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

[SlitheryDee]

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

Well you could say that you "catch" it by impeding its ability to run away from you with said bullet.

 

[mb]

I've never been hunting but damn now I want to.

And I want some of BoomerD's elk meat!

 

[Modelworks]

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

Well you could try it, that would be a great video. Man grabs buck by the antlers and tries to wrestle it to the ground !

 

[torpid]

Why would I pay for something I can get for free ?

I have never been to a state where it is free to hunt OR free to take home a deer that you killed / kill a deer using a license, even aside from butchering costs. It may be cheaper after all is said and done, but I don't think this is a big part of the equation with all of the licensing fees, butchering costs, storage costs, and human effort that gets put into it. I think it is for the sport for a vast majority of hunters.

It is far safer too. You think grocery store meat is safe ?

I can pretty much guarantee that the meat I get from my grocer is safer than what you'd get from a random deer in a forest. A lot of people are assuming all grocers are supermarkets (see below) but the grocer closest to me sells meat from a local farm that has humane and sanitary conditions. The animals are monitored closely for diseases since it directly affects their profits and they don't use antibiotics. Any minor health hazard could easily put the place out of business. It is also the same meat used at the best restaurants in the city, so there's another layer of vetting that occurs right there.

A deer on the other hand has no sort of monitoring and probably is ingesting toxic waste dumped in the middle of the forest by unsavory corporations. Or, at the least, is exposed to diseases and barely monitored to ensure those diseases don't make it to your table.

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.

A) he said local grocer, not supermarket. They aren't always interchangeable.

B) Since I live in the midwest I guess this means meat at the supermarkets (where I don't shop for meat anyway) are pretty economical and efficient?

C) Agreed on local farm stuff. I prefer that option when it's available, but am happy that the store across the street from me buys from the same farms I would. Most supermarkets in this area are slowly moving towards local meats as an option, but I have no idea if this is the case in other areas.

 

[zinfamous]

Sitting in a tree stand in the cold in complete silence for hours on end versus a 30 minute round trip to the local grocery store. I'd say the latter is a more efficient expenditure of my time.

your time, well...maybe. You know how many separate trips, how much it would cost to get the same amount of meat at the grocery store to equal what you get on a successful hunt?

not to mention the quality. I think the single trip providing a few months worth of lean, healthy venison to be a better idea than slogging to the grocery store once a week for some over-processed, ridiculously expensive meat.

 

[olds]

We killed off most of the predators and if we don't hunt the deer, elk and so forth they will over populate. we have to so the forest remains healthy.

The deer will multiply like cockroaches.

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

yeah. i knew one guy who was heavy into trapping. not the trapping animals that are gettingin the house or barn. but setting them up in fields and killing wild animals.

i asked what he did with them. he said the fur he could sale every now and then. the rest? well it was waste.

i think something like that should be outlawed. oh and "sport hunting" where people kill just for the kill.

i do think hunting (if you eat or donate the meat) is needed.

Killing just to kill, is called population control.
Come down to the Southern states and you'll understand why things like Deer and wild pigs need to be hunted. As with anything to many of anything is not good. The pigs are incredibly destructive and damage millions of dollars in crops every year. They also destroy any land they are on by killing the plant life, thus causing erosion, thus creating potential hazards for human beings.

Stop being a nacy boy and realize that all things will die.

 

[Modelworks]

I have never been to a state where it is free to hunt OR free to take home a deer that you killed / kill a deer using a license, even aside from butchering costs. It may be cheaper after all is said and done, but I don't think this is a big part of the equation with all of the licensing fees, butchering costs, storage costs, and human effort that gets put into it. I think it is for the sport for a vast majority of hunters.

The only cost is the license of $10 for the season , this year the limit is 6 deer per license . When you kill a deer you only have to call and notify them so they can keep count. No other fees or paperwork. You will spend more than $10 in gas to get to the store to buy the food. Everything else you can do yourself if you want. With all the overweight and lazy people we have it would be great if more put some effort into doing something physical.

I can pretty much guarantee that the meat I get from my grocer is safer than what you'd get from a random deer in a forest.

why because they say so ? People fall for the 'organic' stickers on meat all the time. Spend time reading what is required to get that label and you will see why it is a joke. 70% organic fed qualifies, they don't specify the other 30% . Cattle can even be fed fillers, given shots, and use hormones as long as it isn't done in the last 60 days before slaughtering.

A lot of people are assuming all grocers are supermarkets (see below) but the grocer closest to me sells meat from a local farm that has humane and sanitary conditions. The animals are monitored closely for diseases since it directly affects their profits and they don't use antibiotics.

Have you been to the farm yourself ? Or are you reading ads and promotions.

A deer on the other hand has no sort of monitoring and probably is ingesting toxic waste dumped in the middle of the forest by unsavory corporations. Or, at the least, is exposed to diseases and never monitored to ensure those diseases don't make it to your table.

Deer that live miles from the nearest homes rarely carry disease and eat from the wild things that are much better than any caged animal will be fed. I have never heard of an outbreak of disease in deer that kill masses of people or leave them with things like mad cow .All the talk of wild animals are diseased usually comes from people that would be scared to death to even be in the places the animals live because they are so far from another person. The kind of places that at night without moonlight you can't see your hand .

 

[Modelworks]

The deer will multiply like cockroaches.

Last year the count was over 3,000 deer killed in my county and it barely made a dent in the population.

