So...I'm a hunter...I hunt everything from squirrel to elk. I also own a small farm's worth of animals (chickens, ducks, goats, rabbits) and today my wife and I were leaving the bank and she sees this big bunch of crows (I frigging hate crows) and points them out to me and we see they are attacking this mallard duck. It was obvious it was hurt, so I pulled over and after getting a good lick in on one big bastard crow, am able to scoop his poor guy out of the ditch. His wing is broken...seriously broken, and he's bleeding from several crow beak size punctures. Took him out to a local animal rescue and sadly, he was too badly injured to save so he was euthanized. I stayed with him. If I had been afield during duck season I'd have had a go at him, no second thoughts...but in that instance we had to save that duck from that cruel death. Hypocritical maybe? My wife and I argued for about an hour about how you can be an avid hunter (responsible and sure of any shot you take) and an animal lover. Not sure if I won her over, and I know for a fact she won't be eating any duck I bring home this fall...but all in all, we felt pretty good about what we had done today.
Great example of how moral questions become dilemmas. IMO all hunters should be animal lovers, or they shouldn't be allowed to hunt. Good show. Had a vaguely similar experience a couple of years ago with a trapped rat in the woods, after happily murdering several of its species at home. (of course I just freed it, didn't take it to a rescue place Edit - I guess you could say logically that you prefer there to be more ducks around than crows, so you can hunt them? Maybe subconscious way of thinking. More likely it's to do with Disney stereotypes of different animals
That's a tough one, Luke. I'm not a hunter, but I don't have a problem with hunters who eat what they hunt. Those who blast he** out of animals for "sport", I'm not so sure of. In the situation you mentioned, I believe it is possible to be an animal lover and a hunter. You wouldn't have shot that duck as he lay there in the ditch. You saw an animal in distress. You would have done the same for an injured dog or cat, even though you don't hunt them. I'm guessing you don't hit everything you shoot at, which is what makes it sporting. I've never lived in an area where hunting was an option, so it's hard for me to have an opinion. Tell your wife that a non-hunter thinks you were right.
Thanks gang. You are right Lou, I miss a hell of a lot more than I hit! And if I am not going to eat it, I don't even attempt to shoot at it. Conservation and hunting go hand in hand. If a person is out to shoot just to shoot things...I would be glad to introduce them to the glorious sport of trap shooting.
I think that's the same as we call Clay-pigeon shooting - exactly my thoughts. If they really feel the need to kill living things just for the sake of it, they should get help.
Yep, Nigel...same thing...I think it's called trap over here because that's what it is...a trap. I get trapped into a league every summer even though at the end each year I say, "Well that's the last year of this bulls*%t"
I agree, but there's a long-running controversy not far from where I live. A local gun club sponsors a live pigeon shoot every year. I don't believe anyone who attends has any intention of eating them, it seems to serve as a means for some folks to shoot live animals for the fun of it. There's always an uproar about it, but it's on private land so not much can be done. That kind of "hunting" I don't agree with.
Just making sure in case you guys just wait until something's in a trap before you shoot it you never know I used to work a trap for a few extra bucks from time to time as a kid, but I've actually never shot clays for some reason, no idea why not - it always looked fun - shot a couple of birds a few times years ago - lots goes on near me now but doubt I could steady a shotgun well enough these days - problem with left hand/arm last few years
There is always the argument about 'pest' control to consider, but to me pigeons are not pests outside of cities, and even then only when overpopulation gets too bad. There are sometimes issues with clashes with other more preferable species populations. Also wild wood-pigeons are delicious, and shooting them without eating them is idiocy, quite apart from any moral issues. IMO it is true though that killing something yourself for food changes your perspective in a good way in most cases, and pigeons or similar are a good and generally fairly harmless way to experience that. They should be forced to dress what they kill though, even if they don't want to eat it themselves, which they should.
I like shooting-------targets. I shot a bird once-dont remember what kind it was since this was well over 30 years ago--nothing illegal though. Anyway, I felt like (________) you feel in the blank/ and I never shot another live animal-cept to put a dog out of its misery after being run over by a (___ __ _ ______) who aimed at it with its car to purposely kill that dog >:-((( Anyway, the dog was still alive even though you could see its innards so i went into the house and grabbed my .22 and placed a shot into its head. I HATE jerks who aim their cars at animals--and it happens here all the time. I see them doing that to Squirrels, Cats, and even a Duck someone had as a pet. $*^R$%#&*())&%#@@%&)*$^*%$$%%%^***( Grrrrrrrrr. Before going on a tangent, I was going to say that I also hate Pigeons as all they do is (S____) all over the place. I have been a target of pigeons twice. Once when I was on the River Walk in San Antonio-wearing the most expensive shirt I ever bought (paid $50 for a shirt from a place called: Chess King-and this was back circa 1984-so $50 was a lot of dough for one shirt) and when wearing that shirt, I got solidly hit all over my back. Since then, ive hated pigeons. I got hit here in Austin a couple months ago. My right arm was targeted. What ticked me off the most was that I had just washed my jacket.
your own fault for paying $50 for a shirt - Nature's justice (by the way pigeons have internet access, and they'll see this, so look out tomorrow
Heh heh, its the pigeons that better watch out, I carry a concealed Shotgun with bird-shot in it :lol::lol:
Something in Michigan made the Yahoo news page the other day I guess....some doucher in his daddy bought Hummer thought it'd be sweet to run over 4 baby ducks in a fast food parking lots. Ooops....Felony charge...20 year sentence possible. He obviously won't see anything like that but, GOOD. Idiots. I get a lot of looks when I talk about hunting...and I don't try to push it on anyone...it's not for everyone and I can respect that. I have no doubt I could sit down with a non-hunter or even an anti-hunter and have a great conversation. I choose to hunt...I choose to feed my family (to an extent) with my skills as a tracker, shooter and an outdoors man. I do NOT hunt from a stationary blind or stand...if I can't track it, call it, spot it, or stalk it...I don't hunt it. I come home empty handed A LOT. But those times I don't? I can recall every big hunt of my life. You can't buy a high like that.
