I feel hunting for fun is wrong.

Laisurg

How do actual hunters feel about this? I don't support hunting generally however i can look past it if the animal is then cooked and eaten, i just don't see the fun in ending the life of something else. I have no problem with people protecting their chickens/crops from other animals by the way.

Kells...

Why post in hunting forum.

Paparazzo

Don't knock it till you tried it

actuallylike

Laisurg wrote: »

i think people who just hunt for fun are a bit sick, i just don't see the fun in ending the life of something else.

If you really want a hunter's opinion, which I imagine would be fair enough, you're not going about it the right way by making such a statement straight away.

TroutFisher wrote: »

Why post in hunting forum.

Laisurg wrote: »

How do actual hunters feel about this?

crackcrack30

Now that you mention it I dont like golf , I dont see the fun in it, In fact one of my big ambitions in life is never to play golf.......
Now, where is the golfing forum........Lets see...

Laisurg

crackcrack30 wrote: »

Now that you mention it I dont like golf , I dont see the fun in it, In fact one of my big ambitions in life is never to play golf.......
Now, where is the golfing forum........Lets see...

Your missing the point, golfing doesn't involve killing, hunting does, i want to know how hunters feel about killing animals that they having no intention of eating.

FISMA

Laisurg wrote: »

How do actual hunters feel about this? I don't support hunting generally however i can look past it sometimes if the animal is then cooked and eaten, although i think people who just hunt for fun are a bit sick, i just don't see the fun in ending the life of something else.

Laisurg,
I am a big advocate of what's shot is for the pot. I am not sure what you are asking.

I most definitely enjoy hunting.

What do you mean by "just for fun." As if we should be in an ethical delimma when hunting. Kind of like if I don't kill Bambi, my family will starve? A sort of necessary evil?

Or are you talking about someone that just goes out, shoots everything in sight, and then leaves it to waste? If so, then that's not hunting.

Like it or not, the continuance of your life involves the taking of other life. Even if you are the most die hard vegan, you have to end the life of something. It's a little presumptuous for the likes of vegans and vegetarians to assume that just because plants cannot scream that they do not mind being cut down and consumed.

Also, I think everyone out there should be forced to provide themselves a meal. Hunters, true hunters, not just someone in camo with a gun, see the sacrifice that goes into our food.

Stop by SuperMacs and see how many cows get pegged into the bin - that to me is a sin. People should be made get out there and see all that goes into putting meat on a plate - they would not be have so fast to dump it, over order, or over eat.

Be careful when you use the term hunter.

Laisurg wrote: »

Your missing the point, golfing doesn't involve killing, hunting does, i want to know how hunters feel about killing animals that they having no intention of eating.

What kind of animals? Deer? Foxes? Crows?

You don't shoot deer for fun and let them rot.

Foxes are predators, they prey on my chickens. I shoot them without any intention of eating them. I do enjoy shooting foxes and yes, it is fun.

Even more fun is shooting birds: pheasants, for the pot and others that destroy crops.

Tackleberrywho

Laisurg wrote: »

How do actual hunters feel about this? I don't support hunting generally however i can look past it sometimes if the animal is then cooked and eaten, although i think people who just hunt for fun are a bit sick, i just don't see the fun in ending the life of something else.

The chase is better than the catch. Most hunters stories are about the one that got away................

I know a fella who loves spreading Slurry, I hate slurry, but I see yer man is happy out and it's a dirty job , but someone has to do it.

Well Vermin control is also a dirty job, and so is vetinary, and working in an abitoire

I enjoy going out and shooting a few rabbits as it makes the farmer happy, and when he is happy I am happy.

Nothing is more cruel than nature itself...... see a magpie eating teh eyes out of a newborn lamb and you might agree. And before you say it, keeping sheep in sheds is more likely to lead to disease that leaving them as NATURE intended.
without hunters keeping populations in check disease becomes rampant through over breeding.

So there are my thoughts OP.

round tower huntsman

all hunters hunt cos they enjoy the process. being in the fields watching dogs work the thrill of the hunt eating your catch...........................................the killing isnt the fun part. its the same enjoyment for hunters that dont eat what they kill,like foxes.
i hunt and shoot,mostly vermin. for me its all about the hounds and dogs. watching working dogs work is a pure pleasure to me.

