Any more non-hunters out there?

[pab1]

Nowadays, I don't have a place to hunt, and truth be told, I never learned the art of skinning, field butchering, etc. So I've pretty much given up the dream. I do love game meat, however. One of my dreams used to be to hunt buffalo with my flint lock rifle. Probably never will happen. So I content myself with shooting targets at the monthly club shoots, and dressing up for the three different annual rendezvous my club hosts.

Really hate to see you give up on a dream. Especially when we're fortunate enough to live in a country where we have the freedom to hunt and with so many hunting opportunities. There are videos online that show how to do every aspect of processing game from the field to the table. Processing small game is very similar to big game, just on a smaller scale. That might be a good place to start. The more practice you have skinning and processing the better you get. Are there national forests or public land near you that allow hunting?

 

[Cowboy]

Nope, You're not alone! I grew up hunting mule deer and elk. Also used to get home from school and bag 3 to 4 rabbits every evening. That all changed when I got out of the service. Was and am not physically able to do so anymore.

I now have to be content with punching paper now days. I do really enjoy myself when I get to go to the monthly shoot and see my friends. I also enjoy just being by myself at the range just doing my own thing too!

Was just shooting at paper until recently. Bought myself some AR500 steel gong targets that I shoot at now days. Anywhere from 2" up to 8" targets. Of course range dictates what size I'll shoot at.

I will say that I have been thinking about getting back into hunting tree rats though. That's not to physical for me and it sure would bring back some good memories and something good to eat as well!

Respectfully, Cowboy :thumbsup:

 

[Trent Grove]

When I was younger that was all we did. Hunt! I had younger brothers and we were always in the woods hunting something. That was "our" fall sport.

My drug of choice is black powder. Competition keeps it alive and makes me eager for my next fix. My challenge now is between me and the target. I find it more fun and challenging for myself to see if I can do my part on my end of the rifle. Targets don't lie and keep you very honest.

I do like the fact that healthy competition at our club makes me go out and continue to shoot black powder. I would have to say if I didn't have a place to shoot with like minded people using traditional gear. I would not shoot as much black powder as I do.

Plus in the black powder arena there are so many different types of targets and competition that a person can get involved in. If you love it enough you can find a way to enjoy every aspect of shooting targets (novelty or paper) with black powder.

 

[Dryball]

I tried hunting once but found I don't have the heart for it. Buying meet at the grocery store is easier and not as messy. I shoot all the time at paper and silhouettes. Paper isn't bad if you use enough ketchup but silhouettes will break your teeth.

 

[LEM]

Not the only one.

I see no point to shoot at animals in our modern societies where we're already wasting most of the available foods (and where breeders and farmers are stressed to an insane level by price pressure).

I do not comdamn hunters anyway - I just see no point to be one. In France, we've got approx 240 000 licensed shooters for 1.1 M registred hunters (out of 66,6 M population)... so sounds like I'm in the ninority range.

 

[Sunkmanitu Tanka]

I live in Belgium. Hunting with BP guns is prohibited here. You can only shoot at gun clubs, and then not even on pictures of animals or persons (that is: where I shoot in a club in Holland)... I shoot flintlocks for almost a decade now and would just love to go out with my 18th cent outfit and gear and do some plinking in the woods ... Also not possible - not only because it is illegal, but these low countries are to crowded ...

 

[Maven]

No, you're not. Fish music pretty much describes my lack of hunting:

"Nope, never hunted. It wasn't a part of my upbringing and I think it's a little late for me to learn what my of y'all learned long ago."

 

[don hepler]

I respectively disagree. I don't know about France, but where I hunt, the state is begging for farmers to let hunters shoot the deer. The state said if something wasn't done, they would declare them a nuisance and take it on themselves. We don't need the state doing that.

Where I hunt, the owner said their crops were being totally destroyed, and ask me to take out a few more. Soy bean fields eat down to the ground. That is food, needed by the farmers, to feed their livestock. Without our help, the price of meat will be outrageously high.

I also donate several deer to a Program called Hunters for the Hungry.

On my way to and from my hunting area, I see fresh killed deer on the side of the highway, everyday. That costs car insurance millions of dollars in claims not to mention injury to humans.

Over population of deer is a serious problem. Over crowded deer herds, spread diseases, like Chronic Wasting Disease.

