Why do you hunt

[Nate Bailey]

#2560

If Peta grows at the rate it did over the last decade, and hunter numbers shrink at the rate they did in that same amount of time, Peta will be close to the same amount of members as there are hunters in the US. Knowing all of this, I think it is important that we ask ourselves– why do we hunt. Not to discredit our lifestyle, but rather to give us a thoughtful response to the Non-Hunting public. What do you all think?

[FUBAR]

#10642

I hunt for the thrill and challenge, but mainly for the solitude of being in the woods. I cannot just go to the woods to go to the woods. I find I must be doing something. In the summer I backpack, in cooler months I hunt.

[Hiram]

#10681

Because I love the outdoors and the animals I hunt. I hunt to eat the things I kill. I hunt because it satifies my internal craving to to pursue, kill, eat. I WANT TO kill it and eat it!! It keeps me mentally happy, physically active, and releases plenty of Dopamine while doing so!! Natural high is what I’m after, and the woods and a Bow doe’s it for me!:)

[paleoman]

#10766

I think because I grew up in a place and time where it was accepted. That, and it’s just a natural thing when kids aren’t tampered with:) And for me I’ve always been a sucker for scenery…maybe that’s been the biggest thing looking back.

[Bruce Smithhammer]

#10818

Because living in denial of thousands of years of my genetic history doesn’t seem healthy.

And because many of the most intense and memorable experiences I’ve had have been while hunting.

And because there are few things in the world I love more than fresh elk meat.

[David Petersen]

#10833

I hunt in order to maintain a modicum of sanity in an insane human world. If I sometimes seem insane, then obviously I need to hunt even more. 😯

[William Warren]

#10909

Thoreau said it best when he said that he went to the woods in order to live deliberately. I read this many years ago but it has never been more apparent than it is today that to choose deliberately is to live, I mean to truly live. To hunt to feed yourself is a choice, a deliberate choice. To know where your food comes from, to touch it, smell it, taste it, makes you feel alive.

Reading the posts here one observes the natural world and the man-made world, a facade men have made to cover the natural world. We are all caught up in this facade, but those who see it know they must return to the natural world which is our destiny no matter how much we deny it. With that, I enter the natural world in order to hunt, recreate, and to live deliberately.

Duncan

[Nate Bailey]

#11033

Duncan wrote: Thoreau said it best when he said that he went to the woods in order to live deliberately. I read this many years ago but it has never been more apparent than it is today that to choose deliberately is to live, I mean to truly live. To hunt to feed yourself is a choice, a deliberate choice. To know where your food comes from, to touch it, smell it, taste it, makes you feel alive.

Reading the posts here one observes the natural world and the man-made world, a facade men have made to cover the natural world. We are all caught up in this facade, but those who see it know they must return to the natural world which is our destiny no matter how much we deny it. With that, I enter the natural world in order to hunt, recreate, and to live deliberately.

Duncan

I couldn’t have said it better!

[Nate Bailey]

#11040

David Petersen wrote: I hunt in order to maintain a modicum of sanity in an insane human world. If I sometimes seem insane, then obviously I need to hunt even more. 😯

I agree the human ,created, concrete,and controlled world is very much insane! I need to escape back to reality–that’s why I hunt!

Do you see the modern hunting industry sinking into the same insanity?

[Troy Breeding]

#11292

My eyes are on the front of my head instead of the sides. The big guy upstairs planed it that way.

Troy

[Raymond Coffman]

#11318

because I have to —

scout

[wildschwein]

#11417

Like scout said “because I have to”.

Todays no rush, just hurry the hell up world is suffocating. A hundred thousand little (and big) worries bombard me (and likely you) every day, and the only time I can say ENOUGH is when I am outside living the way I wish I could live, be it either hunting, fishing, or just a walk in the woods.

When I hunt or fish, food isn’t my ultimate quarry. I hunt for peace.

[skifrk]

#11489

I love spending my time in the woods and enjoy whether I am hunting for elk or mushrooms or other small game. I grew up spending my time in the woods playing and find it a place to get in touch with who I am. As far as the hunting industry yes they to me are falling into insanity in that they desire to have spokes people good or bad who can be celebrated by the size of game shot or using the newest weapon or that they are famous for being a rock star. Which to me are horrible role models for the next generation. I still like the stories from Howard hill which were as much about the journey as the game to me.