Laisurg

FISMA wrote: »

Laisurg,
I am a big advocate of what's shot is for the pot. I am not sure what you are asking.

I most definitely enjoy hunting.

What do you mean by "just for fun." As if we should be in an ethical delimma when hunting. Kind of like if I don't kill Bambi, my family will starve? A sort of necessary evil?

Or are you talking about someone that just goes out, shoots everything in sight, and then leaves it to waste? If so, then that's not hunting.

Like it or not, the continuance of your life involves the taking of other life. Even if you are the most die hard vegan, you have to end the life of something. It's a little presumptuous for the likes of vegans and vegetarians to assume that just because plants cannot scream that they do not mind being cut down and consumed.

Also, I think everyone out there should be forced to provide themselves a meal. Hunters, true hunters, not just someone in camo with a gun, see the sacrifice that goes into our food.

Stop by SuperMacs and see how many cows get pegged into the bin - that to me is a sin. People should be made get out there and see all that goes into putting meat on a plate - they would not be have so fast to dump it, over order, or over eat.

Be careful when you use the term hunter.



What kind of animals? Deer? Foxes? Crows?

Any animal really, as i said if someone goes out shoots a chicken and brings it home and cooks it for dinner then i don't have a huge problem with that as we need food to survive, however i think theres a problem with someone going out and just shooting animals for the craic.

Tackleberrywho

Laisurg wrote: »

Any animal really, as i said if someone goes out shoots a chicken and brings it home and cooks it for dinner then i don't have a huge problem with that as we need food to survive, however i think theres a problem with someone going out and just shooting animals for the craic.

If one did not enjoy it, one would not do it

I shoot hundreds of rabbits, I give some away, and some to the grey crow.
If the grey crow belly is full he is less likely to take the eye out of a calf.

I shoot grey crows, as if the numbers are low, less food will keep the population healthy.

T'is all about balance

I shoot deer, not many, a few for myself and family, and a few for friends.
It keeps teh Farmers happy as they are very destructive on barley and wheat (what he sells to feed his family)

Cass

Mod notice: read before posting.

Firstly, this thread can make for an interesting and good debate, but only if posters keep a level head and refrain from insulting each. The first sign of this and the post(s) will be removed and poster infracted. This also includes "biting satire" or any other post that is designed to illicit a reaction.

---

Laisurg wrote: »

.............. i want to know how hunters feel about killing animals that they having no intention of eating.

The hunting, culling, shooting of animals is not done for the sole purpose of "fun". Yes there is a recreational side to the sport of shooting, but the majority if not all shooting has a conservational aspect to it.

Take deer. The culling of deer every year is an important factor for herd population. If the animals were allowed to breed without restriction there would be a massive increase in their numbers, a bigger demand on food which would result in food shortages. The herds would travel further in search of food and would cause widespread crop damage. Diseases would run rampant through herds. Also as the older stags are culled it clears the way for the younger stags and keeps a healthy gene pool. Also all deer shot are consumed. Every year the NPWS (National Parks and Wildlife Services) gather numbers of deer shot throughout the previous season to maintain detailed records of deer populations iper county. So it is not unsupervised.

Rabbits. Classified as vermin or pests are continuously shot year round. The reason for this is very similar to deer. Population control and the reduction of the spreading of diseases such as mixer, etc. Unchecked they would have a devastating effect on crops and farmlands. Alot of rabbits shot are consumed unless shown to be carrying some disease, in which case it s a humantarian act to put them out of their misery. If you ever seen a rabbit with mixer you would know. The NARGC and various gunclubs keep detailed records of vermin numbers shot.

Other animals that are culled are of a predatory nature. As mentioned the fox is the animal most people think of. They can cause untold damage to livestock and poultry famers. This represents a way of life and a significant monetary amount to the farmer and he has every right to protect that livlihood be that through shooting himself or allowing an individual or gun club to shoot his lands.

The problem we have in this country is not alot of speicies have natural predators. Those that are preyed upon are not done so in sufficient numbers to adequately control the population. Foxes, deer, etc have no natural predators so hunters are required.

