I have brought this subject up in the past and feel we need to revisit it. I want to know your thoughts as to this part of the hunt.... I have read recent comments that have said, "I don't like killing the animal" or "it is necessary" etc. Seriously? The kill is NOT necessary for most of us as there is plenty of venison available from those around us who hunt. Some of you don't even eat your venison. You can hunt them with a camera or paint ball gun to have that feeling of beating your target animal. The kill, when it is clean and quick, is the best part of the hunt for me. It is a job well done ... and that job (hunting) is to KILL. Why do some act like they hate it, or do not "like" it when they can "hunt" with other items that would not end with the death of their target animal with their own hands? The Kill....what are your thoughts?
I think many hunters, myself included, are conflicted when it comes to the act of killing an animal. Yes there is part of me that is very excited about it and feels a tremendous sense of accomplishment, success and gratitude. However there's also a part of me that does feel bad for the animal as I watch it take it's last breath. I've simply come to realize that I don't take pleasure in the act but rather the result and I don't feel like there's anything wrong with that.
I feel great after killing a Deer or a Turkey! The fact that it is never easy keeps my feelings at bay.
I have no real feelings toward the kill. That's why ya go, even if you don't want to admit it. If you don't care or are only out there to be in nature leave the firearm or bow at home. And at the end of the day it's just a deer, there's certain types of people I wouldn't lose sleep over killing either. Sent from my SM-G900R4 using Tapatalk
I agree with almost all of this, and possibly all of it if "I've simply come to realize that I don't take pleasure in the act but rather the result" is maybe the same thing? It could be semantics, but the pleasure of the result cannot be divorced from the kill, IMO. So then, in my mind, the kill must be pleasurable as it leads to our desired result. Again, just mulling this over....
I've struggled with the thought of taking a beautiful animals life as long as I've been hunting. Part of the reason I quit bowhunting for three years was the thought that it wasn't necessary for me to do it so why waste time I should be spending working. I had plenty of beef available and could afford it afterall. I even stopped managing deer here at home. Now I see much of what I worked hard for over the years by managing the deer slipping away because of it. From that perspective, it is necessary. Game animals need predation, a lack of it will result in overpopulation, disease, starvation, etc...etc... I see it as a responsibility now to responsibly take deer out as a management tool and in keeping with a sense of fairness to the animals I feel it's most important that the deer be old enough to have lived long enough to serve their purpose in life which is to live a full measure of life to peak and reproduce. I figure a buck that's over 5.5 years old is more likely to suffer nearly as much from weather, fighting and wear and tear as a quick end from me. Old age is pretty cruel to an animal in nature. Does are merely population control, I try my best to take the oldest does I can but surprisingly that's more of a challenge than taking only mature bucks. They are hard to age for me between a prime age and an over the hill age. I took one last year that had Cutaneous fibromas (warts) on her, she was old but how old I don't know. I could tell from the wear on her teeth she was old and she didn't have a fawn with her so either she didn't have one or it had left her early.
I don't struggle with me shooting a deer. I struggle thinking to myself about late February knowing that are thousands of deer starving to death at that very moment out there which is way worse than being shot IMO.
As far as "The Kill"..... well that's just part of it. I don't have any real "feelings" when it comes down to it, I'm out there to accomplish a goal/chess match. I rarely shoot a doe and only target mature bucks so the chance of getting an arrow red is slim, but when it happens its a great accomplishment. The ONLY time I have feelings about a deer is when its a mature buck that I've chased, lost sleep over, and played the game with for years. When I take that animal I feel a sense of loss, knowing that I wont be able to check the trail camera and see him out there, watch him in the food plot out my window, watch him mature year after year, ect. Knowing that the love/hate relationship has come to an end is about as far as my "feelings" go. So as far as the "kill", well..... THAT'S WHY WE HUNT!
The kill connects us with our own mortality. It reminds us how fragile and precious life is. It also reminds us that our sustenance comes with a price and should not be taken lightly. When we buy meat at a grocery store, we are paying for someone else to take the animals life. This does not in any way make us any less responsible for the death of an animal. We're predators. We're part of the circle of life. There's no shame nor honor. It is just the way life works.
The kill is part of the hunt, its part of who we are.If you don't like the kill, don't feel that rush as you draw your bow, you need to be gardening. Man has been killing animals for 1000's of years, stories we told, legends were made all about the kill. All the work all the preparation leads up to one thing, the kill. I make no apologies about the kill. Do I like it? Yes. Do I feel bad about it sometimes? Yes. Are the animals and birds I kill tasty on the grill? Yes!
I feel a minor sense of regret but with a stronger sense of accomplishment and respect for an animal that survived the elements and everything man and nature threw at it for it's entire life and finally a sense of pride and love for what God has gifted to us as mankind.
So what I am getting so far is that The Kill is gratifying as it puts the period at the end of the sentence. Of course I know there is work afterwards, but I am talking about the actual hunting of an animal that climaxes with the ended of that animals life. So there really IS a feeling associated with it...
There is a tension there for me. I'm glad there is. If there wasn't, I'd kill anything and everything I could. I don't hate or even dislike killing per se, but I also don't try and downplay the act either. Hell, there's been a seagull hanging around the resort this year. It's been sitting on our water trampoline every morning and crapping all over it. It's also been getting into garbages. I've been contemplating shooting it early some morning. Well it would seem that it got into a fisherman's line as I got a floating jig stuck into it's mouth. Yesterday I was able to walk up to it with a fishing net and grab him. I tried to get the hook out but couldn't. The fishing line was wrapped around his tongue and down his throat. I ended up taking him to our woodshed and cutting his head off with a machete. Even though I had previously wanted to kill the animal, I still felt a bit of sadness and I apologized to him before beheading him. To quote Donnie Vincent, "Make no mistake, this is a blood sport". That is part of the end goal and I intend to kill, but if I ever loose that tension of killing and respect for life, I hope I hang up my bow.
Love this post.... I LOVE the rush of a good, clean kill .... some make it sound so sad ...while standing over the animal, I do have a deep respect for our position in the cycle of life that is hard to put in words..I appreciate the game and the chance to chase it... Contrastingly, I had to kill a skunk that was threatening my chickens...there was none of those feelings as I was just protecting my livestock...yet an animal died...I would rather to have had the skunk never show up Another thought....if a bear were to go after my hives, I wouldn't think twice about killing it, but there would be no joy in it...put that bear in front of me during the season and I would love to kill it .... completely different
I am a little conflicted when I get one. I think its because I love and care about the animals I hunt. I wont hesitate to take one I like but I am a little conflicted when I think about it.
The conflict may be just respect for the animal and the excitement of the kill, the successful end of a specific pursuit....yes?
The kill is why I hunt, it is the result I have spent many hours working to get to. I have no regret, the only angst I feel is from when the arrow is released until the tag is applied.
I don't enjoy killing anymore. In the last couple years I have realized that hunting, for me, is all about the adventure. Will I still shoot game animals? Yes. Would it be ok with me if I never kill another game animal again? Absolutely.
I feel like the majority of civilization has forgotten what it means to be a human. They have forgotten the necessity to kill what they eat. Someone else is usually doing the dirty work. I love the honesty of hunting. I have to be willing to take the animals life so that I can feed myself and my family. Sure, I could afford to buy my meat, but my preference is to do it myself. I love and respect animals and I don't kill for the thrill.
