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Old October 31, 2011, 03:10 PM   #1
Indi
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WHY shoot everything?

Hello everyone.
I recently moved from the city to the sticks. I have noticed that people out here like to kill critters, for no apparent reason. Im not talking about people who hunt for food. Or people protecting there farm land and or livestock. Im refering to people who aim at the opposum/ racoon/ turtle when driving down the road, or run into there house and get there gun as soon as they see a squirel or crow in a tree. I believe in live and let live. Im not a tree hugger, I dont down people for killing animals. Im just curious to why they do it(again not refering to the hunters, just the ones who do it for no apparent reason)? (Sorry if i posted this in the wrong thread, this is the closet thing i could find for my question.) Im not trying to start a debate about the strong vs the weak. Or trying to offened anyone. So please dont blast me and be rude when replying. Im just trying to figure it out. FYI I own a gas station convenience store, that sell lots of bait (live and frozen)and tackle. Plus we have a deer check station, for our hunters. The state doesnt require the weight of deer anymore for tags but we do it anyways cause i know my hunters want to know
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Old October 31, 2011, 03:24 PM   #2
Pahoo
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Trying to understand stupid acts ???

Quote:
I have noticed that people out here like to kill critters, for no apparent reason.
Taking you post at face value, I'd have to say that you are trying to make sense out of senseless acts. As you stated, these are not hunters for all hunters that I know, are ethical. Anthing else is just plain killing. That is not to say that we have not made mistakes, for if you have hunted long enough, there have been that some of us wish we could take back. There is no good answer to your question or concerns as idiots do walk among us. .....

I guess that is one reason I got into Hunter Safety; to show young folks what is not acceptible conduct and that we are all connected. What they do alone, in the field, is there choice. I always advise them to;

Do you best, in your own best ways and;
Be Safe !!!
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Old October 31, 2011, 03:28 PM   #3
ZeroJunk
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I've known people like that. A lot of times they are younger. But, is does not reflect hunting or country folks.

I'm about as country as you can get and I dodge wooly worms in the road.
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Old October 31, 2011, 03:31 PM   #4
twins
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OP,
The only answer I can think of to your question is "Because they can" with no consequences.

Imagine if the critters can fight back and there's a 50/50 chance of the shooter being harmed or killed.
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Old October 31, 2011, 03:39 PM   #5
Indi
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OK, so its not just me who sees it as senseless. In no way was i refering to country folks either...lol. Ive meet the greatest and nicest people since i moved out here. I would never move back to the city, never, never, never! Its too good here!

If the critters could fight back....lol. We are in trouble!!!
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Old October 31, 2011, 03:53 PM   #6
Saltydog235
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If you see that then you're living amongst some real lowlifes. That's not being a sportsman or hunter in the least just a sorry excuse for a human being.
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Old October 31, 2011, 03:55 PM   #7
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You touch on a hard and recurring issue........

For most of us we need a good reason ( you mentioned some of them ) to take a life on purpose. Problem often is that what constitutes a "good" reason for one may not do so for another.

For me it usually comes down to "use", occasionally it's a nuisance issue.

Killing it just to put it on the wall.....we could argue about that one.....I don't.

As for hitting something on the road just to hit it............way to far in the wrong direction.............
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Old October 31, 2011, 04:14 PM   #8
603Country
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I guess you could categorize me as a meat hunter and pest eliminator. We eat deer meat and wild pig and I've done that since college, when we were too poor to buy everything we needed. I also shoot pigs to try to control their numbers because my pastures are being dug up, and I shoot coyotes to try to reduce their impact on the deer herd (they eat the fawns). And my wife hates the armadillos digging up her flower beds, so I am instructed to shoot dillos on sight. Squirrels and coons mostly get a free pass, though I did shoot a coon the other morning. My wife's half grown dim wit girl cat, of maybe 8 pounds soaking wet, was just about to jump on a 20odd pound male raccoon. I had to intervene before the cat got caught up in a major butt whipping. Bottom line is that neither I nor anyone I know is going to shoot any and all critters on sight just to do it.
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Old October 31, 2011, 04:15 PM   #9
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From the very beginning I was taught to only kill animals that we were going to eat. I don't understand the need to shoot black bears or travel to Africa to shoot zebra. Maybe they taste good, but I'll never know. During the spring we will shoot coyotes that get too close to my friend's newborn lambs. I'll shoot watersnakes out of my pond to protect the fish. They're aggrasive too. So if me and my boy are out there fishing I'll blast them. So am I in that class of folks? Maybe. But Ill slow down and swerve to miss critters in the road.
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Old October 31, 2011, 04:21 PM   #10
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Sometimes it's just about growing up, give a young boy an air rifle and he's going to kill everything he sees, just because he can. It takes a little bit of living to learn you don't have to kill everything just because you can, and that takes longer for some people, some just never learn it, I guess...
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Old October 31, 2011, 04:25 PM   #11
markj
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I dont see this where I live but I bet they view them critters as varmints and as such need to be removed. Many cutsie little animals cause a bit of damage at nite, get into stuff and make a huge mess etc. I dont shoot em cause my dogs get them and tear them apart. I usually find bits and pieces, the skunk parts are very easy to discern.

