The weirdest question I've ever asked in public is:

[DroptineKrazy]

Seriously though. I tell people all the time that they are being hypocritical when they tell me I shouldn't kill deer. My answer is always,You don't seem to mind squashing that mosquito when it lands on your arm or all the bugs that get spattered on your windshield. Then they inevitably tell me that bugs aren't animals. Dumb *sses!

 

[DroptineKrazy]

Oh yeah. I then usually say, at least I eat the deer I shoot. I doubt very seriously that you stop and scrape that squirrel up off the pavement and bring it home for your dinner.

 

[NMSbowhunter]

If someone doesn't want to hunt or doesn't want to eat meat for ethical reasons that is fine with me. If someone wants to try and then force their belief system on me that is not fine. If someone doesn't believe hunting is ethical because killing deer and eating venison is wrong but will eat a hamburger or a steak that someone, somewhere killed then they are a hypocrite. Paying someone else to do your killing so you don't have to face the reality of your own agency is morally dishonest. The few people I have personally met who are against hunting fall into this category and are parroting a view they have heard from someone. They were sheltered, naive people with very little life experience and a closed mind.

 

[BTaylor]

@Wolverinebuckman, Please don't take this an attack on your post. I'm simply trying to explain why I posted the simple warning I did.

You'll note, nothings been shut down yet and FWIW no posts have been deleted to this point. The mods are tasked with enforcing the forum rules which we will do. Sometimes posts start to skirt the gray area between acceptable and unacceptable. The warning was just posted as a friendly reminder as it seems the thread was starting to drift in that direction. It was as much a personal request on my part as anything else. I'm enjoying this thread and don't want to be put in the position of having to shut it down.

Also FWIW, many of us mods have strong faith and/or our own political viewpoints. That doesn't change the fact that we are tasked with keeping the forum's posts in line with the rules whether we agree with the views expressed or not. There are plenty of places to cover those topics on the internet. This forum, specifically targeting saddle hunting, is not one of them per the owners request. In my opinion, I agree with him on this. Belonging to several online forums, the limiting of religious and political content is part of what keeps this a special place without the bickering back and forth about topics irrelevant to the area of interest that I see on those other forums.

Just some food for thought for those driving the boat but maybe philosophy discussions should be on the "no no" list too with politics and religion. Obviously there has been some leeway in this 7 page thread about how folks find their way through this life and how they process decisions to be made but not without warnings only to faith comments.

I caught up on this thread this morning after not looking at it all weekend but I did think about the discussion over the weekend. Now I'm just a dumb redneck, uneducated in the ways of philosophy and other high thinking but when I think back over all the folks I have known personally that struggled with these types of moral/ethical questions, I dont recall a single one who had any type of faith. That is not to say that folks of faith dont also run into such questions because that does happen. The point is when one has faith, they have a compass that is always there to guide them rather than bouncing from this or that line of thought or musings of other folks that keep them mentally wandering aimlessly without direction.

 

[SNIPERBBB]

“You egomaniacal idiot,” Malcolm said, in fury. “Do you have any idea what you are talking about? You think you can destroy the planet? My, what intoxicating power you must have.” Malcolm sank back on the bed. “You can’t destroy this planet. You can’t even come close.”
“Most people believe,” Hammond said stiffly, “that the planet is in jeopardy.”
“Well, it’s not,” Malcolm said.
“All the experts agree that our planet is in trouble.”
Malcolm sighed. “Let me tell you about our planet,” he said. “Our planet is four and a half billion years old. There has been life on this planet for nearly that long. Three point eight billion years. The first bacteria. And, later, the first multicellular animals, then the first complex creatures, in the sea, on the land. Then the great sweeping ages of animals—the amphibians, the dinosaurs, the mammals, each lasting millions upon millions of years. Great dynasties of creatures arising, flourishing, dying away. All this happening against a background of continuous and violent upheaval, mountain ranges thrust up and eroded away, cometary impacts, volcanic eruptions, oceans rising and falling, whole continents moving … Endless, constant and violent change … Even today, the greatest geographical feature on the planet comes from two great continents colliding, buckling to make the Himalayan mountain range over millions of years. The planet has survived everything, in its time. It will certainly survive us.”

Excerpt from
Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton

 

[Nutterbuster]

I think we've gone past the original question, which was hunting focused. I'm partially to blame. It's a hard line to toe.

I appreciate all the thoughtful responses. I think ultimately, for me, I won't know how I'm moving forward until I have another deer 20 yards in front of me and an arrow pointed at it. Or a teal cupping up to a spread. I'm comfortable with that uncertainty.

 

[GCTerpfan]

I think we've gone past the original question, which was hunting focused. I'm partially to blame. It's a hard line to toe.

I appreciate all the thoughtful responses. I think ultimately, for me, I won't know how I'm moving forward until I have another deer 20 yards in front of me and an arrow pointed at it. Or a teal cupping up to a spread. I'm comfortable with that uncertainty.

With that I think it may be time to close up this thread. We granted the thread a lot of leeway regarding the forum rules because everyone was keeping their posts thoughtful and civil. I think that says a lot about our members considering those two qualities don't seem to be the norm nowadays.

My final thought is that @Nutterbuster and I have been on the same SH hunting contest team twice and won both times. I mean keeping that streak alive has to hold some weight when contemplating your place in the universe and the ethics/morality of putting a pointy projectile through the lungs of deer. Right @Nutterbuster ??