The Student Room Group

Hunting : Your views?

For many this seems to be an activity of great contention, often emotionally charged and with individuals often displaying a great passion either for or against it.

I myself will state I am a hunter, I enjoy hunting immensely as a sport and as a hobby, I also support and have engaged in trophy hunting.
I started out hunting foul and small game with my father when I was younger, but as I grew older I moved on to progressively larger game and also started Bow Hunting , which I then made my primary form.
I have hunted in many countries in the world and stalked and taken game such as Deer, Elk, Proghorn, Moose, American Black Bear etc(tried Mountain Lion, but the things are tricky) , and even to Africa to hunt Oryx and Impala's.

For myself I enjoy the thrill of the hunt itself, the test of man against his environment in tracking the game to the skill of getting close enough for a clean kill and the joy of brining what can be a long and physically challenging task to fruition in one deeply satisfying moment.

However I have known many personally and over the internet who see it as a horrific act, tantamount to criminal murder and whos opinions of me are drastically changed due to my love of the sport.

This link is an educational video from the Scotish Highland management team BASC, dealing with Deer Stalking but more importantly the process of Culling, which is the primary reason most hunters hunt.
It contains some graphic scenes

So what do you think of Hunting TSR, thrilling bloodsport or Morally reprehensible, or is it somewhere in between?
Below are some pictures of myself from quite a few years ago now.



(This is a re-hash of a simmiler thread I made a few years ago, just to see how opinions have changed on the matter if at all and to revive what can often by a stimulating debate!)
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lerjj
Quoted in as promised

Hey
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I personally don't like the idea of hunting if the following occur: the animal being hunted is endangered or a protected species, the animal suffers unnecessarily (like with fox hunting and they used to be chased for miles in fear before finally killed) at least give the animal a clean kill and I also don't like the idea of hunting if the hunted animal goes to waste and you just leave it to rot, if you're going to kill an animal at least use it for meat or use it's fur and don't let it go to waste.

I don't like the idea of hunting in general anyway but if you do the above I just think you're an ass. Hunting for unnecessary reasons just seems stupid and selfish just so you can be happy you killed something.
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Reply 3
I always thought i didn't really care and could perhaps try it out myself but seeing you sitting there with a big grin on your face next to that poor animal.. it pisses me off.
Original post by Leftee
I always thought i didn't really care and could perhaps try it out myself but seeing you sitting there with a big grin on your face next to that poor animal.. it pisses me off.


Why is that?

I can presume it's because you didn't think it through, which is fine a lot of first time/non hunters don't, at the end of the day it's a sport/pastime you persue for fun, it's only natural to be happy when you achieve your goal isn't it?
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I think the fact that you are grinning ear to ear next to those dead animals makes you look like a psychopath.
Do you eat the animal after killing it? If not then what a waste. Killing for pleasure seems odd to me.
Reply 7
I don't really have an opinion on this, but I wouldn't ban it.
Reply 8
It is wrong for us to do it imo.
Utterly revolting and anyone who gets pleasure from killing stuff could probably do with extensive psychiatric evaluation.
Original post by Direstraights
Do you eat the animal after killing it? If not then what a waste. Killing for pleasure seems odd to me.


Nine times out of ten yes, unless there is some pressing reason why I couldn't such as the signs of illness or lack of facilities, even then I tend to try and sell it on to a butcher or dealer.

Very few hunters wouldn't eat or sell the meat, certainly no experienced ones, it's just wasteful and poor practice.
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Reply 11
Right.

Hunting is a sport and is meant for enjoyment. The possible benefits therefore are: happiness, (meat), (reduced population).

The amount of enjoyment derived from any sport is probably similar (at the very least, I'd contest that hunting provides the most entertainment) so the happiness gain could be adequately satisfied without recourse to hunting.

I accept culls as necessary under certain circumstances, I don't really know the ins and outs of them. An explanation of why they are necessary would be nice (but not necessary).

Hunting, when it is not as part of a cull though, is not an efficient way of gathering meat. I do not agree that it is worth the cruelty on the value of satisfaction derived alone, and I doubt that humanely slaughtering animals that have been bred in farms is more cruel than shooting a deer with a gun. Therefore, I do not accept that hunting brings more benefits than negatives, especially considering the primary benefit can come form other sources.

Lastly, hunting is a barbaric practice that could have damaging psychological effects, from killing living creatures. I personally am proscribed from eating any meat that has been killed either ritually or for enjoyment, and I'm afraid this includes hunting.

tl;dr Don't hunt. Go climbing instead.
Original post by Viva Emptiness
I think the fact that you are grinning ear to ear next to those dead animals makes you look like a psychopath.


