Why is hunting such a popular activity in the U.S.?

[vi edit]

Also I don't think you've ever had a properly done venison steak.... blows beef out of the water.

I've had venison steak about a dozen different ways. I just don't care for gamey chunks of meat. I like my well marbled moocow meat. Sorry. If you like deer steak then more power to you. I don't mind it in roasts, hamburger, or jerky. It's just not a replacement for a ribeye or porterhouse.

 

[Modelworks]

Secondly, if it weren't for deer hunting, the deer population would explode because of all the corn farming, and there would be deer/car accidents much more frequently.

I forgot about that part of it. Here we had so many deer last season that they dropped the limits for a time. My mothers yard had 3-4 deer in it every night. It was really out of control. The deer were going into the cities looking for food because they had consumed most of the natural sources because enough were not killed the year before.

 

[Modelworks]

I've had venison steak about a dozen different ways. I just don't care for gamey chunks of meat. I like my well marbled moocow meat. Sorry. If you like deer steak then more power to you. I don't mind it in roasts, hamburger, or jerky. It's just not a replacement for a ribeye or porterhouse.

That is because you don't know what real meat taste like. All that consuming of packaged products has numbed your taste buds. It is like people that buy all produce from grocery stores. It taste bland , nothing like home grown.

 

[Kirby]

I forgot about that part of it. Here we had so many deer last season that they dropped the limits for a time. My mothers yard had 3-4 deer in it every night. It was really out of control. The deer were going into the cities looking for food because they had consumed most of the natural sources because enough were not killed the year before.

I had a uncle who killed 6 or 8 in one night. He had to get a special permit though, apparently you can do that if you're a farmer.

 

[tatteredpotato]

I forgot about that part of it. Here we had so many deer last season that they dropped the limits for a time. My mothers yard had 3-4 deer in it every night. It was really out of control. The deer were going into the cities looking for food because they had consumed most of the natural sources because enough were not killed the year before.

The orchard we hunt in routinely gets kill tags when the population get's too high and it causes crop damage. With a kill tag you can go out, spotlight deer, and cap them with high-power rifles (something which is otherwise very illegal in ohio), but the deer have to be does.

 

[BoomerD]

I've had venison steak about a dozen different ways. I just don't care for gamey chunks of meat. I like my well marbled moocow meat. Sorry. If you like deer steak then more power to you. I don't mind it in roasts, hamburger, or jerky. It's just not a replacement for a ribeye or porterhouse.

You need to experience the deliciousness that is ELK. Not at all like venison...

BTW, if your deer was "gamey," then it wasn't done right. Either they ran the deer before it was killed, or it wasn't dressed quickly and properly...or it may have just come from an area with poor food sources for the animal. I've never had venison that was "gamey."

 

[vi edit]

For a tale of herds going out of control, look at Wisconsin and "Chronic Wasting Disease". That's a bad deal. They basically told the DNR to quarantine and kill 15,000 deer in couple county area to help stop the spread.

 

[vi edit]

That is because you don't know what real meat taste like. All that consuming of packaged products has numbed your taste buds. It is like people that buy all produce from grocery stores. It taste bland , nothing like home grown.

Whatever. The cow sitting in my freezer right now was raised on a farm about 10 miles from my house and taken to the locker by a coworker of mine.

My Dad has hunted for years, some of my friends have hunted for years. My uncles hunt. And it's still the same deal from any of them. I just care for big hunks of deer meat.

Sorry. You don't have to defend it. People have preferences.

 

[JulesMaximus]

In this day and age why is game hunting such a popular activity? Why not visit your local grocer and purchase a nice slab of meat instead? Seems that would be a more economical and more efficient means of acquiring food.

How is buying meat at the grocery store more economical and efficient? Most of the meat at your local supermarket is processed in plants in the midwest and then trucked in refrigerated trucks all over the country.

I prefer local farm raised beef and chicken over the crap they sell you at the supermarket.

