What is your definition of a true hunter?

[Huntress308788]

Y'all have absolutely made my day! I got chill bumps reading all of your comments. I believe I nodded my head to everyone of your answers lol. I love to connect with people that are on the same "wave length". In today's society, we are the peculiar people, the hunters, that fact makes me proud to know that if something ever happens to this world and food/meat stops becoming "magic" we will be the ones that survive. God bless y'all and again, thank you kindly for your insight and perspective. Oh and most importantly.. happy hunting!!

I agree wholeheartedly with your comment. We should never have to explain ourselves to anyone. If I like to sneak into the dark woods at 6am and wait for an animal to make its appearance and they like to wake at 6am to workout and eat their poached eggs and avocado (which I've tried being that savvy..no thanks lol) then do what makes you happy! Isn't that whole issue these days? Everyone should accept everyone despite their habits and hobbies? That is a perfect world I believe.
My speech went very well! I got a lot of feedback on both sides of the discussion. I was very respectable to the ones that didn't agree with me but they didn't really have an argument about why we should hunt our own food other than "I just couldn't kill an animal". I see their point, killing an animal (I am a huge animal lover/rescuer/advocate) its a huge responsibility to take a life but I personally know that I am not killing for thrill, to me that is the worst part knowing I ended something but as soon as I give my thanks, field dress and haul it back to the house I know solidly that this animal was created and died for a purpose. I referred back to my message in the speech about that and then she semi understood the importance of being a hunter or learning to hunt. Anyways, the essay is still in the works, its due Wednesday. It should be a big hit too lol.
Good day!!

[Gary Devine]

I've got to agree with Gary. To me hunting is all about getting into nature, experiencing what a lot of people will never will and being in God's beautiful creation. The meat is just a bonus to me. I don't think being a true hunter means you have to be a meat hunter or trophy hunter or any of those things. Being a true hunter in my opinion is about having respect for the game you pursue and appreciating anything you're able to harvest, and doing all this in a humane and ethical way. What's ethical is a completely different topic we've all come across many times and it really varies by person. For me I don't like hunting over bait, food plots etc, I like to try to figure out the animals instead of drawing them to me. To me that's the most fullfilling hunt because I know I had to outsmart the animals, but to others their favorite hunt may be a relaxing sit in a box blind with a feeder and there's nothing wrong with that! A true hunter has no one form, keep that in mind in your essay, good luck with it!

I posted the same statement from that animal rights wacko years ago on this website and 99explorer stated "that describes most of the hunters I know". That was funny and nobody dinged him. ROTFLMAO

[Outlaw]

I've got to agree with Gary. To me hunting is all about getting into nature, experiencing what a lot of people will never will and being in God's beautiful creation. The meat is just a bonus to me. I don't think being a true hunter means you have to be a meat hunter or trophy hunter or any of those things. Being a true hunter in my opinion is about having respect for the game you pursue and appreciating anything you're able to harvest, and doing all this in a humane and ethical way. What's ethical is a completely different topic we've all come across many times and it really varies by person. For me I don't like hunting over bait, food plots etc, I like to try to figure out the animals instead of drawing them to me. To me that's the most fullfilling hunt because I know I had to outsmart the animals, but to others their favorite hunt may be a relaxing sit in a box blind with a feeder and there's nothing wrong with that! A true hunter has no one form, keep that in mind in your essay, good luck with it!

Possibly the best and most ridiculous anti-hunting statement I've heard lol. Because you must be fat and lazy to drag a deer miles out of the woods. I know several doctors and lawyers that hunt, clearly rednecks. And I happen to think trucks are quite attractive (and far more useful than a Camry). The beer I have no argument...

[Gary Devine]

I've got to agree with Gary. To me hunting is all about getting into nature, experiencing what a lot of people will never will and being in God's beautiful creation. The meat is just a bonus to me. I don't think being a true hunter means you have to be a meat hunter or trophy hunter or any of those things. Being a true hunter in my opinion is about having respect for the game you pursue and appreciating anything you're able to harvest, and doing all this in a humane and ethical way. What's ethical is a completely different topic we've all come across many times and it really varies by person. For me I don't like hunting over bait, food plots etc, I like to try to figure out the animals instead of drawing them to me. To me that's the most fullfilling hunt because I know I had to outsmart the animals, but to others their favorite hunt may be a relaxing sit in a box blind with a feeder and there's nothing wrong with that! A true hunter has no one form, keep that in mind in your essay, good luck with it!

Thanks Outlaw while we are describing hunting this came to mind. I remember back when bear hunting started up in New Jersey after a 32 year closed season. A New Jersey animal rights activist said this in the local newspaper reporter, and it was printed in the paper in the newspaper the following day.
"All hunters are fat, lazy, beer drinking, rednecks with ugly pick-up trucks".
I never forgot that.

[MNFisher]

A true hunter or sportsman is about a lot of things.

