Anyone else enjoy hunting?

[0ptiC]

So as you might understand from the topic, I enjoy hunting. A lot.
I do it as much as I can when I have time to spare.
I hunt everything between ducks, rabbit, fox, deer and moose. I would love to try some boar hunting, but there's just not enough money and time for that at the moment.
The usual hunting methods I use are stealth and wait. But I do occasionally join a team who uses dogs. That mainly covers deer and fox hunting.
I would like to try some bow hunting but, I don't really have any near friends that does it, so I haven't had the chance to try it out.
It would be absolutely amazing to try it, since I believe you really have to be stealthy to sneak up on your pray. And that challange would make it so much more satisfying when you actually manage to get your pray.

I currently have a nice collection of gear, but I'm looking to expand or replace:

Tikka M65 30-06 w/ Hawke 3-9x50 scope. 5+1 bullet capability.
Remington 870 Wingmaster 12 gauge pump-action shotgun. 28 inch barrel. 4+1 cartridge capability
Winchester double barreled shotgun.
Mil-tec Ghillie suit.
BlackHawk 55 catridge 12 gauge bandolier.

Looking to buy:

Sako TRG-42 .338 Lapua Magnum Green stock w/ Schmidt & Bender Police Marksman II 3-12x50 scope.
Strother Wrath SHO Compound Bow.

Is there anyone else that enjoys this spare time activity as much as I do? Anyone who wants to try but don't have the chance? Or maybe someone who actually think I'm a monster for doing so.
Feel free to comment on this in whatever manner you like. I will not judge you for your opinion, because everyone is different.
I could try to explain a few aspects of hunting if you're not very familiar with it, and maybe a bit interested.

I love to share my passion, and maybe inspire a few to maybe start hunting themselves.

Have a great day.

Your's truely,
0ptiC

[GhostRider]

i would hunt hipsters if i would be a unicorn

[Kofeiini]

I found out that it's quite easy to get into archery, at least where I live in. See if there are any local associations and if they have regular reservations on some training area - they usually also have the equipment and provide training if you are interested for some small fee. Cost me 5 euros to train for like 2-3 hours and they didn't charge anything for the training they provided.. :--)

I don't hunt, don't think it's my cup of tea. =)

[Sis]

I like animals too much, and just look at pics of foxes, they are so cute! It is an interesting hobby i think though, would be nice to read more about it, like which are the easiest animals to hunt down (if you need to pick between what you hunt) and do you need to wait long (i suppose the waiting times are different every time though) do you only hunt hurt or sick animals? or do you just kill for joy? (that does sound cruel)

[Kofeiini]

) do you only hunt hurt or sick animals? or do you just kill for joy? (that does sound cruel)

It might sound cruel, but my two cents are that the meat you buy from the store is way more cruel.. At least the wild animals have had a free life and they stand a better chance against hunters than the animals that are born and raised for a single purpose.

[0ptiC]

I like animals too much, and just look at pics of foxes, they are so cute! It is an interesting hobby i think though, would be nice to read more about it, like which are the easiest animals to hunt down (if you need to pick between what you hunt) and do you need to wait long (i suppose the waiting times are different every time though)

Well there will always be waiting when it comes to hunting. If you were to run around and activly chase the animals you will lose the advantage, since animals have far superior senses than you do. So if you step on a twig it sounds to you as a little snap, but to a fox it's more like towards a gun shot. ( metaphorically speaking ).
It does sound like a more fair way to do it, but with firearms there's a security risk as well. You have to know what's behind your target and what is in your area before you fire.
The fact that you are moving around with a loaded weapon also increases the risk of you falling because you tripped on something.
Besides, the waiting is theorapy for me. When I'm sitting there, waiting for the animal to come out in the field, I listen to the nature, I smell it, I feel it.
It is the closest you can get to nature and it is the most liberating feeling in the world for me.

