Ok I got to thinking tonight. I work with a PE teacher who just loves to fish. He takes his boys fishing and I talk with him every now and then about what a great time they have fishing. Even the females at our work talk with him about fishing and what a good dad he is taking his boys fishing and spending time with them on the water. When asked he tells us that they caught X amount of fish and the boys hauled in a 20 pound striper here and there. He is a good guy. He tells them they can't wait to eat the fish over the upcoming weekend. Everyone seems delighted about fish on the grill. Flash over to me. If I make a mention of taking my bow out and killing a deer, people get tense, tight, sickened, mad...you name it. I don't get it. I am talking about killing a 100 pound deer. Say I get 50 pounds of meat off the deer. Say my fisherman buddy and his boys catch and process 50 pounds of fish meat. Isn't protein, protein? Or is deer meat protein biologically different than fish meat protein? I mean, is that why people react differently about catching and killing fish and compared to killing an animal such as a deer--is it that the protein molecules are different? Or is it in the method? Is is that animals are "cute" and fish can't make all the cute sounds animals can? I can't figure it out. Help me understand.
No one goes to the petting zoo to pet fish. Of course, most people like to think meat grows on little plastic trays in the back of the store.
That is exactly what I was going to say. You stole my Thunder. I don't think most people believe fish feel pain. You don't really hear a fish screaming or yelling in pain like you do animals. More people were exposed to fishing in their young age than killing animals. From a social aspect they are not in the same league. From a logical standpoint they are the same.
I can't help it, personally. The size of a game animal has a direct correlation to how I view it. I respect them all differently......and I'm not afraid to admit it. I don't think I'm alone, either. We see guys in the forum talking about shooting squirrels at will from stand. Do they eat 'em all? I don't care. Doesn't affect me. Yotes? Many (me included) will take an otherwise no-shot and make it into an op. Turkeys? Yeah. I'll risk a shot at a turkey I might not take at a deer. Why? I assign different values to different animals. Most fish are expendable! I've filled the bottom of my Hydra Sports with spanish Mackerel. I've clubbed tuna. I've gaffed kings and cobia. Yet, I've never knowingly killed a trout. Weird.
Guy asked me today if I felt guilty about killing poor, defenseless animals (my chickens, deer, etc.). I said,"Not a bit, do you feel guilty about have other people kill your animals for you?". He looked at me, didn't know what to say, tilted his head to the side and got one of those goofy "dang, I'm a dumbass" looks on his face. I started laughing, then he laughed and we parted ways.
The way I feel about the issue. I know it's kind of off topic but with all the videos going around on how our meat is being processed for like fast food chains. I feel that the way they kill those pigs,chickens, and cows is inhumane. But if I can get a 20 yard shot on a deer and put it where it needs to go I feel that I killed it alot more humanely then some of the animals get killed at the slaughter house. I wish more people would open their minds to hunting and its benefits and maybe we wouldnt have all this steroid jacked up food to eat.
Remember, "Out of sight..... Out of mind". People don't see the slaughter house, they don't see the carcase. But they DO see hunters. They see caucuses in the back of pick up trucks. Americans as a whole have to see something to be bothered by it. Take for example a radio commercial telling people about a puppy mill. Most people would be bothered by it but not "disturbed" by it and therefore appalled. Now take a TV commercial showing animals suffering. People will be appalled in about 10 seconds. It is just reality. Hunting is simply more exposed than the slaughter house.
Here is another scenario...a lot of people including myself like to watch shows like National Geographic Explorer. I like the shows about native cultures. If I had a diverse audience around me as I watched those shows I bet I would get a neutral response if any of the natives were shown killing a deer for example. They might even be intrigued about the self sufficiency of it all. But, flash a documentary about a guy who just loves bowhunting and show him/her kill a deer, and you will get a entirely different response even from that same diverse crowd. It is the same response I see from Americans in regard to recreational drug use ( I am not saying use drugs! I am just using this as an example). I will use that same National Geographic show as an example. If people are watching NAT Geo show and the show is about Native Americans for example...it might talk about or show Native Americans using Peyote during their religous activities on occasion. Most people won't say anything about Native Americans recreationally using Peyote to enhance their religous services, yet will condemn a young american for wanting to do the same thing in regards to their religous experiences. They call those young kids wanting to do that,,,hippies. In contrast, they will describe the native american as a person in touch with nature. Weird. I know what some of you are thinking...what the hell am I talking about. I am narrowing down an argument to the effect that the issues people have with other people killing animals is their perception of that single individual in relation to the context of the killing. And many times anti-hunters perceive us modern day hunters as not even really being necessary or us not even being hunters as compared to the natives in my above example. They somehow currently perceive our actions as being selfish and egotistical as compared to sustinence hunters.
Good Answer Bruce! To me an Animal is an Animal. Period! God put us here as rulers over the Animals not to worship them. Dan
Aquariums started having a sort of Petting zoo. With skates, and rays, and various other aquatic animals... Catfish? lol. Not alone. But yes, I have eaten everything I have willingly killed. It was my dad's rule. lol. It's Christine... She is the definition of weird... Think MAGLITE... lol. :D
Joe, I disagree. I think we NEED to care what those people think and try to educate them. Admittedly the extremists are a lost cause, but the type of guy originally described in the post does not seem like an extremist to me. If enough people in our society believe it is wrong, they will make sure the legislators write laws to make it wrong (illegal). Ignoring how our sport is viewed socially is a grave mistake in my opinion. We all need to defend and represent our sport to maintain legality.
Agree GFY!! Respectable photo's and how you represent yourself as a hunter can go along ways on how non hunters (not anti's) view you/us.
Why do I need to explain myself why I hunt to someone that isn't going to listen in the first place? They could care lass what you think and why you hunt, they just don't want you to do it, period!
A good example of this is how the "tree huggers" have influenced the legislators to protect the Mountain Lion in California. When I was a kid, there was a bounty on Mountain Lions. Now they are protected and are devastating our deer herds, especially in our coastal mountain range. It has gotten to the point that we are having lions attack humans because their natural prey is gone. Most of the ranchers in the coastal range now have a "shoot and don't tell" policy. The LA and SF wackos still have influence over the legislature, however, and few of them have ever even seen a Mountain Lion. Maybe when they realize that Bambi is being eliminated from areas of our state, through education by sportsmen, things will finally change. I hope it's not too late.
Your right, it is damn hard to change opinions of people, especially about a hot button topic as hunting. Some may listen however, once they hear a well stated opposing viewpoint. It scares the hell out of me every time I hear a story like this (a regular sounding guy that gets squeamish when you mention hunting). It shows our society is changing, and not for the better. You may not think of him as a normal guy, but he is not an anti (yet) but his viewpoint right now sounds as he is leaning against hunting. I am not going to sit on the sidelines and not do everything I can to protect my right to hunt.
Brad, I don't sit on the sidelines either. I see a big difference in promoting our sport then defending it! I personally enjoy spending my time getting new hunters/archers involved in this sport than trying to explain to a grown man/woman as to why I do it or why it needs to be done. When I handed over a longbow set up to a friend from works young son, the smile on his face was well worth it then me turning blue in the face trying to explain hunting to someone that will most likely never get it!