Crows are varmints, will wreck a garden pronto, possums spread rabies some say and get into the chicken coops eat the eggs and kill the hens so they get shot.

In the city folks just dont have as much fun with their property as we country folk do. Why when was the last time some city boy opened up the feed bin to find a coon wanting to eat his face? that was last week.... or go out to the garden has 18 tomatoe plants to find every one was torn up and no tomatoes. Worked a lot of hours on that one....

or find some coon ripped the sweet corn and ruined the whole plot?

I shoot them varmints if I get a chance too. Call me cruel but when my hard work is destroyed by some critter, well I get mad, then I get even on them.

How ya feel about coyotes? I kill them too, often.
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Old October 31, 2011, 04:28 PM   #12
Brian Pfleuger
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It depends on the animal. I'm not sure how I classify them exactly but I do... Somehow.

Deer, kill to eat or give to those who will.

Crows, they're an infestation. Kill every one I can, which is not many since I don't try.

Starlings/Pidgeons, kill em all, let God sort em out.

Woodchucks, kill them all. Don't generally swerve to hit them but don't try to miss either.

Opossum/skunk/rabbit/coon, never really bothered any of them. Except a few rabbits back when.

When I was a kid with a BB gun I would shoot birds all day long, partly I think because it started with genuine pests (starlings and pidgeons) and my grandparents farm. The "nonpest" birds my dad was always like "why you shoot the birds? Leave them alone."
Funny, now I wouldn't kill the nonpest birds for anything.

As for running stuff over, the only ones I don't avoid are woodchucks.
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Old October 31, 2011, 04:47 PM   #13
603Country
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"Running stuff over"...that reminds me that recently I was blasting along the rural highway with the radio turned up and the windows open, when a bunny rabbit ran across the road. Man..I had to swerve like crazy and even put two wheels into the wet grass, but I got him...

Just kidding...
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Old October 31, 2011, 04:48 PM   #14
BUFF
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Think of it as population control.(somewhat tounge in cheek) Whitetail deer are the most hunted big game in North America. Their population is more than healty and always on the rise. Largemouth Bass are the most popular game fish. Plenty of them. Same with Canadian Geese, ducks, crows, etc... People that have hog problems can't kill enough of them. The state of Kansas has people that shoot scores of deer every year and just leave them lay. To protect crops.

We're lucky in this country to have an abundance of game animals, and non game animals. There are fewer hunters in this country than ever before for various reasons. So killing the occasional armadillo or 'possum is not going to cause the decline of the species. As long as the pest stay in the woods and out of the hen house, we'll get along great. Not trying to justify it...just saying.
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Old October 31, 2011, 04:56 PM   #15
Indi
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@603country thanks that made me chuckle
@BUFF I guess i can understand the population control part of it.

I go fishing at a Dam about a mile from where i live. I catch and release fish, sometimes i use them for bait to get bigger fish. You find a lot of dead drum fish lying around. Ive seen people slam them on the rocks after getting them of there hooks. I cant do that, drum fish have made a bad fishing day into a great one for me on plenty of occasions. I caught a huge drum, before i got it out of the water i thought it was a nice big blue cat. Only fish i caught that day, I still talk about him till this day. Thanks you Drum fish, even though nbody likes you I DO
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Old October 31, 2011, 05:25 PM   #16
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Quote:
You find a lot of dead drum fish lying around.
What a waste: Drum are tasty, if a bit of a PITA to clean.

As for shooting "varmits", if you were raised on a farm, you shot/clubbed/poisoned/trapped and drowned anything on the property that competed with your livestock for food and/or space...... if it so much as bothered your stock, then it had to go........ farming, as I knew it as a kid, (not the mass market agribisiness of today) was a struggle ..... varmints, from mice to coons to coyotes, cost money. Not much of an issue for today's mass market farmers ...... though they have caused more of a decline in "varmit" populations by farming every square inch of ground possible, and destroying the fencerows and woodlots that wildlife needs to live. I can't blame them, though: if they don't make a profit, they can't pay their property taxes, or the ever increasing rents and will lose the land to someone more able to pay.