1. Ethics - often we are alone in the field and the only thing holding us accountable for doing the right thing is our own personal ethics.
2. Responsibility - we are solely responsible for each decision we make, there is no one else there to share the blame nor the glory.
3. Fair chase and respect for the animal - It is not about killing an animal. The killing on an animal is simply one small piece. We respect the animal by creating a fair and ethical hunt where the advantage belongs to the animal. We respect the animal by taking only ethical shots that lead to a clean and quick kill with minimal suffering. We respect the animal by utilizing every part that we can.
4. Respect for the environment - we respect the wilderness and the environment by leaving it better and cleaner than we found it.
5. Teaching - more important then everything else is to pass these traditions and values on to the younger generations. If a young hunter learns these values and never spends another day in the woods they are still better off for it as these values extend to everyday life outside of the woods.

There are so many things that most of us all enjoy about hunting. When asked what your favorite thing about hunting is I don't know a single person that would say "killing stuff". Most will say they most enjoy the woods waking up in the morning, the cool dark walk into the woods, the sun setting over the pond, the time spent with family and carrying on traditions, or simply watching the squirrels do all the weird things that squirrels do. Hunting is about so much more than the kill but no hunters may never know that without experiencing it. They focus on the 30 seconds at the end of the journey and ignore the 4 months that might have led up to that 30 seconds.

[Milldawg]

Seems like you kinda summed it yourself. And for some folks it's not about hunting it's about spending time with family and friends away from the hustle and bustle of rest of the world. I took my daughter this weekend for the first time. Well first time she carried a rifle and was serious. She didn't get one but we both enjoyed ourselves and it made memories that will last lifetime. I have grandsons that I'm chomping at the bit to take and pass along the traditions. For me it's about teaching the youngins things they can't learn in school or off them dang phones. You can learn a lot in the woods about life if you pay attention to what your doing. And enjoy the whole experience. I just got done cutting up backstraps from the buck I got on thanksgiving evening. It's a very satisfying feeling to see a pile freshly cut meat that you know where it came and you went and got it. Hunting is not something not everyone can do. And being a good hunter has little do with big horns or antlers. I take pride in being able able to get close to quarry. I also take pride in being a good shot. Be it close or far away. It gives you something to work on and improve challenge yourself to be better. For most of who do it I'm going to quote another user. " hunting is not something that I do a hunter is who I am." I'm not really sure how to put into words I'm not a writer. But there are some other guys on here who can describe it better than I can. Good luck with trying to argue with a liberal. If your teacher is anti-hunting show him a slaughter house video. Doesn't matter who pulls the trigger if you eat you are the cause of its death. At least I. The woods the animals are relaxed not standing in a line watching the one before go.

Why thank you. I'm a better orator. Than writer.

[Outlaw]

I've got to agree with Gary. To me hunting is all about getting into nature, experiencing what a lot of people will never will and being in God's beautiful creation. The meat is just a bonus to me. I don't think being a true hunter means you have to be a meat hunter or trophy hunter or any of those things. Being a true hunter in my opinion is about having respect for the game you pursue and appreciating anything you're able to harvest, and doing all this in a humane and ethical way. What's ethical is a completely different topic we've all come across many times and it really varies by person. For me I don't like hunting over bait, food plots etc, I like to try to figure out the animals instead of drawing them to me. To me that's the most fullfilling hunt because I know I had to outsmart the animals, but to others their favorite hunt may be a relaxing sit in a box blind with a feeder and there's nothing wrong with that! A true hunter has no one form, keep that in mind in your essay, good luck with it!

[OutdoorTeacher]

In his series of essays titled "The Heart of the Game" Thomas McGuane imagines a conversation between a hunter and an anti-hunter. He writes the following:

“What did a deer ever do to you?”
“Nothing.”
“Why should they die for you? Would you die for the deer?”

“If it came to that.”

I think this perfectly sums up just how deep the connection is between a hunter and the game he pursues. We as hunters work harder than anyone to protect wildlife, and only harvest animals in the most ethical and sustainable ways possible. If it came down to an individual hunter and the entire species we pursue I know how most of us would go.

If you want some more reading/reference material for your paper look up Steven Rinella. I think he is the best voice we as hunters have today (I first heard the above quote referenced in one of his books, but I cant remember which one.)

[country road]

Y'all have absolutely made my day! I got chill bumps reading all of your comments. I believe I nodded my head to everyone of your answers lol. I love to connect with people that are on the same "wave length". In today's society, we are the peculiar people, the hunters, that fact makes me proud to know that if something ever happens to this world and food/meat stops becoming "magic" we will be the ones that survive. God bless y'all and again, thank you kindly for your insight and perspective. Oh and most importantly.. happy hunting!!

Huntress, I want to thank you for your question, which has provoked quite a bit of introspection on this forum. I wanted to add, pursuant to the quotation from Kelly's book, that none of us hunters need to be apologetic for what we do, nor do we need to morally justify it---no more than I need to justify my taste in food, music, sexual orientation, right handedness or the amount of body hair I have. I choose to hunt and I enjoy it and feel that I was born to it. If others choose other pursuits, they have every right to do so---just as long as they don't try to force me to change what I do.