Yea....I can see that.
Apart from criminals who hunt illegally to sell on the black market, it's fine. I don't see it as any different to those who go fishing and obviously don't return the fish. It's natural.

My only problem lies, as I said, with illegal hunting or hunting of endangered animals.
Original post by Three Mile Sprint
Nine times out of ten yes, unless there is some pressing reason why I couldn't such as the signs of illness or lack of facilities, even then I tend to try and sell it on to a butcher or dealer.

Very few hunters wouldn't eat or sell the meat, certainly no experienced ones, it's just wasteful and poor practice.


Interesting. You hunt alone or with a group?
I personally think that hunting for sport is terrible. It means that you value the brief rush you get from the 'thrill of the hunt' over the animal's life. It's a different matter if it's for meat or for a cull, although I would still find it a bit disturbing for someone to take enjoyment from the killing of an animal.
I'm generally opposed to the principal of culling (unless there is no vaccination) and hunting even though its the type of thing I'd probably love. Even with deer and the like I'd much rather leave them to breed and let nature sort itself out than engage in the current population control.
Reply 17
Actually, I've revised my opinion on culling. I should imagine that capturing, marking and sterilising animals, then releasing them back unharmed would be a far safer way of population control. Doesn't cause unnecessary cruelty either.
Original post by lerjj
Right.

Hunting is a sport and is meant for enjoyment. The possible benefits therefore are: happiness, (meat), (reduced population).

The amount of enjoyment derived from any sport is probably similar (at the very least, I'd contest that hunting provides the most entertainment) so the happiness gain could be adequately satisfied without recourse to hunting.

In theory yes, however the issue is that everyone is different I have seen people get sporting hardons for Tennis.
Tennis bores me to tears, I enjoy a lot of Sports my second degree was in Sport's Science and I was on four Uni teams, but for me personally nothing has given me the same sense of overall enjoyment.

I accept culls as necessary under certain circumstances, I don't really know the ins and outs of them. An explanation of why they are necessary would be nice (but not necessary).


Quite simply, if there populations are leaft to expand without restriction they destroy the local vegetation and the whole ecosystem fails.
In an ideal natural envrioment, deer would have a natural predator which keeps the numbers in line, so the plants and foliage that the deer eat evolve and grow according to the grazing patterns of the deer, there is always enough plants to feed the deer, always enough deer to feed the predator.

If the deer are unchecked they eat the plants, if there aren't enough plants insect populations are hit, which effects the bird populations or the ..etc etc etc.

As I am sure you are aware(you are an intelligeny guy) ecosystems can be frightfully delicate, at the moment the UK is suffering from a deer epidemic, it is estimated we need to cull 18'000 deer a year on top of current culling numbers to maintain certain wilderness areas.

Hunting, when it is not as part of a cull though, is not an efficient way of gathering meat. I do not agree that it is worth the cruelty on the value of satisfaction derived alone, and I doubt that humanely slaughtering animals that have been bred in farms is more cruel than shooting a deer with a gun. Therefore, I do not accept that hunting brings more benefits than negatives, especially considering the primary benefit can come form other sources.

I would contest this issue, humane treatment in my eyes at least extends far beyond merely the moment of death in fact I consider the moment/s of death to be a lesser issue.

99%(and this is no exaggeration) of Meat on the shelves came from an animal that was born in captivity, raised in closed captivity in a 8x5 feet pen, many not even seeing the outside of there enclosed barn, never seeing the light of day. Force fed steroids and a concoction of drugs to increase growth and size beyond natural measures, and then upon reaching the ripe age of a year and half(in the case of cows) or six months in the case of chickens, picked up stunned and slaughtered.

Compare this to a deer or elk that is born in the wild, lives in the wild able to play with it's herd/social grouping enjoy freedom , allowed to naturally mate and reproduce and generally lives a between six to eight years before being killed in the open, free in a manner that is still Nine times out of ten quicker and and less painful than the death that could be provided by any other natural predator.

Hunting is more humane than factory farmed meat.

Lastly, hunting is a barbaric practice that could have damaging psychological effects, from killing living creatures. I personally am proscribed from eating any meat that has been killed either ritually or for enjoyment, and I'm afraid this includes hunting.

tl;dr Don't hunt. Go climbing instead.

Do you have any studies to show that hunters have an increased chance or prevalence of mental health issues?
I come from a family family I live in the countryside I own horses, all my friends hunt (and hunting does still go on even though its illegal) and I find hunting utterly disguting. I think chasing an innocent animal through fields for miles on end while it flees for its life terrified to only be ripped apart by hounds is just awful I cant see how anybody can justify it. Fox hunting is disgusting it is wrong if you want to murder animals in such a vile way your ****ed in the head. I don't disagree with shooting an animal as long as it dies straight away and doesn't suffer

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