I HOPE they fry his ba$$ That is just not excusable. Also, they ought to take away the Toy daddy gave him,sell it in an auction then donate the earnings to Animal Shelters. Ill bet that jerk will never do that again--unless he's just plain stupid? Im betting hes just plain stupid. >:-((
We had a bad kids 'maybe' torturing animals case here about a year or so ago IIRC - it's a lot harder to make the judgement with a younger kid, although they definitely need something done with them and torturing is different too. But old enough to drive - old enough to know better, and if it was an 'accident', then he shouldn't be driving a big car yet. I hate to see 'examples' made of people in cases like this because I think it warps justice, but a sensible 'example' sentence sounds warranted here.
His buddy got out of the car, scooped up one of the babies, and when he was told to put it down, they drove around the building, came back to the side the ducks were on, and hit them. I am not naive enough to think this assclown will serve prison time, but I'd love a felony charge on his record.
I'd love to see the aforementioned assclown....in a dark alley....with my baseball bat........ Hunting and respect for the outdoors (and all that is contained within) should go hand in hand. If both you and the duck (or whatever season it is) are both free and unrestricted, its your skills against his. If its not his season, then he's another animal that deserves respect. I'm not a hunter, personally, although I have no problem with it, as long as its done legally and with respect to the animals you're hunting (don't shoot the dang thing just to get another pelt or rack for your wall....). If it came down to feeding my family or allowing Bambi to waltz across that field...well...no offense, but Bambi's goin' down. However, as the dominant species on the planet (unless you read "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"), we do have a responsibility to maintain and preserve. Crows are just evil. (heh...had to re-read your story, especially when I got to the part about "beak punctures".....I was reading it as "cows" instead of "crows"...sounded kinda odd for a bunch of cows to be attacking a duck!)
Understand your feelings Luke. I haven't hunted much lately but I hope to hit the woods this Fall and get back into the swing of things in that respect. It is interesting how we categorize how we see different animals in different ways. We lost a dog a few years ago to a disease he caught from Raccoon scat and now if I see one of those masked bandits the .22 comes out of it's case. On the flip side, the last Deer I shot took two shots, first hit it too far back and only paralyzed the back legs. As I began to field dress it I noticed the eyes. While I was excited to be able to 'put Venison on the table' I also sat back a little and realized that for most of the year we get just as excited to see them walking around the edge of the fields and woods and this one would not be seen again. There is a balance there and because we feel the way we do is one of the major reasons we have the abundant wildlife to hunt and just watch. I've had as much fun (probably more) sitting in a tree blind and watching Fox, Squirrels, birds landing on my arms, Deer, Turkeys and all the rest as I have anything else. We're watching and waiting for a couple pair of Ducks, Bufflehead & Merganser to hatch out their youngin's to Ooh and Aw at. And just as anxious for the duck Season to start next Fall. Go figure?!
That is perfectly understandable to myself. I have found duck nests in the fields, and picked the whole nest up with a "manure fork" we carried on our Geysler chisel plows and disks just for the purpose. When you saw a duck hen going off with her "broken wing" ploy, peel your eyes, find the nest, and pick the whole thing up with the fork and move it out of the way of the plow. Get back in, move past the spot, and return the nest to the spot you took it from so she will return to that place. I happily hunted ducks every season, but to just crush the eggs being inattentive or lazy was somehow "wrong". I also had the odd experience of spotting a hen on a nest one time, but she had perished for some reason, and the eggs were getting cold under her. So I gathered them up, put them in my shirt to keep them warm and took them home. My wife hatched them out, and seven of the ten lived to maturity. We never thought one of them might have been on our dinner table the next season. I've done the same with orphan antelope fawns, but sadly they don't live in captivity at all well and generally die from our not being able to find the right milk substitute. Lamb milk replacer kept them alive the longest, but I think the milk fat ratio is wrong for the little buggers. I too hate crows, and magpies, and for a strange reason "sea gulls". The reason I dislike the gulls we get in Montana is that they will follow along behind the plows and attack "baby" anything that are fleeing the plows. I don't mind them gulping down field mice too much, but I dislike it when they chase down pheasant chicks and ducklings and swallow them whole. I have no use at all for "trophy hunters", the only time I didn't eat what I shot I donated to the local "senior citizen's home" for them to use. Not to say I haven't had a few trophy head and capes mounted, but that wasn't why I hunted that animal. So I understand you position complete, I would try to save an animal which would normally be a "prey" of mine if it wasn't at the time. That said, I do enjoy watching a batch of red-winged blackbirds chase off a hawk or a golden eagle by "dive-bombing" it and attacking it from all angles. The really little "quick" guys take on and defeat the big "powerful" guy by speed and numbers.
