[Daryl]

Hi Roy,

I saw your other thread, and though I felt no real need to respond, I figured some negative comments would come. They did, or at least one did. I didn't go back after that.

There was a time in my life, when I was younger and more foolish, that I thought much the way you're thinking now. Killing an animal or bird is killing an animal or bird, and the reasons are irrelevant.

However, as I matured as an adult, I began to realize that it really does matter. If all of us who hunt simply shot animals and birds indiscriminately, how long would it take to cause problems for their survival?

That's why we have seasons on birds and animals that are hunted for food. If we didn't, their numbers would dwindle, and the chances for that species' survival wouldn't be good.

It's not whether you kill an animal or bird or not that really matters. I kill the same critters you mentioned killing when they're damaging the fruit in my trees. I don't mind if they get a few (they will anyway), and I'll leave the fruit that's pecked for them to finish, but I'll thin them a bit to minimize the damage. That said, I don't shoot them in the fall and winter when there's no fruit, even though they're legal to shoot year 'round. If there's a reason, then do what needs done.

I kill a lot of coyotes that are after chickens and such these days. For me, it's a matter of protecting what's mine, and I'll do it at any time of year if they pose a threat. Even so, I only "hunt" those same animals during the winter when the fur is prime, and I'll skin them to utilize the fur. If I see a summertime coyote while out 'n about, I'll leave it alone if it's not hurting anything. I'm not out to exterminate the population; I'm only out to "hunt", or limit the damage that is done by some of them, even though they're legal to shoot year 'round.

I've hunted and killed deer, antelope, elk, javalina, bear, rabbits, quail, dove, and lots of other critters for food and "sport" (for lack of a better term), all within legal seasons. The animals/birds were cared for accordingly, and were utilized as food. I also don't take more than I can and will use. IMO, there is a difference between this, and a person who kills the same animals and leaves them to rot. The animal is just as dead either way, but one is utilized, and the other wasted. The difference lies in "why" it was killed.

The "whys" behind what we do is, in many cases, the primary difference between being morally and/or legally right, and being morally and/or legally wrong. If a man breaks into my home in the middle of the night and kills me, it's considered murder. This would be morally and legally wrong in the eyes of most folks. If he breaks into my home in the middle of the night and I kill him, it's considered justifiable homicide. Either way someone is killed, and the primary difference is in why they were killed.

Now, I didn't criticize you in the other thread, and I'm not doing it now. You asked a question (or, implied several) that I'm attempting to explain my own views on. Shooting what you did was not illegal, yet it's considered "wrong" in some people's eyes.

My advice? Think about what you do, and why you do it. Then, act according to the dictates of your own conscience, within lawful guidelines, and don't look for or depend on comfort or justification from others. As long as you are not disappointed in yourself, and you've done nothing illegal, then all is likely well.