To kill and eat...or not

[Mumptia]

In general, the law (wildlife act) dictates what we are required to do with the animals that we have harvested. Sounds dumb but its the basis for what hunters consider right and wrong.That is fine for some, but for many, ethics go deeper.

No way I'd leave an ungulate to waste if I had a choice.

Crows, magpies won't go into my belly but they sure have been on the recieving end ( and will continue to do so) of my lead pills.

I have to ask if some of the posters here live in the city. I live in the country where sometimes you have to take a predator out to be practical. I'm not sharing my yard with a bear or wolf. Whether I eat it or not is wayyyy down the priority list when I'm looking after the family.

For curiosity sake, if salvagable, how many animals have ended up in your freezer after you gave them a case of fenderitis on the road?

 

[Vader]

I don't hunt bare...but I have been fishing in my shorts...
I will eat all that I shoot at if it falls into the big game species category or migratory\upland game bird. I don't shoot bears unless there is no other way to discourage them from wrecking camp or in self defence and I don't eat them just because I don't like the taste. Having said that I have had to kill one small sick black bear that caused havoc for 3 days around camp and when he ate my coffee cup it was the last straw. Never been charged by Predatory animals such as the wolf, coyote and mountain lion I shoot if they present a shot and numbers dictate a little pruning is necesary. I dont eat them but I eat what they eat and in some areas the competition is a little stiff.

 

[Boer seun]

I am not saying that you can't eat bear I personally wouldn't do it just too much like a human. I am a liitle twisted like that okay to shoot but not gonna eat because it's too much like a human

 

[Rohann]

I personally think that if you shoot it, you use it. If you don't want to eat the meat, give it to someone else. I despise when people waste.

-Rohann

 

[Salty]

I am not saying that you can't eat bear I personally wouldn't do it just too much like a human.

Black bear are most closely related to pigs.

 

[1899]

Black bear are most closely related to pigs.

I thought they were most closely related to dogs!

I personally think that if you shoot it, you use it. If you don't want to eat the meat, give it to someone else. I despise when people waste.

So you despise people who shoot coyotes, wolves, gophers, woodchucks etc?

 

[haggisbasher]

I have a bard time with killing bears without eating the meat, my son shot one last year, we didn't keep the meat and that bothers me a bit. It bothered his mother big time.

So why did you not keep the meat then if it bothers you so much

 

[280_ACKLEY]

I hunt for the sheer thrill of hunting and the meat is just huge, very welcome bonus.

For me it is simple... if it eats meat... I don't eat it!

I have ZERO qualms about shooting a black bear for his skin and turfing the meat. This is no different than I do when I'm hunting/trapping marten, coyote, weasel, wolf, lynx.

I hunt bears for the enjoyment of getting out, collecting a nice skin, and thinning the population a little. I never shoot a rubbed bear, and quit hunting them before June.

Honestly what is the difference between not eating a bear and not eating a wolf or coyote?

The only folks I know that claim to like eating bear are those that are not successul enough to fill their freezers with ungulates (grin)!

280_ACKLEY

 

[joe-nwt]

I assume you are joking, right?




Gatehouse raises an excellent philosophical point. If they could talk, I bet the gopher/coyote/other small varmint would say "I enjoy living just as much as a bear, deer or moose". It seems the value we assign to life varies quite a bit, and the reasoning behind this is very interesting. Some of you say I wouldn't shoot anything I'm not willing to eat. How do you feel about an ever growing predator population? Do you feel that nature will balance it out, and that hunters do not have a role? I'd say that as the peak predator we do have a management role, albeit one that comes with responsibilities and obligations.

Unlike you philosophical types,I am not in so much of a hurry to attach some disney like intelligence to animals. The edible ones are just that, walking meat. They didn't just come from the office, they aren't on their way to the library. They are not "majestic". They have two goals in life. The first is to find vegetation to eat so they can grow up to be big and strong. The second is to stay away from predetors until I come along with my rifle.

As far as predator control, nature controls predators/varmints all on its own. The cycle started long before we got here, and will continue after we are gone. We do have an effect, but it is not our role or obligation. We shoot gophers for instance, for fun. Pure and simple. Bigger fur bearing animals we claim to shoot for the fur perhaps, but how many here really need that fur?

At least that's why I kill animals. You can sugar coat your stories if you want.