As was previously mentioned, hunters come in various forms and with their own techniques, and thoughts on how best to carry this out. There is no doubt the titl huner should be applied as appropriate as there are those few that will act poorly and shine a bad light on us all. It is a poor statement of the media to focus only on the negative, but thats a debate for another thread and another day.

As to enjoying hunting, why not? Hunters, not unlike sport shooters, bear all the cost of the equipment, guns and time it takes to carry this culling and hunting out. A person, as previously stated, must enjoy the task in order to effectively and properly carry it out. There is also the tradition of hunting and shooting. Like most people i learnt from my Father, who learnt from his and so on.

Like it or loathe it, agree or disagree with it, hunting is necessary.

maglite

I think most people would agree that they enjoy the hunt and not the kill. The satisfaction of making the shot but not the death.

Vegeta

Laisurg wrote: »

as i said if someone goes out shoots a chicken and brings it home and cooks it for dinner then i don't have a huge problem with that as we need food to survive

Can someone go out and shoot a "chicken", bring it home and cook it but still enjoy the process?

Do fun and hunting have to be mutually exclusive to make it ok?

I know when I want a meat and 2 veg dinner I'd much prefer using something I have had a great day out hunting than driving to the local supermarket.

MarkD.

As ive said to many people who think we go out and slaughter innocent wild birds. Totally wrong! Many gun clubs raise their own birds for their own sport and to give them back to nature. So its not all take and not give. And before you jump in and say "Oh but ye kill them all" Not true, many escape and live out their lifes in the big harsh bad world that is nature itself.

Some people smoke, others dont agree.
Some people drink alcohol, others dont agree.
Some people think darts is a sport other dont.
Same goes for shooting/hunting.

Must admit their is no fun in smoking, a few pints you can have the craic and playing darts you can have fun dart boards have a life too, they have feelings. So is that fun wrong? Yes they do have a life, the people who make them, usually in 3rd world countries in slave labour, starvation is ripe and disease all in the chase for a small weeks wages.


People do things recreationally its their choise and Thats life! For every action there is a equal and opposite reaction. Everyone has individual personalities for a reason. Be boring if we all agreed on the same stuff.

Have you ever taught about if the government decides to widen a road or expand an urban area? They are also affecting and more often then not killing animals.

Also what about someone that decides to build a golf course on links land near a sea? They are affecting fauna and wildlife alike same as when the givernment decides to expand infastructure. You might think Im making a far fetched comparisson but Im not, its clearly linked. Not everything is rosey and mighty like a fantasy land.
Some things are just the way they are, its life, our way of life and our heritage. Some things that cannot be done by nature have to be carried out by man which we call sport and sport is fun.

chucken1

deerhunter1 wrote: »

What is the season for Chickens:D

:eek::eek::eek:

My husband is a keen pike fisherman...Im vegetarian.

I dont understand how he gets enjoyment from it and he doesnt understand me not eating meat..but there you go. We agree to differ

Mr.Woodcock

Just like to know Laisurg what are what are your hobbies? and by any chance were u raised in a town city? personally im 3rd generation shooter were my granfather took up shooting to provide for the family, and even now he never talks of the kill just the chase and thats 75 years on!!

Rockery Woman

Some of the best food Ive ever eaten was shot, skinned/plucked and cooked

poulo6.5

i think laisurg has every right to ask the question she did. instead of condemning hunting without any knowledge or insight in to hunting and what it involves.

it would do us all good if we answered her properly instead of making fun of her.

i hunt and kill animals and yes i enjoy it. its something natural that comes to me, i enjoy eating meat and i enjoy it even more when i have gone out and hunted it my self instead of picking up a plastic wrapped slice of beef from a supermarket, that beef would have come from a farm where the animal never had a natural life before it was hunted up a cattle crush and received a shot in the head.
animals that i hunt say deer for instance live a natural life in the wild and are happily eating grass until the last min. the never know what happened i i then have some top quality lean meat for me and my family and friends to eat.
all the hunters i know enjoy it for what it gives them. ie time out in the countryside with nature, exercise, enjoying the skill involved in hunting and shooting and much more.

all food has to come from some where be it the supermarket or a hunter someone had to harvest or kill that food

cavan shooter

Laisurg wrote: »

How do actual hunters feel about this? I don't support hunting generally however i can look past it sometimes if the animal is then cooked and eaten, i just don't see the fun in ending the life of something else. I have no problem with people protecting their chickens/crops from other animals by the way.

