# People and their misguided views!!!



## wadefarrow

First I would like to express that I am an animal lover!!! I love my rats, I love my dogs, and I have even learned to love a select few cats . I am 26 years old and when my fiancee and I see a petting zoo I always stop and visit because I feel bad for the animals (usually are not living in great conditions) and so I feel a need to go feed them and give them some attention. Now on to my actual point! I hunt (occasionally) and fish (frequently), and have received a lot of criticism for killing innocent animals. Now, the problem is not that people possess a differing point of view, it is that their point of view is flawed, hypocritical, cowardly and ultimately wrong (can not be defended with logic). It blows me away that so many people just live in a fantasy world unaware of the world around them. This may seem a little confusing right now so let me explain. I am a hunter who hunts for food, I eat everything that I kill, and only kill what I am willing to eat. If I kill a deer, I have it processed and that meat feeds my family. I am typically criticized for hunting by people who eat meat. and was actually criticized once for doing so by a girl at a bbq, while she was eating a buffalo burger. Why do people just pretend that nothing had to die for the meat that they consume? Not only do animals die for the meat that you get from the supermarkets/restaurants that you buy from, but they are raised in terrible, terrible conditions and live a very poor quality of life! even the eggs that you buy come from chickens that live in baskets (so small the chicken has almost no room to move), stacked from floor to ceiling in giant wear houses. The beef, pork, chicken and turkey that you purchase comes from animals who spend their entire lives in pens, truck trailer, stalls, etc. all of which are incredibly over crowded, and the animals are treated inhumanely to make matters worse. I ONLY EAT FREE RANGE BEEF, CHICKEN and/or KILL MY OWN GAME. and the deer/elk that I kill spent its whole life roaming happily through the wilderness which I work to conserve! All of the animals that I consume are given quality lives and great living conditions, as I refuse to support cruel and inhumane treatment of animals. yet I am a bad guy because I will kill my own food? NO, YOU ARE A COWARD BECAUSE YOU ARE WILLING TO EAT MEAT, BUT YOU ARE TOO MUCH OF A PANSY TO KILL IT YOURSELF. I am not saying that you should have to kill all of your own food, but you should at least be willing to. A hunt is an emotional event. I have the utmost respect for the animals that I kill, and I appreciate them greatly for the food they will provide me. You people eating cheeseburgers and chicken nuggets and criticizing hunting are supporting the worst living conditions for animals imaginable, and you just turn a blind eye to it, giving absolutely no respect to the animals which you are consuming! You might feel better by not thinking about the fact that an animal died for your meal, but guess what, if you aren't thinking about it then you aren't truly appreciative of where it came from, and you aren't showing any respect. The only people who even have an argument are people who don't eat meat. If you don't support hunting/killing animals, and you don't eat meat because you stand behind your beliefs, then I respect and commend you for practicing what you preach and standing behind your beliefs! But if you eat meat, and simultaneously criticize hunters for killing, then you are nothing but a misguided, ill-informed hypocrite living in a fantasy. You are also nowhere near the animal rights activist that you think you are! WAKE UP!!!


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## Mrs.Brisby

I don't hunt and I don't particularly like the idea of hunting but I understand why people do it. I am a vegan and in my perfect world every one else would be vegan too but I also understand that that would be very unlikely, so i'm a huge advocate of small farms and free range animals. People now-a-days seem to value quantity over quality. Also, people like their fallacies and it's rather difficult to introduce them to a different point of view without any negative backlash. I was a member of 4-h for several years where I showed rabbits and ducks. I always took great care of my animals because I wouldn't win any ribbons if they looked awful and weren't cared for properly. I remember one time when a lady approached me a started to lecture me about how it's cruel to show rabbits because (insert list of silly statements). The entire time she was eating a McDonald's hamburger.


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## kksrats

I grew up in a family that raised and slaughtered their own animals for generations, hunted frequently and grew their own vegetables. It's a life that I'm eager to get back to once I have the means to buy land. Honestly, I feel like it's the way we're meant to live. I hate feeling so reliant on grocery stores, restaurants and other people in general. Plus, if it hits the fan, guess who's going to be well prepared


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## nanashi7

I do take offense to the idea that I'm cowardly or a pansy for not ever being willing to kill for food. I was a vegetarian for a while and switched back to fish and meat to be healthy. 

And I will admit to eating said meat aware of the torturous conditions the animals suffer, but free range meat is either expensive or unavailable. I don't think the onus is on me for those expenses, but on the farmer and government to establish humane conditions. 

Besides. Are you in some way impaired for lacking the skills to be a doctor? Firefighter? Anything else you rely on OTHERS to preform?

The best way to present your view is calmly and intelligently informed without ad homonym attacks. 

I am against hunting because you remove a potentially vital animal from their community. You are affecting an ecosystem, while kept animals who are food do not.


