People like Joe who are so quick to criticize and demean are the same type of people who pass moral judgements onto others.

It takes a big man to pull the trigger and MURDER a defenseless animal who is just standing there taking in some fresh air, who is not a threat to you. I believe that animal has every right to exist on this planet as you do. How would YOU feel if you were suddenly shot in the head just standing outside? would it feel good ?

I did some biomedical research at Boston Children's hospital in 1995. the basement is where they kept all the animals, waiting to be operated on and then euthanized. I'm not proud of those days, and i was too naive. I operated on a few rabbits and then injected them with poison. There were other animals in that basement, dogs, rabbits, a few pigs. The barking from the dogs trapped in their cages and the other sounds I still keep and have nightmares of to this day.

Joe, have you ever been caged up waiting to be "operated" on ?
Why would you subject the same torture upon an innocent animal? Next time you cuddle with your pet, know they are lower on the food/intelligent chain than a deer you have no problem in MURDERING.
I'm an animal lover (go ahead, make your childish joke) - I don't MURDER them for fun. People who do have serious issues.

My wife gives me a hard time about the spiders I trap and take outside to put in the woods. she'd just rather smash them up and make a big mess .

SmileWavy

If a person is HONESTLY killing to feed themselves, I can understand it. I don't. Could/would I if there was a nuclear attack or whatever and I had to in order to survive? You bet. It's easier for me to simply go whip up a bowl of pasta or whatever though.

This sure has taken a turn. Killing a deer to me is no different than setting a mouse trap. They are no different than rodents, way, way overpopulated, carry ticks that carry lyme disease and cause lots of car accidents. Like coyotes, you could shoot them all day long and not puta dent in the population. That said, killing an animal is no different than killing a plant. Both are living beings. If you eat veggies only, you're still killing living things so you can eat. If you buy ANY kind of meat whatsoever, it's been killed out of your sight, but it's no different than shooting it yourself. Just a little less work for you.

That is perhaps the nub of the argument for some.

Killing for food = OK

Killing for sport = ???????

I have a gun because I do not want to be anyone's subject.

I love this part:

"Then they gave him back his gun."

Like he wouldn't need it anymore.

Shame he didn't cap the other three and save the taxpayers the expense.

I guess he should have armed himself better. Bringing antlers to a gun fight was his first mistake. I mean, a baseball bat, a knife, a taser....all understandable errors. But, antlers? What a moron.

Rick:

(with some degree of humor).....Humans carry their quota of diseases as well.. Using your argument.......

So glad you are above passing moral judgement.

People eat meat. Meat comes from animals. Get over it.

On-ramp, just curious, are you a vegetarian, and/or do you wear anything made of leather?

Excellent news story. Thanks for sharing it!

Rick, plants aren't sentient beings as far as most people can tell. Have you been talking to the cactus again? ;)

Then they gave him back his gun.

I love stories with happy endings!

It is very clear that some here have no clue about hunting, I guess they would rather have the deer starve to death and suffer or get hit by a car rather than a quick death where the meat is used.http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1179712520.jpg

It is all Walt Disney's fault. He made the movie "Bambi."

Should we kill all of the bears, cougars, lions, coyotes, sharks, eagles, etc. because they eat other sentient beings?

maybe, but then we wouldn't have any professional sports teams to watch...

A) No offense, but it sounds like you need to talk to someone about this. I'm not just pulling your chain man. You reactions to this thread make it pretty clear that you have never gotten past this.

I spent a year in Boston because my wife was doing her fellowship at Childrens. I have walked the same halls you walked. Animal research is far uglier than anything that goes on in the world of hunting. It must have been traumatic.

B) I don't murder animals for fun. Raising a rifle to your shoulder, and shooting a beautiful deer dead is not fun. Its a dramatic, emotionally charged moment, for me anyway. I don't take it lightly, nor do I find it 'fun'.

Flying into Detroit, and driving 12 hours to northern Michigan with my 63 year old dad (who I never get to see), thats fun.

Sitting around the cabin drinking wine with 3 generations of hunters swapping stories and catching up on the year, thats fun.

Talking about the gear we are going to bring endlessly for months before we go, thats fun.

Sighting in my rifle is fun.

But that moment, that moment we you squeeze the trigger, and the deer falls, thats a moment with some import, for me anyway.

If you want to write hunters off as mindless, blood thirsty hicks, that fine. But your ultimately doing it to cover up your own guilt about what you did in Boston.


*ahem*, well, your hours up, time to get off the couch. That will be $150 dollars please. :p

I spent a good part of my childhood in a rural area; we didn't live on a commercial farm, but did raise our own animals to slaughter and eat.

I never quite understand people who get all "sentimental" about animals; I don't understand how people can conclude animals have some type of "human-like" intelligence. They are really exceeding stupid.

This short clip demonstrates their stupidity (we raised sheep -- this is sooo typical of their behavior!):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wB0rusLBotY

he's got dead cow in both of his 911s.

i'm not a big gun guy, but the story about the punk getting his due is pretty good.