Finally and foremost, I eat the deer, I kill, or a family member eats it, or it is donated to Hunters for the Hungry.

Hunting is becoming less and less. It provides millions of dollars, in license fees, hunting equipment, guide fees, guns, and vehicles. When hunting is gone, so will be the guns.

This ain't France.

 

[Cruzatte]

Are there national forests or public land near you that allow hunting?

Nothing like that exists in the State of Kansas. In fact, this is, I believe the only state in the Union that has no national wilderness areas. All hunting is on private property. I am uncertain as to the regulations on State Parks, or Army Corps of Engineers reservoirs and adjacent lands. There are several wildlife refuges. Any hunting done there is best done with a camera.

 

[Artificer]

Are there Army, Army Reserve or National Guard bases in Kansas that allow hunting in season?

Gus

 

[Artificer]

We have taken the "Virginia Wildlife Magazine" published by the Virginia State Department of Game & Inland Fisheries for quite a few years now, at least a couple or three decades. Each year they publish the numbers of deer that NEED to be taken to preserve the health and vitality of the deer population (and other game animals) and the number actually taken. For at least two decades now the numbers taken have been in the tens of thousands BELOW what need to be taken and it is absolutely a risk to the deer population all by itself, even when one does not consider the other problems correctly mentioned.

Whether or not we actually hunt, I am very proud of the fact that ANY of us in ANY of the Shooting sports (as well as Archery and some other sports) don't give meaningless talks about the Environment, but have actually and voluntarily PAID over TWO BILLION DOLLARS into the Federal Program and another 500 MILLION DOLLARS from State Programs (mostly from licenses) since The Pittman-Robertson Act was signed into Law in 1937. Much more than anything else anyone has done, this has ensured that ALL wildlife animals have done so well since that time.

It should also be noted that since so much money was piling up over the years, a bill was sponsored to lessen the burden on sportsmen for the 11 percent excise tax that was being paid. However and UNLIKE most government programs, this one really worked because the money could not be ripped off by Congress and went directly into the coffers of the Federal Fish and Game Service. So Sportsmen voluntarily stopped the repeal bill and continue to pay so much of the costs that have truly protected all wildlife and not just game animals.

https://www.fws.gov/southeast/federalaid/pittmanrobertson.html

As mentioned earlier, we never hunted deer in Iowa in the 50's or 60's because there we so few left, that a state wide lottery was held for a measly number of deer tags. You didn't get a choice of the county, IF you were lucky enough to draw one of the very few deer tags in the State Lottery. Today and thanks in great measure to the Pittman-Robertson Act, folks back in just my home county are legally taking as many or MORE deer every year, as what was once allowed State Wide when I grew up.

So even since I no longer hunt, I am extremely proud I help pay for Wildlife Conservation every time I buy almost anything for muzzle loading shooting.

Gus

 

[Nativearizonan]

I'll always consider myself a hunter, even if I don't go out. I bought a lifetime hunting license 18 years ago, so I wouldn't have to keep buying one every year, so I am a legal hunter anytime I am out with a gun, and I usually always carry at least a handgun with me, even though I never use it. I like seeing animals as much as anyone and they are not that thick around here, so I don't feel a need to thin them out right now. I have plenty to eat. I would take a mountain lion if I got a chance, because they are too thick and that is part of the reason you don't see than many deer.

I did put in for both elk and deer this year, but didn't get drawn, which is no big deal except I'm out a few bucks for the application fee. Last time I got an elk was a few years ago and I thoroughly enjoyed the meat, but it was a lot of work. I just put in now because if I get drawn it gives me another reason to get out.

I put in for javelina this year, too. That's a spring hunt. If I get drawn I can walk from my house to hunt if I went out with a bow. I'll have to get 3 miles away if I take a gun, to get clear of the houses. There are quite a few of them around the houses, as they do tend to like gardens and flower beds.

The truth be known, I just enjoy getting out and seeing things much more than shooting them.

 

[don hepler]

There is a misconception from the non-hunters, that hunters don't like animals. This is about as far from the truth, as it gets. Ever hunter, that I know, love animals. Most have dogs, or cats. Hunters know what it's like to actually take the life, of the animal, that they consume. When people eat a hamburger or hotdog, they never give it a thought. It's sad, what our society has become.