If you eat meat, you have ended the life of a living thing and having worked in a chicken processing factory and abattoir, I can tell you shooting a pheasant, rabbit or deer is Humane to the last. We dont shoot for fun, but I would be lying if I said I didnt enjoy hunting "Le chase" , The chase is the most enjoyable part, working the dog if a bird gets away so be it. Many the time I've flushed a young bird and fired past it, everyones:) different.

blackstairsboy

OP.
At the end of the day all shooters but way more back into the countryside than they ever take out. This is much more than what can be said about a lot of man's other activities. Whether you agree with it or not that is a fact and there is no denying it that the countryside would be a much worse off place without shooters and hunters.

johngalway

I raise lamb and eat it. I've raised beef and have eaten it. I've eaten my friends hens eggs. Soon I'll be eating game I've shot and prepared myself. I shoot foxes and vermin that I don't eat.

I enjoy the lot, past, present & future, and offer no apologies for any of it

Spunk84

Laisurg wrote: »

How do actual hunters feel about this? I don't support hunting generally however i can look past it sometimes if the animal is then cooked and eaten, i just don't see the fun in ending the life of something else. I have no problem with people protecting their chickens/crops from other animals by the way.

How can you look past it "sometimes" ? Either your for or against, that's like saying your a Vegatarian only from Monday to Friday:D

My opinion is that the pheasant population would not be were it is only for gun clubs repopulating every year with new birds, the duck population also would not be were it is if clubs did not breed, buy or setup ponds or santuarys for them either. See when people discuss shooting with people who actual don't shoot it all boils down to the killing of the animal but realistically 60% or more of the time we actual don't shoot nothing:o as many people have stated it's not the shooting, it's the chase and the stories of the ones that got away that makes us want to continue on with our sport.

Tackleberrywho

Is it killing I enjoy, Or is it being aple to cleanly take out a bunny several hundred metres away?

I get great enjoyment cutting down trees with an axe or chain saw.
I enjoy driving Machinery (especially Diggers)
I enjoy getting magpies that were harassing the little Bird'eens that I was feeding in the hard weather.

I do smile when something I shoot drops on teh spot.

I DO NOT ENJOY cruelity to animals, I see certain individuals with Horses in a council estate etc
I am appauled at dog fighting, badger baiting etc

Quick swift instant kill, I buy the best equipment and am constantly practicing to get better and better at it.

I can consistantly take head shots on rabbits out past 200 yards.
I also shoot deer,The odd fox, Phezzies, Maggers, Ducks,grey crows etc.

I often give some of my catch to "Old Dears"
And if you see the smile on a 80 year old's face when you arrive mid week with game, and a half an hour of conversation you might change your mind on why Hunters do what they do.

Here's one I prepared earlier

Rockery Woman

telboy wrote: »

I agree with the OP. How would you feel if aliens came toour planet and started murdering us for FUN? There really isn't much of a difference between that and the evils that hunters commit.

So I presume you are Vegan!

I reckon a phesant has a better quality of life than a battery chicken. Id guess that a deer living in the mountains has a far better life than cattle have! When something is shot - it is killed instantly, without living a life of misery beforehand!

clivej

I hunt for fun, the enjoyment of the stalk, the kill. It now is my main pastime and I enjoy all aspects of the SPORT.

I dislike the groloching of shot deer and the drag back to the car.
I shoot rabbits for sport and did eat them but her indoors couldn't take to it so now I put them in the ditch for the night animals.
I shoot foxes for the sport of it and never tried to eat them so again they are put aside for the other vermin to dispose of.

I LIKE MY HUNTING SPORT end of story. And it don't come cheap.

And where's the OP with a responce to this thread that they started.
Maybe just trolling in the HUNTING forum.

Mr. Presentable

There's more than one kind of hunter.

There's the one who hunts for food.

There's the one who hunts for fun.

The one who hunts for fun also includes the one who shoots for fun.