[Ben M.]

#12033

I hunt for the same reason I enjoy a thunderstorm or a prairie fire: it makes me part of this place. It also feeds my wife and children, extended family, and friends. That, too, serves the same purpose: eating from this place makes us part of this place!

🙂 Ben

[Wexbow]

#12588

For food, although I don’t depend on it, but primarily for the enjoyment which I think comes down to a connection with the wildlife around me and the primitive being within – but I ain’t gonna get all Freud about it! 🙄

[turtlebunting]

#13501

cause i find true peace in the woods! if im hunting or scouting or tryn to teach my son about nature or just tryn to clear my head! sometimes it feels like the only safe place in this messed up world! like my dad always said hunting isnt always about the kill……..

[steveinmt]

#14148

i hunt to bring myself back into harmony with nature and to rid myself of civilization’s crap. out in the mountains of western mt i’m that much closer to God.

[lyagooshka]

#14977

This may not be an answer that some agree with, but one of the reasons I hunt is because of PETA. I grew up fishing, and I never had anything against hunting, I just never did it. (To be honest, I was a vegetarian for quite a while. Still not against hunting, but against the ease with which animals are reduces to simple, pleasant-looking packages in the store. Packages that look like they meat was grown instead of being from an animal that was once alive.) Then, after many years of dealing with PETA propaganda and sheer nonsense, I decided to take up hunting. Sure, I have other reasons, like being out as a part of nature, getting off my duff and getting the blood flowing, etc, but I still credit PETA (and other eco-terrorist organizations like them) with getting me outdoors.

I still say that the safest place for a whitetail is near me while I’m hunting. Between the ADHD and lack of outdoors knowledge, it is no wonder I have yet to get a deer. Still, the day will come, and I will have PETA to thank. On my way to the farm I have permission to hunt, I usually see several dead deer. I often wonder how their death could have served some purpose (meat in the freezer) instead of rotting on the road-side. Why did that animal cross a busy roadway? Was it out of boredom or because it was looking for a source of food? Is the area over-populated? What is the cause? I think we all know where I am going with this, but this is the kind of stuff we need to continue to push to the non (not anti) hunters as they are the ones who will decide if hunting will continue or not.

Sorry to ramble.

Alex

😕

[taterman]

#15815

speak to the earth and it shall teach you JOB 12:8 , we are a part of GOD’s creation not man’s fabrication

[Nate Bailey]

#16119

lyagooshka wrote: This may not be an answer that some agree with, but one of the reasons I hunt is because of PETA. I grew up fishing, and I never had anything against hunting, I just never did it. (To be honest, I was a vegetarian for quite a while. Still not against hunting, but against the ease with which animals are reduces to simple, pleasant-looking packages in the store. Packages that look like they meat was grown instead of being from an animal that was once alive.) Then, after many years of dealing with PETA propaganda and sheer nonsense, I decided to take up hunting. Sure, I have other reasons, like being out as a part of nature, getting off my duff and getting the blood flowing, etc, but I still credit PETA (and other eco-terrorist organizations like them) with getting me outdoors.

I still say that the safest place for a whitetail is near me while I’m hunting. Between the ADHD and lack of outdoors knowledge, it is no wonder I have yet to get a deer. Still, the day will come, and I will have PETA to thank. On my way to the farm I have permission to hunt, I usually see several dead deer. I often wonder how their death could have served some purpose (meat in the freezer) instead of rotting on the road-side. Why did that animal cross a busy roadway? Was it out of boredom or because it was looking for a source of food? Is the area over-populated? What is the cause? I think we all know where I am going with this, but this is the kind of stuff we need to continue to push to the non (not anti) hunters as they are the ones who will decide if hunting will continue or not.

Sorry to ramble.

Alex

😕

This is part of the reason I hunt also. Good Read!

[Nate Bailey]

#26042

David, we must be kindred souls:lol:I loved your article “Why I Bowhunt,” in October/November TBM. It’s funny that we both tackled this question at the same time! I really believe we have to be able to field these questions and your story sums it up. When I am asked Why I Hunt–I’m going to hand them your article.

[George D. Stout]

#29736

It’s not the quantity of hunters that will keep hunting going, it is the quality of the individual who hunts.

[Author]

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