Last week I spent $3,750. at Virginia Tech. to have my daughter's Dachshund, have spinal surgery. Thank God the little dog is recovering very well, and is now walking. She was totally paralyzed in the back legs, from a bulged disc.

I shoot most of the year, with people that just like to shoot paper, and have never hunted. I respect and appreciate that. Hunting is not for everyone. It depends on how you grow up. If shooters ever turn their backs on hunters, I can assure you, it won't be long before our gun rights are gone.

Google, "the importance of hunting in the state of Virginia", and you will understand, the problems associated with not hunting.

 

[coloradoclyde]

There is a misconception from the non-hunters, that hunters don't like animals.

.

I think your misconception is a misconception....

I think it's more about a person reaching a point in their life when killing is no longer enjoyable.. I call it appreciating life.

I also think that your $3000.00 + example of your daughters dog is a testament to the love you have for your daughter ..

 

[coloradoclyde]

I can assure you, it won't be long before our gun rights are gone.

Google, "the importance of hunting in the state of Virginia", and you will understand, the problems associated with not hunting.

I've been hearing that first statement for at least half a century...It's almost like a boy crying wolf!

Your second statement gives me this... http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...Qn1IK9puq3v-0nL-Q&sig2=gjycpmAMP92feYPnWK0TOA

which is actually an argument against your first assertion..

 

[Kansas Jake]

Are there national forests or public land near you that allow hunting?

Nothing like that exists in the State of Kansas. In fact, this is, I believe the only state in the Union that has no national wilderness areas. All hunting is on private property. I am uncertain as to the regulations on State Parks, or Army Corps of Engineers reservoirs and adjacent lands. There are several wildlife refuges. Any hunting done there is best done with a camera.

In Kansas there are a number of public hunting areas. The state also has a "Walk In Hunting Area" program where the State pays private land owners to open their land to hunters. One can pick up an atlas at most sporting goods or Walmart stores that show the location of the areas. Most of the areas have date limits as to when the area is open that corresponds to the Fall hunting seasons.

I live next to a Corp of Engineers lake and hunting is allowed on most of the Corp property next to the lake, but access can be a problem. Also the State of Kansas managed wildlife areas allow public hunting in many areas. There is several Federal owned areas in Kansas, but not "forests". Some do allow hunting. Public hunting is also allowed at Fort Riley, but access has become more involved with the changes in security issues in recent years.

In most parts of Kansas, I would guess you can find public hunting and fishing areas within 10-20 miles. The down side is hunting pressure on some areas close to populations centers is pretty heavy. Many private land owners will also allow hunters if they are asked, but it may be difficult to find the actual owner with absentee owners and larger farms. Also, there is an increasing trend for private land to be leased for hunting and not open to the general public without a fee.

This is just a quick overview.

 

[Kansas Jake]

Just an added note, I do a small amount of hunting mostly to introduce my grandsons to the sport. I'd take my granddaughters, but don't have any. I did take and teach my daughters to hunt. I hadn't hunted for about 20 years and then my grandsons came along. I want them to at least have a chance to do it and then they can make their own choice.

 

[TFoley]

Well, I live in UK where there are a certain number of laws that make hunting live game with a rifled muzzle-loader nigh-on impossible.

Like a minumum muzzle energy here in England and Wales, and Northern Ireland, too, and in Scotland, a minimum muzzle energy AND minimum velocity that no muzzle-loader could hope to reach.

There are STILL the hardy BP shotgunners who take their sport seriously enough - mostly percussion - and of course, there are many who shoot clays with older ML guns.

It has always seemed odd to me, drifting the thread a little, that my .45-70 Govt with ANY bullet weight is not deemed a suitable calibre in law over here. After all, anything that can drop a half-ton buffalo is surely going to cut the mustard with a 250-300 pound stag....

tac

 

[Gene L]

I guess the reason I don't hunt isn't because I object to hunting, I think it's a fine sport. When I was a teenager, I hunted almost every weekend during season.

I CAN hunt, but chose not to for various reasons most of which I'm not sure of myself.

The thrill is gone.

 

[Patocazador]

Any paper shooting I do is in preparation for hunting.

I was raised in a very large city and was introduced to guns, etc. by my Boy Scout troop shooting at a local YMCA. I loved it but when I started hunting in my 20's, I became an addict. Paper shooting is dull for me but going hunting excites me.
All non-vegans kill animals either directly or by proxy. I try to do it directly.