I used to live in a rural community with a gun club. They had a tiny few who shot for the pot, and a majority who shot for fun. They'd shoot squirrels ffs, under the guise of pest control. They'd shoot crows, magpies as pests, which of course they can be, but they'd also go out to rookeries in spring and shoot into the underside of nests.

But my real issue with the shooters was the pheasant one. They raise pheasant for shooting for the pot. Anything that threatened their pre-release birds was regarded as vermin.

"I am entitled to protect my investment"

This "vermin" on occasion included owls, for example. Sometimes other protected birds of prey.

This is the kind of hunting which is clearly wrong and I imagine goes on all over the country and not just in (as my experiences) in Co Meath

Mr. Presentable

clivej wrote: »

.

And where's the OP with a responce to this thread that they started.
Maybe just trolling in the HUNTING forum.

The OP was only this evening. Perhaps he/she is not tied to the keyboard and will make a response later

bazza888

how do you know they shot owls and other birds of prey?

sean raff

that bunny looks tasty,must get me one

Grizzly 45

Mr. Presentable wrote: »

There's more than one kind of hunter

.

Very true,

There's the one who hunts for food

.
90% of us

There's the one who hunts for fun

.
Pretty much 99.9% of the shooting pouplation.

The one who hunts for fun also includes the one who shoots for fun.

Kind of a given... Convoluted point being??

I used to live in a rural community with a gun club. They had a tiny few who shot for the pot, and a majority who shot for fun.

They'd shoot squirrels ffs, under the guise of pest control. They'd shoot crows, magpies as pests, which of course they can be, but they'd also go out to rookeries in spring and shoot into the underside of nests.

Yes thats called PEST CONTROL!Maybe you havent heard that the fluffy cute GREY squirrel is a major pest that is /has almost wiped out the native[much cuter]Irish RED Squirrel?? Asa for shooting out the nests,that is a waste of ammo.You should get sewer rods and poke them out.It is an accepted method of trying to get crows out of an area.Only other way is to go and destroy the trees by cropping them,and that is costly and vandalistic to hunderd year old trees.

But my real issue with the shooters was the pheasant one. They raise pheasant for shooting for the pot. Anything that threatened their pre-release birds was regarded as vermin.

"I am entitled to protect my investment"

This "vermin" on occasion included owls, for example. Sometimes other protected birds of prey.

BULL!!!:mad::mad:.Owls are not known to take pheasent poults!!They are night and ground hunters,their main diet is rats,mice,voles.So if you have any factual PROOF of this statement of owls or other pbirds of prey being shot by a gunclub,you would have an exellent case for the Gardai or NPWS to prosecute them as that is a pretty heavy statement and bust...IF of course it is true!!

This is the kind of hunting which is clearly wrong and I imagine goes on all over the country and not just in (as my experiences) in Co Meath

Maybe you ought to go down to this gunclub and actually learn somthing about it and shooting,before coming on here and make accusations of criminality and sweeping general statements????

Rockery Woman

Ive never heard of anyone shooting owls!

Nobody has any reason to shoot these beautiful protected birds of prey. Im lucky to have seen owls living up here - they are so beautiful.

I bet 99.9% of people who hunt would be horrified at the thoughts of them being shot!

4gun

Laisurg wrote: »

How do actual hunters feel about this? I don't support hunting generally however i can look past it sometimes if the animal is then cooked and eaten, i just don't see the fun in ending the life of something else. I have no problem with people protecting their chickens/crops from other animals by the way.

for me its nothing to do with the kill, in nature the animal has all the advantages, better sight smell faster on the ground etc. th get close enough to a wild animal to be able to shoot it is what its all about, if you ever get a chance to go stalking Sika you will find what its all about, ant any time you could be within 20 yards but they often just lie still and you only see the ones that spook easily. one of the other main reasons that I got into deer stalking was just to get out and about and see some of the fantastic scenery that is about us, because hunting forces you to focus on the unseen you see the land scape better

DonnchaMc

Laisurg wrote: »

How do actual hunters feel about this? I don't support hunting generally however i can look past it sometimes if the animal is then cooked and eaten, i just don't see the fun in ending the life of something else. I have no problem with people protecting their chickens/crops from other animals by the way.

I feel you have no idea what your talking about to be honest.

