Hunting

[CMichael]

I wanted to ask you guys your input about this.

I am new to all of this. I am originally from NYC and I am now in Michigan. I got a Moss Persuader for my birthday and gave my wife a Moss 500 for her birthday.

We have been pondering hunting. I think we have two concerns:

1)I am not sure I can kill an animal. We have two kittens and I love animals. I think my wife would have a hard time as well

2) I believe once you kill the animal then the real work beings such as gutting it.

What do you all think?

Thanks,
Michael

 

[Dave McC]

Dressing out critters is a nasty chore, but soon over. I can dress out a deer in about 10 minutes, but that takes practice. Best to go with someone who knows and that can direct you.

The field dressing kits sold in gunshops contain a pair of latex gloves, a pair of long,to the shoulder, plastic gloves, maybe a heart and liver bag, and some disposable wipes. A good sharp knife and you're all set. A few paper towels and a jug of water are nice to have, but not essential.

As for the killing, obtaining one's meat without middlemen means one has to slay the critter oneself. It's not something we enjoy, but it's something we don't mind doing.

The up side is that one gets superior meat, less fat and cholesterol, and the same sort of feeling one gets growing our own vegetables and eating them. I pride myself on feeding my family the old fashioned way, and treat all the critters that hit the table with respect. The Food Chain is not a pyramid, it's a wheel.

Sunday after next, we'll have venison sausage with breakfast, and sometime before that we'll have the last piece of venison from last season's bounty. All the critters here get humane and near painless deaths, and nothing gets killed w/o good reason.

Those kittens are predators, as we are. Predators needs prey to eat, prey need predators to keep their numbers in check, and the key word in this is, BALANCE. Here and now, I hunt deer in areas that are heavily overpopulated, up to 110 deer/sq mi. The few that I take, humanely and quickly, die so the others live without overbreeding and starving.

HTH...

 

[Boris49]

I've been a guide and outfitter for awhile, and a hunter long before that. You're right, the "easiest" part of the hunt is pulling the trigger. The hard part of the shot is getting to the right location, staying still, taking only a good shot, being aware of the environment surrounding the animal should the shot go astray: Backdrop, rocks, water, etc.

If you are a carnivore, a meat-eater, (hamburgers, steaks, bacon, Colonel Sanders), then the butchering is out of sight and mind. A hunt brings you closer to the process of converting living animals to meat.

It's not gruesome. On the contrary, it's probably alot less gruesome than the slaughterhouse.

The proper shot and the proper treatment of the carcass is a worthwhile experience. And fresh venison is hard to beat. I hunted for years with a half-blind old man who endured the hardships for the camraderie of a hunting camp for the week. He only took one shot in the 7 years I went out with him. Yet he kept coming back every year.

Take a good hunter safety course, read a few good magazines and give it a try. Your cats won't miss you.

 

[Romulus]

Don't mean to put a damper on things, but...

Just watch out for those wild prions, guys...aka chronic wasting disease, the outdoors version of mad cow...

Not kidding either. A good friend saw a deer at a butchershop in WI, looked like it came from Biafra...

And you canNOT cook it out

 

[Dave McC]

CWD hasn't hit here yet. A hunting MD I know says the best thing to do with ALL wild meat is to freeze it at about 0F for at least a month to kill off all the nasty stuff.

Most freezers that sit on fridges don't get that cold, but chest and standup frezers can be set to that level.Mine is.

 

[yankytrash]

If you haven't gone before, I'd make sure my first hunt or two was with experienced hunters. Make sure to watch closely during the field dressing, maybe ask to get your hands in it on the second one.

All the books and pictures in the world don't help the human memory. There are a couple things to watch out for in field dressing, and a cut or two in the wrong place, or at the wrong depth, can ruin the best part of the carcus. It's not hard to dress a deer, but it's easier to learn hands-on.

(heheee - this subject brings me back to my first dressing experience when I was 13. I remember sticking the knife in the gut to the hilt and opening the entire cavity. What a mess that was!! Not to mention, by the time I was done, I had contaminated about 80% of the meat by the time I dragged it back to the house.)

 

[Cavè Canem]

Only been hunting once. Shot a squirrel, had it stuffed, havn't gone hunting again.

I dont think I could shoot a deer or any other wild animal unless it was attacking me or a loved one.

I prefer my meat from the store. Call me a softy or whatever, its just the way I am.


Dave, nice post BTW.

 

[Romulus]

Dave McC, if freezing destroyed prions (the corrupt proteins that cause mad cow, Jakob-Kreutzfeld, New Variant J-K, , mad cow, and CWD, these diseases would have been eliminated years ago...

Happy to hear that MD is free of this plague. I guess we're at far greater risk with store-bought meat here in Californicate, as so much of it is imported from May-hee-co.

Cheers

 

[Dave McC]

Thanks Rom. To make up for our lack of of CWD, etc, we do have Lyme's. And in these overpopulated areas, it runs rife. A couple of friends have had rough times with it, and most folks I know have had the vaccinations. I haven't, my docs are worried about side effects, with all the stuff I take to keep me alive and mobile. Currently,I have 12 separate prescriptions I take.