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## RadiantRatties

nanashi7 said:


> I do take offense to the idea that I'm cowardly or a pansy for not ever being willing to kill for food. I was a vegetarian for a while and switched back to fish and meat to be healthy.
> 
> And I will admit to eating said meat aware of the torturous conditions the animals suffer, but free range meat is either expensive or unavailable. I don't think the onus is on me for those expenses, but on the farmer and government to establish humane conditions.
> 
> Besides. Are you in some way impaired for lacking the skills to be a doctor? Firefighter? Anything else you rely on OTHERS to preform?
> 
> The best way to present your view is calmly and intelligently informed without ad homonym attacks.
> 
> I am against hunting because you remove a potentially vital animal from their community. You are affecting an ecosystem, while kept animals who are food do not.


I hate to say it, but that's not exactly true. You see, in a lot if areas humans are the only natural predators to deer because wolves have been driven away and there are other reasons. New York passed a law once banning the hunting of deer, and the deer became so overpopulated that they slowly starved to death because they had to compete so much for food. So the people trying to help the deer ended up hurting them and causing. Them to suffer a much more painful death. Hunting became legal again, and the deer population is now maintained. Natural predators are necessary. And we do hunt animals. 


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## kksrats

I'd have to agree with RadiantRatties here. Many states suffer from overpopulation of destructive animals (such as hogs here in the southwest) and something has to take the place of the natural predators. Sorry to say, keeping animals such as cattle does affect the ecosystem by taking away or altering the habitats of native animals which is part of the reason for the decrease in large predators.


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## isabelleharris

There is a reason for hunting season. Its to help control the population since there really isnt many natural predators. I respect people who hunt. Im too much of an animal love to ever hurt any animal, even thought it is a deer or natural animals to eat. I like to fish but i try not to hurt the fish so it may live on. I feel bad for the animals who are poorly treated.


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## kksrats

isabelleharris said:


> There is a reason for hunting season. Its to help control the population since there really isnt many natural predators. I respect people who hunt. Im too much of an animal love to ever hurt any animal, even thought it is a deer or natural animals to eat. I like to fish but i try not to hurt the fish so it may live on. I feel bad for the animals who are poorly treated.


Umm...would you like to be hooked, pulled out of your habitat, stared at and then thrown back? Sport fishing makes no sense to me whatsoever, even if the fish lives, it has to be a traumatic experience.


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## cagedbirdsinging

I'm a hunter that comes from a family of hunters and fishermen. (I do not fish, because I find it difficult to do so humanely. You never know if what you are hooking will be legal to keep, so you may end up injuring a fish that you'll have to release anyway.)

Safety and humane treatment are our number one priority. We hunt to feed our family. We hunt for conservation. We hunt for a lot of reasons. (A great piece on why hunting is important for conservation: http://www.rmef.org/Conservation/HuntingIsConservation/25ReasonsWhyHuntingIsConservation.aspx )

I think human omnivores have become too comfortable buying packaged goods. A box of meat at the grocery store will desensitize most people pretty quickly. Some people forget that it was ever a living, breathing thing. It's just a box of food to them now.

Hunting is fine (so long as it's done properly), but it isn't for everyone. And that's more than okay. It is important, though, to find local sources for meat products if you do consume them. Find out how the animals are being cared for and what is going into them, because it will be going into you. Support your local farmers and micro-economies.

People tend to lose sight of the bigger picture when adding meat to your diet is as easy as grabbing a package off the shelf.


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## RadiantRatties

kksrats said:


> Umm...would you like to be hooked, pulled out of your habitat, stared at and then thrown back? Sport fishing makes no sense to me whatsoever, even if the fish lives, it has to be a traumatic experience.


I actually love fishing and I am sure that it is stressful for the fish, but I feel better knowing that since fish have no nerves in their mouths they cannot actually feel the pain of the hook. I love animals, but this is a hobby of mine. I'm not sure why I like it so much because it doesn't really make any sense to me either, but I like it. I just do. *shrug*


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## cagedbirdsinging

Fish do have nerves in their mouths and do feel pain. In fact, the AVMA even has guidelines for proper euthanasia in fish because they need to be treated humanely as well to avoid pain and suffering.


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## Adeliek

I'm a vegetarian, but I completely agree with you. The whole time I have a choice I will always always choose not to eat meat or any animal. I would never stop anyone around me from eating meat and I will cook meat for my partner/family, as this is my choice. I respect anyone that stands up for what they believe in and will truly fight that corner. Obviously I'm not incredibly happy with the killing of any innocent animal. But there is a circle of life. Hunting for a sport is a whole other matter. I agree also that people are so ignorant about where their food comes from I see a lot of people get distressed on shows like Come Dine With Me (amazing tv program in England) when they are told the animal they are eating was running around in a field yesterday...as if when they buy food in a supermarket it comes from somewhere else!?


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## ratsaremylife

Me and my family personally don't hunt as we are with gun control but I would like to try someday. I believe it is ok to hunt as long as you eat what you kill! Hunting as a sport is very, I don't know but it is foolish. My mother shops only at health food stores where all the meat was pasture fed and all that stuff. I can't stand seeing animals die so I don't think I could stand it but if you can go ahead!  We have had our wether goats processed and eaten, and we have killed and cleaned our own chickens. My father can't stand it though, my whole family has a very soft heart. But if someone is going to say something against hunting and eating it than they can just go finish eating their McDonalds.