I was out today for rabbits with my brother and his son, we saw 2or3 but all were out of range or unsafe shots so didnt even get a shot off in the end and we still had a good day out.

Its not all about killing, its about the effort, being outside, being with friends and family who enjoy the same thing.

People like you have no idea what your talking about and jump to conclusions, which has a disasterous result for the people that do.

4gun

Mr. Presentable wrote: »

There's more than one kind of hunter.

There's the one who hunts for food.

There's the one who hunts for fun.

The one who hunts for fun also includes the one who shoots for fun.

I used to live in a rural community with a gun club. They had a tiny few who shot for the pot, and a majority who shot for fun. They'd shoot squirrels ffs, under the guise of pest control. They'd shoot crows, magpies as pests, which of course they can be, but they'd also go out to rookeries in spring and shoot into the underside of nests.

But my real issue with the shooters was the pheasant one. They raise pheasant for shooting for the pot. Anything that threatened their pre-release birds was regarded as vermin.

"I am entitled to protect my investment"

This "vermin" on occasion included owls, for example. Sometimes other protected birds of prey.

This is the kind of hunting which is clearly wrong and I imagine goes on all over the country and not just in (as my experiences) in Co Meath

you hung out with the wrong kind.. so birds of a feather 'n all that

beretta686s

Lads lads lads alot of what has been said here is just more fuel for the antis fire,we all know what we do and why we "love" doing it and hopefully will be doing it for a very long time to come.Every one has their own intrests and opnions and have their right to voice them,i think the best way 4 us in the future to deal with these comments or peoples views.is just to ignore them we cant bring other people around to our way of thinking or try and justify what we do.I know it would make u mad when people say these things when they havent a clue what there talking about..............none of us just shoot things for fun for most of us its about getting out in the country with friends having the crack the joy of watching ur dogs work and just maybe pick up a bird 4 the pot along the way.{of topic skinned a phezzie and 2 woodcock 4 dinner tonite couldnt belive the ammount of fat on all birds very healthy an in great condition and they were georgus} and i think this thread should be locked down tight like a ducks ass.

Grizzly 45

Irish politicans will be such easy prey then.Large brown paper envelopes containing money??:D

Zon

This thread is making me hungry.

Cass

Cleaned up alot of nonsense posts (my own included) that were of no relevance to the thread.

4gun

ezridax wrote: »

Cleaned up alot of nonsense posts (my own included) that were of no relevance to the thread.

had a feeling it was coming

Tackleberrywho

sean raff wrote: »

that bunny looks tasty,must get me one

If any person asks for "a" Rabbit, and they have no means of getting one themselves I will gladly get them one.

AND YES I Enjoy it

Sparks

Just on the point of enjoying hunting, I'd like to put it a slightly different way. I go to the butchers this christmas and I buy an entire beef tenderloin (ouch, btw, those things ain't cheap). I take it home and I butcher it (buy the entire thing and it's not a collection of steaks, it's a fat&membrane-covered muscle the size of your arm) into some steaks and a roast for beef wellington (which is what I make for Herself Indoors' family every year).

Now, here's the question - if I enjoy cooking the christmas dinner like that (as I do), and it's meat I'm cooking, taken from a slaughtered animal, is that wrong?

I personally cannot see a great deal of difference in enjoying the act of butchering and cooking meat; and enjoying the act of hunting the actual food animal in the first place. And yet, you rarely see people disgusted by Nigella Lawson...

kermitpwee

Sparks wrote: »

And yet, you rarely see people disgusted by Nigella Lawson...

May I apologise for enjoying her homemade Baps:D

Mr. Presentable

Grizzly 45 wrote: »

.




Yes thats called PEST CONTROL!Maybe you havent heard that the fluffy cute GREY squirrel is a major pest that is /has almost wiped out the native[much cuter]Irish RED Squirrel??

BULL!!!:mad::mad:.Owls are not known to take pheasent poults!!They are night and ground hunters,their main diet is rats,mice,voles.So if you have any factual PROOF of this statement of owls or other pbirds of prey being shot by a gunclub,you would have an exellent case for the Gardai or NPWS to prosecute them as that is a pretty heavy statement and bust...IF of course it is true!!


