I'm a hunter, and have been for decades.

[Squatch]

Each year, I look forward to the sights, smells, and tastes that come along with hunting season. I hunt with a rifle, shotgun, or bow, depending on the quarry and the challenge I want to experience.

I do, and every single hunter I've personally known:
- Only take a shot when I know the animal will either drop dead immediately or shortly thereafter.
- Harvest the animal immediately, ultimately concerned about preservation of the meat and reducing spoilage/waste
- Respect the property of others. If I'm not invited to, I will not hunt on your private property.
- Respect the owners of private property. I will not approach your front door with a firearm and I will always ask your permission to hunt your property. If no permission is given, I move along.

I do not, nor have I known a single other hunter to:
- Drink alcoholic beverages while hunting.
- Hunt *just* for trophies
- Kill an animal and purposely leave the carcass
- Try to sneak onto private property when permission to do so has not been given.
- Disrespect the animal I killed in any way.

There are some on this board who try to paint hunters as some sort of perverse crowd of bloodthirsty slaughterers of fuzzy and cute animals. I've been doing this for decades, and of all the hundreds of hunters *I* personally have known or encountered, not a single one of them is some drunk bumbling asshole that is sometimes portrayed here on DU. Rather, each and every single one of those hunters that I have known absolutely values the experiences of hunting and the conservation of the US' wild areas.

[redqueen]

1. You don't hunt with handguns, then?

What do you think about a ban on civilian ownership of handguns?

[Mojorabbit]

2. Why in the world would you want to ban

handguns? I love target shooting with mine.

[Ezlivin]

6. You DO hunt with handguns

Big Game Handgun Hunting

Handgun Hunter Magazine

Bear Hunting with Handguns

[redqueen]

7. That wasn't a royal "you", I was asking the person who posted the OP.

Thanks though.

[Squatch]

11. My first hunting gun was a .44 magnum Colt Anaconda

Loved that pistol. Wrong firearm for hunting mule deer, though.

[redqueen]

19. Wrong firearm for hunting much of anything I'd think.

Would you vote for a republican or just not vote at all if the Dem candidate proposed that we ban civilian handguns?

Just curious about your thoughts since you're a Dem hunter... thanks. :)

[Squatch]

21. .44 is a good deer/bear gun when you can get close enough.

It wasn't the right gun for me out in eastern Washington, though, because it's kind of hard to get within 50 yards of a deer when the terrain looks like this (the Palouse):



So, I sold that gun to one of my friends and bought a shotgun for the amazing pheasant hunting, instead.

[NickB79]

39. My cousin has used a .357 Mag with good success up here in MN

Hunting where the shots are never further than 50 yards, it will kill deer very effectively with a heart/lung shot.

[Zorra]

31. If you lived in Nazi Germany, do you think

you would have liked to have had the option of deterring or shooting a Gestapo agent with your handgun if they had come to your home with the intention of arresting you and taking you and your family to a concentration camp?

Or, do you think you would have liked to have a handgun if you were part of a resistance movement fighting off a fascist dictatorship that had illegally taken over your government and was imprisoning whatever social sub-group that you were a part of, ie Jews, gays, liberals, etc.?

Of course, we know that such a fascist takeover could never happen here in the US, of course we know that, but I'm just sayin'...

I'm not a big fan of handguns, but I think it might be a good thing that a significant number of civilians have them. Personally, I think that there is a much greater risk of my being harmed by an out of control fascist than I am by a civilian handgun owner.

[CT_Progressive]

3. "Hey Homer, did ya git one?"

"Yeah, he had antlers, like this:"
(BLAM!)

:D

[MADem]

4. I don't know any hunters who act like assholes, either.

We have a few in my family--they're a minority, but they're there--and you'd fit right in with them.

The only jerky hunters I have ever seen have been in films and the odd 'worst case/bad news' report.

The people who do pull out the broad brush? They're operating from abject ignorance.

[alarimer]

27. Well my boss can tell some stories about jerks he has guided

But they do seem to generally a minority. Although most of the people he has guided who have been jerks were also Republicans. Could be a correlation. LOL

[bemildred]

5. Cheney is reputed to have been drunk when he shot the lawyer.

But I guess that wasn't really hunting.

[cali]

8. how perfectly non-responsive

you seem to be honing that art.

[bemildred]

9. Oh goodness, did I get off-topic again?

:hi:

[Gormy Cuss]

15. No, it''s an appropriate response. There are people who hunt who aren't like those in the OP.

Most hunters that I've known are like those described by the OP, but there are a few yahoos with guns who "hunt" when drinking, who shoot off their weapons with out a clear line of fire, and engage in other stupid and dangerous acts. Cheney is an example.