The same logic holds for hunters: Coons and 'possums are predators of pheasants and quail, and the more coyotes, the fewer fawns: eliminate the competition. In the area where I hunt, the amount of habitat has shrunk drasticly since the days of my youth ...... one less coyote means several more deer or pheasants. The fact that I can sell the hide for enough to buy a box of bullets is a bonus.

Folks from the City move out to the country and suddenly try to change the way things are done........ if you prefer the "Live and Let Live" management style, then use that on YOUR property. Complaints about the way others manage theirs is wasted breath.
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Old October 31, 2011, 05:35 PM   #17
tahunua001
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I don't normally shoot everything that moves and I don't really know anyone that does(I am the epitome of country redneck). I do however hunt predators and pests because of the damage they can do to personal property. when I am camping or having a family get together we usually start shooting and after a while hitting paper gets to get boring so we start to see who can hit a squirrel or magpie first...I cant say that it's ever become an obsession to the point that I rush out of the house every time I see a squirrel in the lawn.
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Old October 31, 2011, 06:42 PM   #18
Indi
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Again im not complaining about this, I "live and let live" on my property and everywhere i go, thats just me. I dont care what people do on their properties either, thats there buisness. If critters are being pest, i agree shooting them/ trapping them, whatever works best for you. I just dont understand the thrill of just killing something to see if you can. I guess its my "live and let live" mentality. Plus im not in the least bit trying to change how people think, or live.

Anyways thanks to everyone who put in there 2 cents, I really appreciated it.

As for people killing people for nothing, IT HAPPENS EVERYWHERE! so please try and find something more constructive to say Hog Buster.
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Old October 31, 2011, 06:47 PM   #19
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I shoot ground squirrels a lot (not on my property) . I figure that it is more humane than the alternative. If the ground squirrels where to live until planting season they will be poisoned which is a slow death. a bullet is much faster and much more humane.

All so they are cannibals and when you shoot one it feeds the others.

as far as hunting, I typically hunt Deer, Elk, Pheasants, Quail, Ducks and Geese. I have hunted in the past Moose, Caribou and Buffalo. I eat all of these. I have shot a few Coyotes in my day but mostly because there where messing with the chickens.
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Old October 31, 2011, 06:53 PM   #20
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"As for people killing people for nothing, IT HAPPENS EVERYWHERE!"

Sorry, but not here......
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Old October 31, 2011, 06:56 PM   #21
TheNatureBoy
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I've never appreciated senseless killings and refuse to hunt with anyone who does. A few years back while on a tree stand a beautiful fox walked under me. I could have easily taken it with a well placed arrow but chose not to. After sharing this with the guy who invited me to hunt on the property he asked why I didn't kill it. My response; I don't eat fox! That continues to be my position. If I don't intend to put it on my table, I don't kill it. I was never invited to another hunt and never really cared.
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Old October 31, 2011, 07:38 PM   #22
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A whole lot depends on the part of the country your are in. Down here in FL, possums and skunks don't get bothered. Coons, however are another story. They carry a serious rabies threat and we kill every one we see. Coyotes are the same.

I like seeing a few squirrels in the back yard - so do the neighbors. However, when they start getting too numerous they eat through the pool screens. Then they need to get thinned out. We'll shoot enough to get down to a couple per yard.
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Old October 31, 2011, 09:00 PM   #23
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Around here things that cause damage, spread disease or eat things before I do are shot on sight. The carcasses are buried in the garden for fertilizer, not wasted.

Game animals are only taken in season, legally and eaten.
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Old October 31, 2011, 09:07 PM   #24
camper4lyfe
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I'll admit to being one of them. However, it's generally just squirrels, and they get skinned and thrown in the freezer (when in season, otherwise I just swear at them for tormenting me).

Woodchucks don't get a pass because of the damage they cause. My aunt and uncle have horses, and the 'chuck's holes can break their legs. Same at my brother-in-law's family's farm. They've got cows, and can easily break their legs. The tunnels can also cause severe damage to the tractors in the fields (broken axles and such).
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Old October 31, 2011, 09:28 PM   #25
sc outdoorsman
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I was taught from a young age to respect whatever game you are hunting to the utmost degree. Squirrel, deer or racoon was no difference. If the animal was going to provide you with nourishment you were thankful. This goes along with a lot of other things I was taught in the southern way of life in the late 60'Ss early 70's. I think much of this has been lost with much of the other respectful things I learned long ago.
Much of the wisdom that was departed by the generation that gave me these values has been lost or forgotten no matter what region of our great nation you are located.
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