) do you only hunt hurt or sick animals? or do you just kill for joy? (that does sound cruel)

It might sound cruel, but my two cents are that the meat you buy from the store is way more cruel.. At least the wild animals have had a free life and they stand a better chance against hunters than the animals that are born and raised for a single purpose.

Well, there are of course a few perspectives to this, and I do believe Merry has a point in this. Most of us know that animals in captivity are experiencing extreme conditions, where they are mistreated and even tortured.
I love animals. (I know this is going to sounds weird, and perhaps even uncomprehensive to some of you) But, a devoted hunter loves animals more than perhaps a animal activist. This is because he lives side by side with the animal, he's not sitting at home watching the animals from a computer screen, seeing what they are put through. He is out there experiencing nature along side the animals.
And perhaps, he is putting out apples, hay, crops for the deer to eat during really cold winters, when food is hard to find. Perhaps he puts out dead farm animals in the field for the predators to eat from during that same winter.
He wants the fauna to thrive. So that he can take a little piece back from it. Note, a little piece. He does not want to drive a spiecies to extinction.
All things considered, hunting done right is far more humane than any kind of industrial animal raising. Plus, the wild taste of the meat is one of the best taste experiences you can have. ;)

There are of course different sorts of hunting. Alot of fox hunters will go out and only hunt sick or hurt individuals, since they spread the disease. Not only to their own kind.
And by reducing the ammount of predators, you will have more carnivores like rabbit, deer and birds living in your forest.
And to answer your question, Sis, whether I hunt for the joy of killing, no. I hunt for the joy of the hunt. There's a very distinct difference there.
If there were any other way, I could get the meat from the animal without causing it pain or death, I would do it. Sadly that is not possible.
But for a hunter to deliberatly hurt an animal before he kills it, or perhaps doesn't kill it, is the worst thing of them all. That hunter does not deserve to have the right to hunt. He is not doing it for the right reasons. He will just cause pain and suffering. Which is not acceptable.
I hope this cleared things up a bit.

[evolunit]

i always found killing animals just for fun rather sick..big lack of empathy it is..
must be horrible for animal you shot and it manage to escape dying and suffering for days before it dies..
no mather what excuses you manage to come up with to make it sound fair it will always be just that-kill for fun..lot of animals can be cruel and kill other species as well but only human can kill just for pure joy
but world is not rainbowy ponyland and there are lot of much worst things in the world which iam disgusted almost everyday watching news..
just the world we are living in
on the lighter side: who does like campers anyway

edit. iam not any animal activist or greenpeace kiddo as you might thing from this response

[0ptiC]

No no, I absolutely understand your point of view. And I am rather glad that someone who feels this way spoke their tongue.
If I didn't want that kind of response to this thread, I wouldn't have posted it. I just feel that this discussion could educate both parties on their respective stand points. Make them understand each other a bit more.
There might be another hunter reading this who hasn't repsonded and he doesn't understand at all why some people think it's cruel etc. He might get an understanding of this as well.

But to explain a bit further, it is far from just about the killing. It's the entire experience, getting close to nature, close to the animals and closer to yourself in some ways as well.
I come from a small community where hunting is a part of our culture. It's tradition. The fathers passes their knowledge down to their sons and doughters. Yes, some of the women hunts as well. My sister does as well, for instance.
Said community is, as a matter of fact, a quite isolated island. To get to the nearest town, you have to travel with a ferry and then by boat. 75+30 minutes of travel. That's not accounting for the mandatory waiting.
Therefor hunting is also a good way to stack up on food for the winter when supply gets low. It's not like we're living in Sibiria, where the winter cuts us off from the rest of the world, but it certainly doesn't make travels easier either.
So therefor the tradition of hunting lives on.
And as I said in my last post, the meat from a wild animal tastes far better than one I go to the store and buy. Plus, I do actually believe that the wild meat is far more healthier. Animals in captivity gets fed God knows what and gets injected with all sorts of medicine, including antibiotics and so forth. Over a long period of time this might have some slight negative effects on us humans.
But, yes, this is only my point of view. Of course I live like any other civilized person. I get my food at the store, but I try to get as much as I can from local farmers and so forth.
Try to eat as healthy and naturally as I can.