[bemildred]

35. I've known plenty of hunters that like to drink as part of it.

And plenty that were a lot more serious than that about their sport. I have no problem with the latter, although hunting is not to my taste. But I don't care much for drunks, let alone drunks with loaded guns.

[MADem]

29. When you release caged birds for a drunken ass to shoot, that's called slaughter

When he shoots his lawyer-friend instead, that's called stupidity!

[yardwork]

10. I have known some asshole drunken hunters, but they don't represent all hunters.

It's like saying that all white people are just like white supremacists, or that all men are serial killers. It's dumb. Ignore it.

[Wickerman]

12. Glad to hear it

Regrettably, I know a lot of long time hunters in my neck of the woods who are bowing out of "gun season" and now only hunt in bow season. The reasons they site:

- Drink alcoholic beverages while hunting.
- Hunt *just* for trophies
- Kill an animal and purposely leave the carcass
- Try to sneak onto private property when permission to do so has not been given.
- Disrespecting the killed animal

It's a shame, here in Minnesota we need hunters more than ever due to exploding populations and decrease in predator populations. Hopefully the gradual increase in bow hunting interest and the seemingly predilection of bow hunters to being more fastidious will help control the population.

Excellent post and may your example transport itself to some of the bumble fucks that inhabit the woods here. Oh, and please tell me you don't use a four wheeler. :)

[Squatch]

16. I never understood four-wheelers.

The object to hunting is to be all quiet and non-smelly. A four wheeler is exactly the opposite.

No, sir. I drive my comfy jeep to a comfortable distance (like a mile) from my stand and walk in.

[ieoeja]

13. FYI: you could enjoy all of that without killing.

For the record, as a farm owner I have had numerous problems with hunters who trespass. And I have known plenty who hunt just for trophies. The latter typically offered the kill to us which my dad thoroughly enjoyed.

You have either had incredibly good luck, or a lot of the hunters you meet are not being entirely truthful.

You get a pass on my usual question, "you see a ten point buck and a yearling, which do you shoot". The appropriate answer for the, "I hunt because I like venison" crowd would be the yearling since the yearling would be much better eating than a tough old buck. Yet almost everyone shoots and brags about the ten pointer which betrays their true goal is the trophy. Meat is just a side effect. You side stepped this question with your emphasis on "*just* for trophies". This implies that the trophy is *part* of the goal. Kudos for that.

As to the rest my experience has been pretty much the same as yours. I have certainly never met anyone who hunted while drinking. Shooting while drinking, yes. But never hunting. I am certain it happens, but it must be rare.

[hedgehog]

20. Excellent point! I welcome a neighbor who hunts on our property

and chases off all the shooters!

[Squatch]

22. Oh, I know.

"you could enjoy all of that without killing."

Somedays, when it's just too damned beautiful out there to ruin it with killing an animal, my hunts sometimes turn into long hikes with an unloaded gun.

I remember one time in Eastern Washington, setting out on a new-snow morning for pheasant. It was beautiful. Low fog over the creeks, crunchy snow, etc...I just couldn't ruin that peace with shotgun blasts. So, I unloaded the 870, and kept on walking. Wouldn't you know it, I had never seen so many pheasants within shooting range, only to cackle at me as they turned their tail feathers and take flight.

[Beausoir]

32. This is what I don't get and why I posted the hunting poll.

"Somedays, when it's just too damned beautiful out there to ruin it with killing an animal, my hunts sometimes turn into long hikes with an unloaded gun. "

I don't understand the disconnect there. Is someone forcing you to kill the animal? Can't you simply take a long walk without a gun?

I am being earnest in this question. Not flamebait.

[Squatch]

34. Not many stores carry wild venison, pheasants, or ducks.

"Is someone forcing you to kill the animal?"

No

"Can't you simply take a long walk without a gun?"

Yes, and I often do

[Beausoir]

37. Ok. Fair enough. And thanks for not flaming.

[China_cat]

25. Where I grew up, you'd have to say the 10 pointer

but not for the trophy. Anything under 3 points was (and may still be) illegal.

[Chulanowa]

26. Maybe I'm an exception...

I would bag the yearling for exactly the reasons you cite. But then I would also suspect I'm one of a very few people here on DU that has actually lived off of subsistence for sizable portions of the year.

Antlers are essentially penis extensions, both for deer and certain men.

[BuyingThyme]

14. I've encountered lots and lots and lots and lots of hunters.

And very few of them are like you. Not even among my friends.

So, thanks for being you.