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## wadefarrow

I am glad to see other people share my views on this topic. And nanashi my point was definitely not to say that you are a coward if you do not hunt/slaughter your own meals. I don't expect people to like the idea of killing something, and I don't expect everybody to hunt or kill. My point was that you should have respect for what you are eating and acknowledge that another animal lived and died to provide you with your meal. And on a very basic level, if you are a person who eats meat, you should at least be willing to kill the animal if it came down to it. I just think it is cowardly of people to pretend that their food was never alive. I think people should acknowledge and respect that a living creature gave its life so that you can consume your fast food cheeseburger that conveniently made it into your mouth only minutes after you ordered it.


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## wadefarrow

I also agree that hunting for sport and then not consuming the meat is unacceptable!


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## xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The truth is, a hunter does more for conservation with one season's purchase of tags (license) than most people who **** hunters do in their lifetime. That's just the bottom line.Can I say "****" in this context on this forum? It isn't cursing, it is in the correct context? Or no? I'm not sure.


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## CatsRatsVeggies

Even though I'm a Vegan and eat no animal products what so ever, I can say what you're saying has such a strong point to it. I don't think it's right to eat any animals but at least you're acknowledging that what you're eating was a living sentient being with thoughts and feelings. I'm not in the group of Vegans who want to burn anyone who eats meat, my aim in life is to bring awareness and if you choose to still eat meat after that? That is your choice. But I just wish people would listen when I'm telling them about the conditions these poor, poor animals are left to "live" their life in. I mean, who would think the dairy industry is mean, cows love to be milked right? Wrong. I would never judge anybody for eating meat but if you are going to eat a creature that gave its life for you, you WILL respect it and you WILL be interested in the conditions it came from (interested in changing them also*****).


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## webspinnr

Just a couple of points. One, I believe the program in New York stopped too soon. Yes the starving deer is awful but that's one of the stages in rebalancing, getting to a population level that can be sustained. Two, trophy hunting should be illegal in my opinion. It goes against the natural order of things. People claim to be replacing the wolves (who are gone because of guess what, trophy hunting!), but human hunters make an effort to kill the biggest and the strongest. Wolves go after the weak and wounded. We're destroying the gene pool instead of helping it. I'm not a fan of food hunting but I can respect it when done correctly and not deliberately choosing the biggest ones. Also, in terms of conservation hunting is doing less than you may think. A study showed that the more deer are killed the season before, the higher the fawn survival rate is.


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## PawsandClaws

I just think the original post was extremely poorly worded. By your initial logic there are only two categories of people in this world that are ethically acceptable: those who hunt and those who do not eat meat at all. I do not think that our world is so black and white. There are many people who do research on where their meat comes from, buy locally and ensure conditions of the animals being farmed are humane. To think that you need to be willing to kill the animals with your bare hands in order to eat meat is ridiculous. I pay for a doctor, I wouldn't ever contemplate performing my own surgery. I agree that there is a level of ignorance when it comes to the meat market and that a lot of it is to do with a lack of wanting to take the blame for how we get the meat. When you go off the handle because you are angry at those people, it does not help the cause.


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## Morpheus

Around here in the Netherlands, i wouldn't have a clue what's the deal with hunting. i believe it's illigal, but i wouldn't be to sure about it.
Wolves who lived here before humanity took over, are banned. Recently there are new sign that wolves are coming back. The whole countrie is afraid of the animals that would be killed for feeding wolves. But the fact is, that wolves are way too scared of humans to even come close-by... So i'm one of the few people that really eagers to bring wolves back in our nature. And that mostly is because of the fact that many other species are in overpopulation right now and besides prof. hunters, there are almost no predators to eat those overpopulated animals.
Hunting seems like a good idea around here, but they're afraid that hunters wil kill people if they have to,when getting in thei way. And i kind of understand that idea, since most people hate hunters for killing animals.. But they indeed don't think about what they are eating themselves...

Personally, i'm not a hunter and it wouldn't be my thing. But that is because i can't stand blood other than my own, haha. I can kill animals when it is neccesary and i have no choice other than that.. But i couldn't stand the stripping part and all..... too bloody for me


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## Nijidoragon

Our family gets organic free range chickens and eggs and organic beef from a local farmer 😊


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## Jackie

I do eat all sorts of meat. I'm the first one to admit I pick and choose animals to advocate for. So I've chosen to care about the well being of dogs vs cows because I work for a volunteer rescue group. That said I don't bash people for their animal views (like that stupid girl with the buffalo burger) when that would clearly be hypocritical (and in a sense me valuing dogs is too but not on the same level). As far as deer go, I value my life and others lives more and if it means less of them to run in front of my car and kill me then great (within reason, I don't want them endangered). 

That said I don't think hunting is for everyone. I have no interest in deer hunting. I will fish, but I don't think you have to fish. Not many people have the resources to do so. In fact I'm turned off by it because my father is a fishing manic. He has way too many lures, poles, etc. He lives a life of excess in everything he's interested in. If I bought all of the necessary supplies to fish and then did so, I would feel like the time/money/fish ratio wouldn't be worth it for me at least. For him, spending tons of time and money to fish is fun, so I say go for it if it's something you love!


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