 

[Jeff7]

George Carlin:
"Cause, I mean, even with all this stuff we preach about the sanctity of life, we don’t practice it. We don’t practice it! Look at what we kill:
Mosquitoes and flies. Cause they’re pests.
Lions and tigers. Cause it’s fun!
Chickens and pigs. Cause we’re hungry.
Pheasants and quails. Cause it’s fun! And we’re hungry.
And people. We kill people. Cause they’re pests. And it’s fun!"

 

[roguerower]

My dad and I are more interested in fishing than we are with hunting and for us the allure was being able to spend time together. It's a relaxed atmosphere where we get to relax and forget about the stuff going on in the world.

Now that I'm in the workforce and my weekends are free it would be even better.

Oh, and fresh fish > store fish. Hands down.

 

[tatteredpotato]

Oh, and fresh * > store *. Hands down.

Fixed.

 

[Aikouka]

My dad and uncle (as well as his immediate family) all hunt, but as much as my dad pushed me toward it (taking the super fun hunter safety course and getting hunting licenses), I was never really that interested in it. It might be related to how I must be one of the only Pennsylvanians (that grew up in the country) that hates camping .

With the talk of how good elk meat is, I'll have to see if my uncle has any the next time I'm back up north.

I certainly don't dislike hunting itself, but doing it just isn't my sort of thing.

 

[darkxshade]

Because it's a lot of fun when they don't shoot back :hmm:

 

[meltdown75]

moose pepperettes are tasty, i have a bunch coming to me soon. w00t

 

[CurseTheSky]

White-tailed deer are a big problem in my area. About 5 years ago, they took the limits (and most fees, IIRC) off from hunting them due to the horrible overpopulation leading to starvation. It helped, but the population is on the rise again.

Last fall, I hit a deer on my way home around 6 PM. After that, literally every night for 2-3 weeks straight there was a deer-related accident, or a new deer carcass in the road somewhere on my route home. I went from knowing a few people that had hit a deer in the past few years to knowing dozens. I'd rather see people hunt them and presumably use the meat for something than have them turn into roadkill, dying far more horrible deaths, damaging property, and possibly killing people.

 

[Paladin3]

The cost of hunting is fairly low here in Idaho. Hunting licenses are only $12.75 with deer tags going for $19.75 and elk tags for $30.75. Game is plentiful and close by where I live. A hand-me-down rifle and a few rounds of .30-06 can fill a freezer much cheaper than any other method I know of.

 

[waggy]

White-tailed deer are a big problem in my area. About 5 years ago, they took the limits (and most fees, IIRC) off from hunting them due to the horrible overpopulation leading to starvation. It helped, but the population is on the rise again.

Last fall, I hit a deer on my way home around 6 PM. After that, literally every night for 2-3 weeks straight there was a deer-related accident, or a new deer carcass in the road somewhere on my route home. I went from knowing a few people that had hit a deer in the past few years to knowing dozens. I'd rather see people hunt them and presumably use the meat for something than have them turn into roadkill, dying far more horrible deaths, damaging property, and possibly killing people.

To keep the herd healthy they need to be hunted. it sounds off but its true. look up chronic wasting disease in deer.

 

[AMCRambler]

We like to kill.

 

[Taejin]

how is "game" hunting the same as buying food at the store?

edit: I can't get man meat at the store...

you'd love some man meat, wouldnt you?

 

[ViviTheMage]

some people like it ... as a hobby. Plus, you do get a huge chunk of meat out of it, if you catch something.

 

[CPA]

Now you lost me. I don't understand how hunting herbivores could be thrilling.

Maybe you should try it before you opine on it.

 

[vi edit]

some people like it ... as a hobby. Plus, you do get a huge chunk of meat out of it, if you catch something.

Heh. Brings back something from my childhood. You don't "catch" a deer. You kill them.

I was corrected *a lot* about that from my Dad when I was young.

 

[ViviTheMage]

My bad, I don't hunt haha. But you're right, you don't exactly catch it...you put a bullet in it.

 

[waggy]

My bad, I don't hunt haha. But you're right, you don't exactly catch it...you put a bullet in it.

well the deer tries to "catch" the bullet! :sneaky: