunt. None. I was flipping through the channels recently and came across some show where these two guys were shooting deer just for the sake of it. Big, beautiful animals who weren't bothering a soul. These two guys weren't killing them to eat them, but just because it was the season and they could. Disgusting.
Originally Posted By officerminnie >>>>Yeah, I have no interest in learning why people hunt. None.<<<< Agree 100% SPP. I don't get it either. Never, ever will I understand how someone gets a thrill out of stalking God's creatures (using all kinds of fancy weapons with high powered scopes and stuff- yeah, now that's a real challenge) to kill them for "sport".
Originally Posted By utahjosh I can see why some are disgusted by deer, elk, and other large animal hunting. I myself wouldn't enjoy shooting a deer, unless it was to feed my family. However, I have been pheasant and dove hunting with my father several times, and shooting the bird out of the sky to eat with my family the next day didn't bother me. It was great bonding time with my dad, learning little survival skills and growing up. What about fishing? Is that cruel, too? What about squashing a housefly in your home? Where is the line drawn?
Originally Posted By officerminnie I didn't say anything about it being cruel, just that I don't understand the thrill or "bonding" aspect. I don't get any pleasure or satisfaction out of catching a fish or squashing a fly, just as I wouldn't find any enjoyment in killing a deer. And it is difficult for me to understand how anyone else can find it enjoyable.
Originally Posted By utahjosh <I didn't say anything about it being cruel, just that I don't understand the thrill or "bonding" aspect.> Enjoying shooting a big animal seems odd to me, too. But the bonding aspect? That's obvious, isn't it? Spending a ton of time together in the wilderness = bonding. No TV, cell phones, just friends or family talking, working, and playing together for days at a time. It's an amazing way to bond. It's not the shooting the animal that makes the bonding happen. <I don't get any pleasure or satisfaction out of catching a fish or squashing a fly, just as I wouldn't find any enjoyment in killing a deer.> I don't really enjoy squashing anything either, but swatting a fly feels different to me than shooting a bear. Is there some difference to you?
Originally Posted By MOLLYSMOM I don't hunt, but I have friends that do. They come to my house every year for "hunting camp." I can't speak for all hunters, but for these guys, I clearly see the bonding. We have 2 that fly all the way from Michigan each year to Washington (where I live) to hunt for a week. One is the owner of a large company. He loves that there is no phone, meetings, worries, etc. They all do. They go hunting in the morning, and the evenings are spent talking, playing darts or cards, sitting around a campfire relaxing...just enjoying the solitude and each other's company. Sometimes they get a deer, sometimes they don't. They have all said that it doesn't matter...it's more about the quiet and relaxation...leaving the world behind for a few days. If someone gets a deer, of course it's exciting. But what I see from these guys, isn't so much the hunting, as it is the hanging out together without a care in the world. I know hard-core hunters of which some of you speak. Those are the hunters not allowed to hunt my property. I don't like hunting, and I couldn't do it myself. I have a friend who is a game warden. He assures that hunting is a necessary evil. If the deer overpopulate, there is not enough feed for them to get through winter and they will die a much more horrible death either from starvation or disease. I still don't like hunting, but it makes sense.
Originally Posted By officerminnie >>>>Spending a ton of time together in the wilderness = bonding. No TV, cell phones, just friends or family talking, working, and playing together for days at a time. It's an amazing way to bond. It's not the shooting the animal that makes the bonding happen.<<<< So whay not just go camping? ;P Seriously, this is going to turn into a WE topic if we keep going. Let's agree to disagree on this. And yes, of course I feel differently about killing a fly vs. killing a bear. But I still don;t like to kill things - even spiders, who creep me out but are still, I'm told, important to the world
Originally Posted By gottaluvdavillains I look at it this way... If you hunt and get something - if you eat it then fine - if you are just doing it for the sport then it's cruel. If you are hunting for something you don't care to eat - then before you go see if there is a place you can donate the game to.
Originally Posted By melekalikimaka That is how I feel, too, gottaluv. Killing for sport and waste is so wrong to me. I don't understand people who like to kill things. I ran over a cat once and was upset for hours. I understand the need for some killing and really have no problem with people doing it for food...it's just not something I want to engage in. I would do it to feed my family if I had to, but for "fun"...no. Not ever.
Originally Posted By LadyKluck People I know (including myself) hunt for 2 major reasons - FOOD & population control. It can be a bonding experience too, just like utahjosh described. My husband taught me how to hunt, and when they're old enough, he'll teach our children as well. Let me get it straight that I do have a major issue with folks who hunt just to get that 8 point buck or grizzly bear mounted on their wall and the meat gets waisted - luckily those types are not the majority of hunters. Most of the hunting shows on TV are "sport" hunters, going for trophy animals - but the meat still gets used, if not by the hunter then its donated. What a lot of people don't understand is without hunting, herds would get too large. When a herd gets too big then illness starts spreading and eventually could wipe out the entire group. In the "olden days" animals like wolves, bears, cougars, coyotes, etc. would weed out the sick ones, the older ones (i.e. trophy animals), keeping the herds healthy and not over populated. Well thanks to UNEDUCATED hunters the predators aren't around much anymore, so someone else has to fill their role. I understand there are people out there that think its wrong or cruel or disgusting but what do you folks think people ate before there were Burger Kings or microwaves? If you wanna talk cruel, try a slaughterhouse where your hamburger or pork chops come from...give me an elk steak over a beef steak any day! OK so sorry - I'll get off my soapbox now.
Originally Posted By MOLLYSMOM Klucky...you said EXACTLY what my game warden pal said. Like it or not...hunting is necessary.
Originally Posted By LadyKluck Sorry to repeat but I'm posting from my phone and it takes forver to type!
Originally Posted By gottaluvdavillains Oddly enough - I have wife swap on right now - and one family is in the hunting industry.
Originally Posted By pecos bill Being a non hunter who was raised in a hunting environment, I can see both sides to this issue. I hunted as a young man, and was very good at it, but one time I had to dispatch a wounded deer at close range, while looking him in the eyes. I havent hunted a day since. That is not to say I would not hunt if the need ever arose, and I rather like the feeling that I posess the skill to do so, as opposed to being dependent on having others provide everything I consume. I guess its an old school way of thinking, but it gives me some satisfaction. For the record, I detest trophy hunters. I was given a tour of the trophy room of a client who took the last legal Black Rhino in the world, and it took every bit of restraint I could muster to keep from telling him what a pathetic creep I thought he was.
Originally Posted By LadyKluck I'm with ya on the rhino thing pecos! I used to work for a house cleaning company several years ago and this one house we cleaned had the entire basement dedicated to the husband's African hunting "adventures". This guy had everything from elephant tusks to a water buffalo head to a full lion pelt rug (head and all - like a bear skin rug only it was a lion). I hated cleaning that house! Luckily every time we went the husband was at work because man I would have had a few nasty things to say to that guy!