 

[vi edit]

Deer that live miles from the nearest homes rarely carry disease and eat from the wild things that are much better than any caged animal will be fed. I have never heard of an outbreak of disease in deer that kill masses of people or leave them with things like mad cow .All the talk of wild animals are diseased usually comes from people that would be scared to death to even be in the places the animals live because they are so far from another person. The kind of places that at night without moonlight you can't see your hand .

Eh? Chronic Wasting Disease is the deer form of Mad Cow. And the southern part of Wisconsin has a huge problem with it. As does very remote areas of Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado, NM, and Utah.

 

[Mr. Lennon]

Hunting is about many things before bringing meat home.

Hunting camp/trips is a time to spend with friends and family. Many groups have traditional hunting camps that they look forward to for spending time with those that live far away, or make it a point to catch up on things at camp.

Being out in the woods is a wonderful time - away from work, city or whatever. Solitude and a time to reflect on your life etc.

Watching wildlife is also very rewarding. I've bow hunted many years, and being close to deer, having a Great Owl swoop in and perch next to me in the tree, all sorts of other crazy things that I would have never witnessed without being in the woods.

Some of my best experiences, stories and times by myself and with my friends has been the result of hunting - and none of what I mentioned above is about shooting or killing an animal!

I have had some great experiences in the woods too. I didn't have to kill anything though.

 

[Modelworks]

Eh? Chronic Wasting Disease is the deer form of Mad Cow. And the southern part of Wisconsin has a huge problem with it. As does very remote areas of Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado, NM, and Utah.

I know about that but comparing it to the dangers of mad cow is like saying the common cold is the same as cancer. And there was no huge problem with it anywhere. It was a few deer and blown way out of proportion. It isn't even proven to infect humans who consume the meat.

 

[TallBill]

I have had some great experiences in the woods too. I didn't have to kill anything though.

Meat is tasty though...

 

[torpid]

The only cost is the license of $10 for the season , this year the limit is 6 deer per license . When you kill a deer you only have to call and notify them so they can keep count. No other fees or paperwork. You will spend more than $10 in gas to get to the store to buy the food. Everything else you can do yourself if you want. With all the overweight and lazy people we have it would be great if more put some effort into doing something physical.

A) You will pay significantly more for the gas to get to your hunting site than the gas to get to your grocer unless you are one of the people who live in the forest to which you referred below

B) I live across the street from a grocer.

C) I am all for doing something physical, but sitting in a tree for several hours hoping you don't make any noise isn't my idea of doing something physical.

why because they say so ? People fall for the 'organic' stickers on meat all the time. Spend time reading what is required to get that label and you will see why it is a joke. 70% organic fed qualifies, they don't specify the other 30% . Cattle can even be fed fillers, given shots, and use hormones as long as it isn't done in the last 60 days before slaughtering.

I didn't say anything about organic. And the answer to "why" which is actually "how do you know" is: I have visited the farm, and it also vetted by multiple groups including the grocer itself which does a lot of research on any food item it sells and the aforementioned gourmet restaurants in the city.

Have you been to the farm yourself ? Or are you reading ads and promotions.

They don't have any ads that I have seen, or promos. I have been to the farm and I speak to the farmer on the occasions when I have time to visit them at the farmer's market.

Deer that live miles from the nearest homes rarely carry disease and eat from the wild things that are much better than any caged animal will be fed. I have never heard of an outbreak of disease in deer that kill masses of people or leave them with things like mad cow .All the talk of wild animals are diseased usually comes from people that would be scared to death to even be in the places the animals live because they are so far from another person. The kind of places that at night without moonlight you can't see your hand .

I have never heard of a cow from my local farm having mad cow disease. I have heard of many deer having CWD. Also, they don't live in a cage. And finally, I can assure you that deer living in the deep forest still can be diseased even though no human is coughing on them.

 

[ahenkel]

I think hunting is fine, and I mean legitimate going out the wild and hunting down wild game. I have serious problems with farm raised hunting outfits where the animals have no fear of humans and there's no challenge to the hunt. Its akin to walking onto a cow pasture and shooting a cow in the heart and calling it hunting.

 

[Kirby]

Deer hunting with dogs is even more fun.

 

[hclarkjr]

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.

the food part has nothing to do with it in most cases. it is the killing something part that people get their kicks from

 

[SlitheryDee]

Deer hunting with dogs is even more fun.

I know some people who love it, but I really can't see how a bunch of loud ass baying dogs tearing through the woods could make hunting more fun. The few times I went, one of the main attractions was the relative peace and tranquility of the forest.

 

[ghost recon88]

If you're liberal you're against hunting

If you're conservative you're for hunting

/thread

 

[SlitheryDee]

If you're liberal you're against hunting

If you're conservative you're for hunting

/thread

Around here you're for hunting regardless of your political affiliation. I know some real dyed-in-the-wool democrats who arrange their work schedule so that they're off for the entire deer season.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

when i was a kid our family had a cabin in yosemite and the deer were basically tame. they would walk right up to you and you could pet them, but up close they were really nasty, with ticks and scabs on their skin. they probably even had worms. theres no way i would eat something like that. if i ate red mean i would take the mad cow anyday

 

[OBLAMA2009]

does anyone here hunt bears? what is the purpose of that, do you actually eat bear meat?

 

[muskie32]

it's fun
it's tasty
it's economical (sometimes)
it's environmental

Exactly :awe:

 

[weirdichi]

Because the butcher throws out all the best parts of the animal. Where can I get me some deer liver and deer testicles? Now THAT'S some grubbin there!

 

[DangerAardvark]

Well, we've got all these guns... and we can't shoot people...