Thanks again, and let us know how it comes out. I think FirstBubba had a good point about trying to persuade the unpersuadeable.

Oops---the site messed me up and I thought I'd lost this comment and did it again and it ended up on MATTM37's answer. My apologies.

[country road]

Fellow users have already said most of what I think of, in answer to that question, but I will add this: Along with the satisfaction of acquiring your own meat through effort and skill, and the satisfaction of participating in the science of wildlife management, it's immensely satisfying to have at least one aspect of my life that is not sanitized, dumbed-down, or fed to me by a talking head. A true hunter is one of the few human beings still connected to something more meaningful than what passes for meaningful in our culture today. And along with the primitive joy that comes with a kill, I also feel honest regret and sorrow. There are already far too many parts of my life, and our culture as a whole, that come without price. I am glad that within me there still exists a connection to the wild, that I have not been reduced to being a person who takes food for granted -- or worse, feels entitled to have it without paying an emotional and spiritual toll. Most often when I hunt, I don't kill anything. When I do kill an animal, I'm elated to have the meat and to have had the experience. I thank the animal for what it's given me, and regret that it had to die in order for that to happen. Then I butcher it and eat it, and don't waste an ounce.

Huntress, thank you for instigating some really good soul searching on the forum. Please let us know how your project comes out and don't forget what FirstBubba said about persuading the unpersuadable. There are people who have firmly locked their minds and I don't think there is a key to open them. They use their insecurity as a bastion against new information and possibilities---usually on an emotional level and be damned to the facts. They think cartoons are real.

[Huntress308788]

Y'all have absolutely made my day! I got chill bumps reading all of your comments. I believe I nodded my head to everyone of your answers lol. I love to connect with people that are on the same "wave length". In today's society, we are the peculiar people, the hunters, that fact makes me proud to know that if something ever happens to this world and food/meat stops becoming "magic" we will be the ones that survive. God bless y'all and again, thank you kindly for your insight and perspective. Oh and most importantly.. happy hunting!!

[MattM37]

Fellow users have already said most of what I think of, in answer to that question, but I will add this: Along with the satisfaction of acquiring your own meat through effort and skill, and the satisfaction of participating in the science of wildlife management, it's immensely satisfying to have at least one aspect of my life that is not sanitized, dumbed-down, or fed to me by a talking head. A true hunter is one of the few human beings still connected to something more meaningful than what passes for meaningful in our culture today. And along with the primitive joy that comes with a kill, I also feel honest regret and sorrow. There are already far too many parts of my life, and our culture as a whole, that come without price. I am glad that within me there still exists a connection to the wild, that I have not been reduced to being a person who takes food for granted -- or worse, feels entitled to have it without paying an emotional and spiritual toll. Most often when I hunt, I don't kill anything. When I do kill an animal, I'm elated to have the meat and to have had the experience. I thank the animal for what it's given me, and regret that it had to die in order for that to happen. Then I butcher it and eat it, and don't waste an ounce.

[Dougfir]

Most of our interaction with the natural world is as an observer, an outsider. When we go for a hike, or a paddle and watch wildlife, we're on the outside of the fishbowl, watching something that is separated from our own life and our own livelihood. Hunting (and fishing) allow us to actually participate in our local ecosystem, to feel like a real part of it. This personal interaction and dependence, is, I believe, where the original ethic of conservation comes from. It's no accident that our own conservation movement saw its beginnings in the community of hunters.
I live and hunt in NY, so I have plenty of experience trying to explain hunting to more urban, liberal, intellectuals. In my experience, if you sound respectful of the animals, eat what you kill and demonstrate that there are strong, ethical boundaries involved, that you think about, most of them end up being respectful, curious and supportive. Good luck!

[FirstBubba]

A little more "fodder" for your endeavor!
Good luck on "knocking his socks off", but my experience with intellectuals tells me you're setting yourself up to be ridiculed and mocked. Not just by the prof, but by the entire class as well.
Liberals don't take kindly to having their "ideals" mocked...and fact or not, they will see it as being mocked.
Best of luck!

A "hunter" is a "conservation tool".
Hunting reduces herd populations. That in turn reduces stress on the habitat and solves overbrowsing and overcrowding.
Removing select animals from the herd increases the survival rate and overall health of, not only the herd, but their immediate environment.

[Gary Devine]

Hunting to me is a break from civilization. Being in the woods to experience the sounds, the sights and the smell of the forest. Leaving the cell phone turned off and leaving work behind. Using all your knowledge to look for signs from the game animal you seek. To relax and enjoy your day off from work. Take everything in from a squirrel or a song bird in a nearby tree. Seeing a black bear or a whitetail deer and to decide if it's a shooter or not. Withstanding the cold windy snow storm and refusing to quit and go back to your warm vehicle. I love hunting and the kill is not everything to me. I enjoy being out there in nature trying to outsmart an elusive game animal with all my knowledge and experience. God I love it !!