question!? :)

[Genny]

i was wondering do any of you deer hunt?? i don't have anything against you if you do because i know people eat deer meat and some actually prefer it better than chicken/beef. but i'm asking cause i just found out today that the guy i have been seeing deer hunts..it really shocked me and well, you know it kinda upset me..i haven't ever done it and neither has anyone in my family so it just shocked me i guess..i know i can't ask him to stop doing it but what would you say to him? should i let him know how i feel about it or just act like it doesn't bother me? well thanks if you have any suggestions...

[Taz_Zoee]

My uncle and cousin have deer hunted as long as I can remember. While I don't like it (or all the deer head mounted in their house) what can I say?
I say as long as he doesn't ask you to come along on a trip, just let it be. And if you don't feel comfortable with him talking about it around you, just let him know it bothers you and ask him to not talk about it in front of you.

[Medusa]

I dated a deer hunter and I told him how I felt about it. He said that he respected my feelings but he clearly didn't because he talked about it A LOT, even though I asked him repeatedly not to. I'm a meat eater, albeit not venison, so I can't say much w/out sounding like a hypocrite but the deer head on the wall to me is disturbing and it's also very revealing. He said that he deer hunts because the deer population is out of control and he's "harvesting" the deer. If that's the case, then there's no need to mount a deer head on the wall. We could never agree on the subject and we broke up, that being one of the main reasons. Good luck.

[Genny]

My uncle and cousin have deer hunted as long as I can remember. While I don't like it (or all the deer head mounted in their house) what can I say?
I say as long as he doesn't ask you to come along on a trip, just let it be. And if you don't feel comfortable with him talking about it around you, just let him know it bothers you and ask him to not talk about it in front of you.

yeah, i guess that's what i'll do and let him know right away that i never want to talk about it. and if he respects how i feel then maybe everything will be alright..thanks

[Genny]

I dated a deer hunter and I told him how I felt about it. He said that he respected my feelings but he clearly didn't because he talked about it A LOT, even though I asked him repeatedly not to. I'm a meat eater, albeit not venison, so I can't say much w/out sounding like a hypocrite but the deer head on the wall to me is disturbing and it's also very revealing. He said that he deer hunts because the deer population is out of control and he's "harvesting" the deer. If that's the case, then there's no need to mount a deer head on the wall. We could never agree on the subject and we broke up, that being one of the main reasons. Good luck.

wow that was really rude of him after you told him how you felt. i also eat meat, actually i love almost anything with chicken in it..but i have never eaten deer. i have always just loved them..
i don't like the 'heads mounted on the walls either' i understand if people eat them but i absolutely don't see any reason in mounting their heads on a wall..

[Karen]

We have discussed this here before. Basically, the choice we have created as a society is that we either encourage deer hunting, or we watch deer, which are overpopulated in many areas, starve to death by the side of the road. We eliminated all their major predators, so there is no check on their population. They are causing major devastation to the entire forest ecosystems in some areas. And people are up in arms about coyotes invading the suburbs, imagine how'd they'd feel if we let wolves - the deer's natural predator that we hunted to the brink of endangerment, lose there? We created the problem, and hunting is one way to at least curb the population. While being shot is not a pleasant way to die, frankly, I'd prefer that to slow and painful starvation if given a choice.

Have you seen starving deer trying to graze 10 feet away from the carcass of another who had died of starvation, by the side of a highway? I have, and will never forget it.

[Taz_Zoee]

While I completely understand what Karen is saying....that doesn't mean I have to like deer hunting or want to hear about it.
I just learned, at Thanksgiving, that the same uncle that deer hunts has started a business to kill coyotes for people. Again, while I understand why he is doing it, I still don't want to hear about or have to agree with it. It's not like I'm going to stop him from doing it.
That's just my opinion.

For the record: I do eat meat. In fact I grew up where we butchered our own cows and pigs. We had freezers full of meat all the time. And I used to watch them do the butchering. Maybe the movie Bambi is what makes it different for me....lol.

[Twisterdog]

First, the deer population is VERY out of control. That is a fact proven time and time again. There are FAR more deer in this country now than there have EVER been. They are indeed starving, ruining crops, being killed by cars, etc. Not to mention causing human deaths in vehicle/deer accidents as well.