Maybe you ought to go down to this gunclub and actually learn somthing about it and shooting,before coming on here and make accusations of criminality and sweeping general statements????

Squirrels: Your point is moot. Whether they be grey or otherwise. The wisdom is that the two "native" squirrels do not in fact compete - but that doesn't matter, who gives a shooter the authority to make this justification?

You may not cry "Bull" on someone you do not know, or whose experiences you are ignorant of. Just because you shout bull does not invalidate what I know. I can only attest to the testimony given me by members of the gun club that they shot owls in defence of their pheasant.

I don't know you enough to call you a liar, and humbly request you do not accuse me when you patently do not know of which you speak.

Mr. Presentable

Tackleberrywho wrote: »

If any person asks for "a" Rabbit, and they have no means of getting one themselves I will gladly get them one.

AND YES I Enjoy it

I don't think the OP would have any problem with that. If you were shooting deer or rabbits for the LOLS is where the OP is in discussion, I think.

Sparks

Mr. Presentable wrote: »

The wisdom is that the two "native" squirrels do not in fact compete

No, that's not the case, see Wauters, L. A., Gurnell, J., Martinoli, A., & Tosi, G. (2002). "Interspecific competition between native Eurasian red squirrels and alien grey squirrels: does resource partitioning occur?". Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 52: 332–341.

There's also the point that both squirrels can carry a virus (squirrel parapoxvirus) but only the reds die from it, so there's another competitive advantage the grays have.

- but that doesn't matter, who gives a shooter the authority to make this justification?

Shooters didn't; ecologists and nature conservationists did.

Cass

Mr. Presentable wrote: »

........... who gives a shooter the authority to make this justification?

The DOE through the representative bodies such as the NARGC and NPWS. Grey squirrels are an alien species that are quickly wiping out the native Irish red. To such an extent that a statment was released from the DOE that grey squirrels MUST be culled whenever and wherever possible. As with Muntjac. I will find the article and post it when i do.

I can only attest to the testimony given me by members of the gun club that they shot owls in defence of their pheasant.

Report them. They are in breach of the law, by killing a protected species.

Tackleberrywho

Mr. Presentable wrote: »

Squirrels: Your point is moot. Whether they be grey or otherwise. The wisdom is that the two "native" squirrels do not in fact compete - but that doesn't matter, who gives a shooter the authority to make this justification?

You may not cry "Bull" on someone you do not know, or whose experiences you are ignorant of. Just because you shout bull does not invalidate what I know. I can only attest to the testimony given me by members of the gun club that they shot owls in defence of their pheasant.

I don't know you enough to call you a liar, and humbly request you do not accuse me when you patently do not know of which you speak.

Hunters kill grey squirrels, and are proud of it!
A very pertinant point I do believe.

Report your gun club as law breakers, or name and shame.........

session savage

I love hunting. I love stalking a rabbit for the pot. It feels natural.
And it is natural.
Man has evolved to have eyes on the front of his head to give excellent depth perception, much like any other predator (cat, dog, tiger, etc) .
Animals who are preyed on have evolved to have eyes positioned more to the sides of the head to give exellent periferal vision. (rabbits, deer, cows etc)

People today have become so far removed from their food and where it comes from. They have forgotten that hunting IS a natural thing, without it mankind would have become extinct years ago.
Do you think that the tribes living in the rain forests or in Africa should be condemned for hunting?

Personally I feel so much more content when I sit down to a dinner I killed and prepared myself than going to town and coming home with a foam tray with a slab of cow on it.

serious3

back to the squirrels, i've a recipe somewhere that was given out during the war for preparation,cooking and enjoyment of squirrells. they dont taste too bad in a stew.

Vegeta

squirrel is meant to be pretty tasty and I think I will try and get a few this year and have them on bbq in summer

The close mindedness of some in this country is seriously puzzling. I spent the month before Christmas in New Zealand and their approach to all things hunting was a breath of fresh air.

Some of the people who run tours for visitors actively trap invasive and introduced species such as the stoat.
Heard adds for shooting stores on the radio.
Went on a tour one day and on the way back down the river the tour guide asked us was it ok if he picked up some of his hunter friends and they jumped into the boat with us, rifles, deer and all