 

[northwoodslivin]

It does not concern me as much about dumping a coyote that may happen by ,spend a day helping a farmer reduce the numbers of vermin on their farm land, but the animals/birds that may fall prey to a small group that have no moral fiber at all.
I talk here of waterfoul that ends up tossed in a ditch in large numbers or fish rotting on the side of a stream. Or a member of the deer family left in a field or in the bush with no effort to retrieve it.
It would seem that why this happens is just certain individuals without thinking, taking this wildlife ,then moving on like they had just shot up some tin cans at a local range.
To me this kind of behavour is far worse than poachers and should not be tolerated.
There are many , and I mean the vast majority of true sportsman and women that feel this way, who love to hunt game animals, upland game, and waterfoul.
Conservation includes hunters in the taking of game which is regulated, predator control, and management of the habitat.
This is my take on all of this, and see only a small group out there that should not walk under the disguise of true sportsman.
Frank

X2 bro X2 I feel just the same as you do

 

[sidney]

In general, the law (wildlife act) dictates what we are required to do with the animals that we have harvested. Sounds dumb but its the basis for what hunters consider right and wrong.That is fine for some, but for many, ethics go deeper.

What does the Wildlife act dictates we do?,I don't have my hunting licence.Thanks.

 

[OnnO]

....For me it is simple... if it eats meat... I don't eat it!

...

So you are a secondary vegetarian who only eat vegetarians

And sure you don't eat Bass, Walleye, Salmon, ...Chicken, pork and beef since they all fed by animal by-products...

Civilization doesn't mean what you eat...but how you cook

nn ...

 

[open-sights]

I hunt for prey animals and hunt predators that feed on prey animals. Saying that, I would love the chance to go hunt in Africa for a few ungulates but realy enjoy that if given the chance to share in a feast.

 

[catnthehatt]

Black bear are most closely related to pigs.

I think you will find that ther sinilarities of pigs and bears are just the unimportant ones.

They have different habits, different animal families, etc.

Some people equate them to humans, but Ai only see a slight resembleance in their skinned out profile.
They are very good to eat, IMHO!
Cat

 

[Battle River]

I kill at least 5-700 gophers per year on my own land as well as my farm neighbors. I do NOT intend on ever eating a gopher. sure I enjeoy a nice may afternonn with good freinds/kin/rifle shooting them. But in my case it has a pyrpose, to limit crop damage. I also do not eat or keep many of the coyotes I shoot each year, which is also an pest control effort. That said, I do not shoot coyotes/ravens/squirrels in the forestry just because I am bored and need to kill sometheing. If I kill a deer, I am dam sure goinmg to eat it, or find a freind/family member that will.

 

[Mumptia]

What does the Wildlife act dictates we do?,I don't have my hunting licence.Thanks.

Dartmouth? Well my o' my, I grew up in Lower Sackville. Folks are still there.

The Wildlife Act is different in every province. Basically (I know talking in generarlities is not a good idea) each province requires that the edible meat of any big game animal not be watsed (ie. wrapped and put in your freezer). As you read further, there is usually a sentence that says, "except bear, and ...............(predators)

In Alberta, predators do not fall under the edible meat of big game clause therefore it is is legal to discard the carcass. In particular to bear, the hunter must tag the hide and not the carcass and it is illegal to not do something (tan dry out etc..) with the hide.

 

[Silverado]

For me hunting and killing are a matter of right and reason. Animals are on earth for our use and enjoyment, and it is my right and responsibility to use and enjoy them in a conscientious manner. We use animals in many ways: for food, companionship, and to perform a myriad of draft work and other duties. We also use them to develop medicines which benefit us as a race.

As such, I must have a reason to take the life of an animal, and a damn reasonable one at that.

I swat a mosquito: they carry many diseases. Reason: I am defending my health and that of others.

I shoot a dozen prairie dogs: they cause much crop and land damage, and their activities endanger horses and other animals. Reason: I am protecting the livelyhood of someone, and the health and possibly life of other animals, which I deem to be more important than that of the gophers. Yes folks, these kind of judgement calls are integral to the right and responsiblility I mentioned above.

I shoot an elk, moose, deer, bear, sheep or goat: The animal's meat will feed me and others and provide exceptional nutrition in the process. Reason: Providing for one's welfare and health is the most imminently responsible reason of all for taking the life of an animal. I also reward myself for the act of the hunt itself.

Here's where the ethics may diverge for some:

I kill a coyote or wolf: they are well populated (in some areas overpopulated) and cause massive predation on ungulate species, which are important to me for the reasons above. Reason: I have made an ethical judgement call, and acted in my own interest. The reason supports my right to do so.

Notice that I've never said "I kill all the mosquitos/prairie dogs/ungulates/predators."

They all have their place in the balance of the earth, it is only my responsibility to manage them accordingly.

I therefore decide based on reason, and act as is my right.