[tularetom]

17. I'm a hunter and also a property owner in a rural area

and unfortunately I've seen everyone of the things you won't do, almost every year. We have a few acres of what looks like prime dove habitat near the lower end of our place and every September I have to chase people off there. Last year someone shot the weather vane off the top of our garage and we now put the horses in the barn every night so they won't get scared or even worse shot. I've picked up hundreds of shells, beer cans and other garbage over the years including dead crows that somebody shot and left. There are signs posted all along the road but they just seem to be ignored. Nobody ever bothers to ask, just climb over the fence hike back toward the creek and blast away.

Almost everybody who lives along our road has had the same problems and now every acre along there is posted.

[havocmom]

18. Where I live, hunters like you are few and far between

The latter group you described, we have way too many of. More and more ranchers are closing their places off to hunters due to years of chronic bad behavior, drunkenness and general stupidity. One chap not far from here lost a 12 year old son due to a hunter just blasting at anything that moved. In that case, the boy was learning to operate the tractor in a field that was closed to hunting. The kid was out in the middle of a field with nothing but brown stubble. The tractor was a John Dere. How a 'hunter' mistook that big bright green machine for an elk in a field where you could see a mile in any direction is a difficult thing to get your head around.

Gates don't get put back as found in too many cases. Then cattle get out on the highway. Sometimes that results in serious injury or death.


I know lots of folks who have lost dogs, cows and horses to hunters behaving badly. Where I live, I can watch the carcasses of animals shot hanging FOR days when the temps are still warm enough that the flies are quite active.

The taxidermist is busier than the meat processor.

I admire and support real hunters. But trust me, there are way too many posers out there. And a three year stint at the local market showed me a worrisome tendency. Most hunters coming here buy much more beer than food. One loaf of bread, a couple packages of lunch meat and an 18 pack per person per hunting party is a recipe for trouble. And it a recipe too commonly used around where I live.

Hell, one year, a hunter shot another hunter before either of them left their motel rooms.

Don't even get me going about the three clowns who brought along children under the age of ten and left them alone in camp while they went into town to get rip roaring drunk. Those guys got into a horrible accident as a result of beer and a blizzard. Yeah, two died in the wreck and one just hung on long enough to tell the first responders that there were three unattended children in a camp.... somewhere over in that direction. The kids were found and saved, but it was a fucking close call.

Yes, some hunters are great. Too damned many are posers and a menace to many. Wildlife is generally safe from the latter group though.

[fishnfla]

23. I've hunted for decades and have to disagree

I have met, but never 'known', hunters who do the things you've described. There are jerks in any group of people.

But far and away the majority are respectful. One thing I have also learned is that people don't understand the hunting culture as a rule and it is essentially useless to argue with them on the internet.

For instance, the broad brush smear is " all hunters are bloodthirsty killers." Well in 30+ years of deer hunting, I have killed exactly one deer.( I am hunting wild Northern deer, they have a distinct advantage on me. Its not from lack of trying) If I am bloodthirsty, I am dying of thirst. Yet, year after year, I pay through the nose for equipment and licenses, talk about and look forward to the seasons.

People do not understand the Wisconsin hunting tradition. After the Rice Lake shootings, the NYTimes tried to do a piece on the subject. You could see in the article where the writer tried to get the message across, but the editor butchered the piece at his desk, and it failed.

They did another piece recently on deer hunting in Maine and its traditions, and without the desk editors heavy hand, it was better

[China_cat]

24. If you have never known any like that, then you are

very fortunate (or not very observant...which I do not believe is the case). I come from a family of hunters. If we didn't hunt, we didn't have meat for the winter. But I could name at least 6 family members and a dozen friends who drink while hunting, who poach on posted property, who hunt outside of legal times, who take more than the bag limit. I don't know any who would leave a kill, though.

I don't hunt any more. I don't have any need to. But I will still accept the occasional gift of venison, wild rabbit, pheasant or duck. And enjoy the hell out of it.

[IndianaJones]

28. Hunter here. Lately, bow only.

I enjoy it greatly.

[Ghost in the Machine]

30. Very well said, thanks for saying it...

I've been a hunter since the age of 13, though I haven't been in a couple of years. I'm out in the woods every Thanksgiving morning, last year and this year WITHOUT a gun, because it's a tradition for me and I'm passing it on to my 14 year old son.

Even in my "drinking days" I never drank before or during a hunt. Guns and alcohol just don't mix, period. I've never shot an animal that didn't get eaten, nor do I intend to.