I know a couple health nuts that took up hunting just to get "cleaner" meat. And I've been in a few slaughterhouses. I'll take game,thank you.

CC, some of us hunt, some don't. It's a lifestyle choice, and no great merit attaches to being one or the other,here and now.

I do know that when I'm out, uh, predating, I feel more in touch with the world. It's our oldest job, and small wonder it feels like what I was meant to be.

Decades ago an SO accompanied me on a hunt. She had never understood why I hunted, and while it didn't bother her per se, it bothered her that she lacked understanding. So she followed me along a forest trail as I slowly stillhunted. The Red Gods smiled, and I took a doe that day, at a range of mere feet. As I started to dress it out, she said something like...

" I've known you for 5 years or so, and never have you looked so content and at ease as right now". She skipped watching the dressing, but helped the dragging.

 

[Poodleshooter]

Decades ago an SO accompanied me on a hunt. She had never understood why I hunted, and while it didn't bother her per se, it bothered her that she lacked understanding. So she followed me along a forest trail as I slowly stillhunted. The Red Gods smiled, and I took a doe that day, at a range of mere feet.

I tried this once. She wouldn't stop talking. Next time I take her, it will probably be for waterfowl or something less noise critical.

 

[stinger]

just a health tip to all:

freezing will not kill the organisms that make you sick. if the organisms can't be cooked out, then the meat shouldn't be eaten.

stinger

 

[CMichael]

I appreciate all the responses.

I don't think my wife and I can do it.

We both love animals.

Why would I want to kill a deer? They are beautiful creatures.

I want to stress that I am not putting down anybody for hunting.

Are there any mean and/or nasty creatures that people hunt? My wife and I may be able to do that.

Thank you,
Michael

 

[Boris49]

Taliban and Al-Queda.

 

[Dave McC]

It's your choice, Michael....

Lots of food is beautiful, including deer. Think of a cherry tree in blossom, or a field of wheat waving in a breeze.

All of those still life paintings we were bored with in Art Appreciation 101 had food in them, right?

And animals are not ever nasty and mean. People are sometimes. Animals just ARE. Any qualities we assign them are projected by us.

BTW, I assume you skip all kinds of meat,cheese, butter, eggs etc, and wear no wool,down, leather and fur, correct?

No slam, but sometimes people do not think things through.

And, while we bred, fed, altered,etc, beef cattle, G*d made the deer. I'm inclined to think He's the better designer(G)...

 

[CMichael]

Dave,

While I realize that people kill cows for food, I still don't want to be the one doing it.

Michael

 

[Fred Hansen]

CMichael,

Are there any mean and/or nasty creatures that people hunt? My wife and I may be able to do that.

As Boris49 and Dave McC pointed out, the only truly mean/nasty creatures are two legged (homo sapiens). All other animals merely are what nature intended them to be.

Try going hunting with someone that is experienced. You don't have to kill anything unless you decide you want to. I have two sisters, one will not go hunting, the other goes, but won't kill anything. She even carrys the gun all day long. She has a great time even though we both know that she isn't going to shoot anything. We just have fun.

Get in touch with your inner caveman.

 

[Dave McC]

Your call, Michael. If you'd like to read up a bit on this question, I recommend "Meditations on Hunting" by Ortega Y Gasset. A quick sound bite from same....

"One does not hunt in order to kill, one kills in order to have hunted"...

 

[krept]

Just to add a little to this very informative discussion. I say informative because I too am interested in hunting. I plan to go on a first hunt with a buddy that is very into it... fortunately he is also a Wildlife Manager (game warden) so he knows all the ins and outs...

Prions are crazily-folded proteins, not organisms. As mentioned you can't kill 'em, but I don't believe that they are present in any other matter/tissue except that which is encountered in the brain... thus, if you use a butcher that you know isn't messing with brains, you should be fine, no?

Even the people in Papua that chewed on their dead relatives didn't get prions unless they ate the brain matter.

 

[Fred Hansen]

krept,

Close but no cigar, I'm not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV, but I believe that prions can be found in most nerve tissue as well. I know for a fact that the common practice of halving animals by sawing lengthwise down the spine is a way to create "contamination". CWD is present out west where I hunt, so I no longer cut into the spinal column. It is easier to filet the meat off and not add the weight of the bones anyway. Win-win.

 

[RAY WOODROW 3RD]

If only you knew........

Give it a try. There is more to hunting than the kill. Sit out there and enjoy the simple life of no phone, pager, car noise, etc. Something stirs in you when you are out there being the predator, blending with your enviorment, getting back to the basics of life. my wife went with me for the first time this year, just her and me. I believe that she now knows why I love it so and has stated that she wants to go again. It was a cold,wet, miserable day and she still enjoyed herself. She felt her pulse rise and her heart beating faster when we had doe's coming around us. She now understands. I hope you will give it a try so you can understand also.