Have a great day, you all.
0ptiC

[Sis]

But to explain a bit further, it is far from just about the killing. It's the entire experience, getting close to nature, close to the animals and closer to yourself in some ways as well.

How is it getting closer to the animals? i mean you do learn how they behave for sure but if you then kill them.. something i probably wont understand

I come from a small community where hunting is a part of our culture. It's tradition. The fathers passes their knowledge down to their sons and doughters. Yes, some of the women hunts as well. My sister does as well, for instance.

Therefor hunting is also a good way to stack up on food for the winter when supply gets low. It's not like we're living in Sibiria, where the winter cuts us off from the rest of the world, but it certainly doesn't make travels easier either.
So therefor the tradition of hunting lives on.

Nothing bad about culture or stacking up food for the winter, kinda suck you need to travel so far to get some supplies..

And as I said in my last post, the meat from a wild animal tastes far better than one I go to the store and buy. Plus, I do actually believe that the wild meat is far more healthier. Animals in captivity gets fed God knows what and gets injected with all sorts of medicine, including antibiotics and so forth. Over a long period of time this might have some slight negative effects on us humans.

Also heard it's healthier, animals in captivity get fed to get fat asap so they can slaughter, and those medicine also wont help making the meat healthier but they don't care about that, just money.., it's stressed meat we eat here, while if you hunt your own dinner, the animal didn't grow up stressed or got killed with too much stress, i suppose that you try to kill with one shot and if you shoot it and didn't kill it right away you'll end it's suffering asap

PS do you really eat fox meat? do you also use the fur for something?

[0ptiC]

Sis, no, we do not eat fox. :P
Depending on whether it's infected with scab or not, we might keep the pelt, yes. But mostly we hunt them to reduce their numbers. They don't really have any natural enemies so they grow in numbers really fast.
Thereby killing lots of rabbits and young deer.

Regarding the suffer issue. Of course, we always try to make such a clean kill as possible. It always horrible to see an animal in pain. And if we do manage to hurt it rather than kill it, we usually don't stop until we've ended it's suffering. It's the best for both parties. Usually in such a stressless manner as possible.

[evolunit]

hunting for food making its less unfair and cruel in my eyes but still i find rather funny for you to say you love animals yet first thing you can think of if you see one is "shoot" or "iam gonna kill you"
off the topic: how you get your internet connection(or fast enough) for you to play online games if you are living in not very populated area

[Kofeiini]

yet first thing you can think of if you see one is "shoot" or "iam gonna kill you"

That's an example of how someone who shouldn't even hunt would feel. Hunting's a bit like fishing I guess, you enjoy more of the time you spend fishing than actually getting the fish.

[0ptiC]

off the topic: how you get your internet connection(or fast enough) for you to play online games if you are living in not very populated area

Just to put it in to context. You know there is several trans-atlantic cables connecting North America to Europe, right? Well, it's basically the same system. And since I live in Finland, we have excellent 3G / 4G connections.
But as of right now, I live on the Finnish main land, working for the government.

[evolunit]

[/quote]
That's an example of how someone who shouldn't even hunt would feel. Hunting's a bit like fishing I guess, you enjoy more of the time you spend fishing than actually getting the fish.[/quote]

yea i get it..there are hunters who respect nature and animals, hunters who give something in order to take something and opticx seems to be one of them...
but for me - a grown up man who cant kill even an ant it will always be a bit strange and cruel thing..anyway i love nature too and i love spending time in forrest..we have nice nature around(high tatras), lot of bears living around too

[Kofeiini]

Yes well, there are other things to be taken account as well. Hunting serves a purpose as well. For example, if moose and deer ain't hunted, they repopulate too much and there'll be car accidents etc. Better for the moose to be hunted than ran over in my opinnion, since the hunter is in most cases faster and less painful.

It's both duty and hobby. :--)