I absolutely hate being lumped in with poachers and slobs who other people call "hunters". I'll turn in a poacher in a heartbeat, and have done so on several occasions... twice already in the last 2 months. I don't consider people who participate in canned hunts as hunters. I have 2 deer heads I had mounted, one is a 130 class Boone & Crockett 8 pointer, the other is a 110 class B&C 10 pointer. Both came from hunts that I'll have lifetime memories of. Neither came from canned hunts or hunting plantations. They came from the wild, where I scouted the areas, found their scrapes & rubs & trails and took them from the ground, at less than 20 yards. I don't even believe in ambushing a deer from a tree stand, either. I mastered the art of camouflage and cover scents. I've stood beside a tree and tapped a small button buck on the ass with an arrow when he walked right past me at less than 3 feet away. That's why abhor being lumped in the same group as some drunken redneck shooting deer from his truck at night with the aide of a spotlight...

In some areas you have no choice but to trophy hunt. Many counties in Georgia have regulations that require a minimum 15 inch inside spread on antlers before you can take a buck. You're still allowed to take a doe, and I know several guys, including an uncle, that haven't taken a buck in several years because of this. I personally will take a pass on smaller, younger bucks if I know there is a big buck using an area. I like to give them time to grow and mature. There's a nice 12 pointer using my property, and I've been watching him for 3 years now. I could have taken him several times..... but I want my son to get a shot at him. Being the dominant buck around here, I'm sure he's passed his genes on through the many does around here also, so I'm looking forward to seeing some more nice bucks on my property in the future.

PEACE!

Ghost

[AlertLurker]

33. Come on up to Ontario!

If you have never known a single other hunter to:

- Drink alcoholic beverages while hunting.
- Hunt *just* for trophies
- Kill an animal and purposely leave the carcass
- Try to sneak onto private property when permission to do so has not been given.
- Disrespect the animal I killed in any way.

Please come up here and teach some of these ignorant, inbred hillbillies how to hunt! I've OFTEN seen:
- morons hunting from boats and the beds of pickups, drinking beer.
- hunters that go out of their way to get extra people (those with Buck tags)in their hunting parties and go out ONLY for trophies - they give the meat away!
- idiots building stands in trees on my own property (well marked "No Trespassing"), without permission - they get a free piece of my mind as well as their asses kicked off the premises...

I really have no idea what passes for parents, anymore. Who teaches these people to hunt? Who would want to go hunting with these ignorant Yahoos, anyway? I know that they have to take the Hunter Safety Course to get a license, but what do they do - forget everything they have learned the first second they get out in the bush???

Never seen the carcass disrespected or just LEFT, however. That's just plain IGNORANT.

I almost stopped hunting three years ago when I only wounded a whitetail doe (shoulderblade - saw her limp) with a .243 Win. We couldn't find her anywhere. I cried almost every time I thought about it for a long time. I literally came back every day for a week, looking for sign of her. I never found the doe, though. I suppose she COULD have lived, but I doubt it (they are incredibly TOUGH ceratures, though). I shoot target every week now (I wasn't such a good shot, before) and use a little larger calibre (.270 Win.) to attempt to ensure that it never happens again.

[freethought]

36. My hunting interest seemed to have dropped off

Me and my dad used to go deer hunting in Northern New England. When my father hit his 70s the practice of sitting on a deer stand in the early New England winter lost its appeal. I was
particularly partial to primitive firearms(blackpowder) hunting. That one-shot priority was essential. With a muzzleloader you simply can't do a quick follow-up shot. You have got to place that shot well the FIRST time.

I have never understood why someone would drink and hunt. Aside from the fact you're carrying a firearm, you also have to remain alert and watchful. It is sometimes said that for every deer you do see there may be 4 or 5 you don't see.

I haven't gone in a few years. Not even sure that I will again.

[H2O Man]

38. Strange post.

I no longer fish or hunt, but I know many people who do. Environmentalists and hunters/fishermen tend to have a lot in common. My friends who hunt and fish are all good and decent people, and they are also among the first to say that there are far too many jackasses out there. And as a rural property owner, I know without question that there are idiots who tresspass, who are rude, drunk and obnoxious when told to leave private propert, who think nothing of cutting barbed-wire fences to drive 4-wheel vehicles on private property, and who "trophy hunt." I don't think that anyone can seriously say that hunting alone turns a jackass into a noble human being.

[Squatch]

40. Did somebody here say such a thing?

"I don't think that anyone can seriously say that hunting alone turns a jackass into a noble human being."

[Odin2005]

41. Us hunters as a whole are a powerful force for wildlife conservation.

Hunting gives an economic incentive to protect wetlands and forests. Many of us in my area are very concerned about threats to "prairie pothole" wetland locations (or as we call them, "sloughs"), global warming threatens to dry them up.