Second, IMO, if one eats meat of any sort, one has NO room whatsoever to criticize hunters. I personally don't hunt, BTW. If you had a hamburger for lunch, someone killed a cow on your behalf. Or a chicken, turkey, fish, etc. Just because you didn't personally pull the trigger, the animal died to feed you nonetheless. There is NO difference in a deer dying to feed someone than a cow dying to feed someone. And, actually, at least the deer theoretically had a good, free life for some time before it died. Domestic food animals do not.

As far as deer head mounted on the wall, I personally think it's ugly and tacky. But, if you kill the animal, why not use all of it you can? If you like that style, I see nothing really wrong with the deer head ending up on the wall as opposed to ending up in the landfill.

The caveat is, of course, that the deer is actually eaten. I do NOT condone "trophy hunting" in any way. Killing just to kill is wrong, no matter what is killed. But killing to eat is the natural way of the omnivore, carnivore, predator.

[Sparklecoon]

We have discussed this here before. Basically, the choice we have created as a society is that we either encourage deer hunting, or we watch deer, which are overpopulated in many areas, starve to death by the side of the road. We eliminated all their major predators, so there is no check on their population. They are causing major devastation to the entire forest ecosystems in some areas. And people are up in arms about coyotes invading the suburbs, imagine how'd they'd feel if we let wolves - the deer's natural predator that we hunted to the brink of endangerment, lose there? We created the problem, and hunting is one way to at least curb the population. While being shot is not a pleasant way to die, frankly, I'd prefer that to slow and painful starvation if given a choice.

I agree. While I don't personally hunt many in my family do. We eat what we catch. I believe hunting is necessary as a form of population control but that those who hunt should also only take what they'll use.

[jackie]

I would prefer to eat deer to chicken or beef anyday.

[Medusa]

But, if you kill the animal, why not use all of it you can?
The caveat is, of course, that the deer is actually eaten.

The hunters that I know eat what they kill. My meat comes neatly packaged in the supermarket and, as I previously mentioned, it would be hypocritical of me to eat meat and criticize a hunter. However, without exception, every hunter that I know also brags about his kill, his 8 point or whatever and then mounts his "harvest" on the wall. If he's doing it for the ecology and for the deer and not for the bloodlust, then he should do it and be done w/it and not need his gold star on his little kindergarten forehead.

[Pam]

The hunters that I know eat what they kill. My meat comes neatly packaged in the supermarket and, as I previously mentioned, it would be hypocritical of me to eat meat and criticize a hunter.

I know two seasoned hunters, and my nephew (age 31) last year went with his uncle and got his first deer. I have deer meat in my freezer and somehow can't bring myself to cook it although I have been given recipe suggestions. I have no trouble eating the other meat that is there.

We occasionally have deer in our yard and I guess I can't get the image of those precious animals with their big eyes and majestic beauty out of my mind.

[Chilli]

I agree that if this guy you are seeing doesn't bring it up alot, then don't bother with it too much. If it doesn't end up coming up alot, then go ahead and tell him how you feel. If he doesn't respect your opinion, then all it shows is that he isn't the kind of person you would want to be around(not saying that he is, just saying "if").
Tons of people in my family hunt. Being against hunting(I have my reasons and theories, but I don't want to be shot down on a nice day like this, so I'll save that post for some other day ), its the hardest thing in the world to be around some of them. I can think of only one aunt out of my whole family(which is huge.. as in my family is huge, not my aunt. hehe) who doesn't have a deer head or two.. or three slapped up on the living room wall.
Our freezer is stocked full of deer meat. In my opinion, it reeks. :]

I hope things continue to go well with this guy you are seeing, Genny.

[Alysser]

My dad used to go out in the woods with his guns but he never caught anything, he never tried. I don't really like hunting as a sport if you are just mounting the animals head on the wall. But for food, and curbing the population I am all for it. I agree 100% with Twisterdog.

[Medusa]

Our freezer is stocked full of deer meat. In my opinion, it reeks. :]

Ain't that the truth. The guy I was dating liked saying that deer meat doesn't have steroids, etc., so it's healthier for consumption. This coming from a guy who smoked 3 packs a day and drank beer like it was his last chance to get any. We always justify what we really want to do, whether it's hunting or whatever, but the excuses that this guy and other hunters always came up with are laughable at best and downright stupid at worst. They enjoy portraying themselves as the great saviors of the deer population but I find it interesting that beer always enters into the equation, along w/deer camp parties, etc. And deer hunting is advertised as a "sport" and hunters refer to themselves as "sportsmen". So much for the ecology and the "poor deer".