Why do people in the 21st century still think it's OK to engage in hunting as a "sport" ?

Question

Or practice it as a "scientific" technique?

I have posted this on the conservation site but i notice there is also a "outdoor recreation-hunting" board as well!

Answer 1

I'm constantly amazed by the ignorance of questions like this and by the uninformed posts the childish anti-hunters make.

In case any of you failed your Zoology and Anthropology classes allow me to point out that we humans have been HUNTERS and gatherers for over 90% of our time on this planet.  

1. The Human animal is an omnivore meaning we eat everything including meat. We are a predator by our very nature. If you have a problem with hunting and yet still go to the market for your steak or a McDonalds for your Big Mac you are a world class hypocrite.

Most of US hunters do so to put food on the table, we do so because we prefer to have a source of protein that isn't chocked full of antibiotics, growth hormones and other drugs.

We hunters are the very reason there is more wildlife available for not hunters to view today than there was 100 years ago in many places around the world.

As a group I find those who oppose hunting to be some of the most ignorant and grossly misinformed people around. Time for you folks to grow up and actually learn something. You city folks are a real piece of work.....................

Answer 2

hunting has been around for a long time and especially a lot longer than this animal rights activists and the slaughtering of thousands of cows in Europe to prevent the spreading of the hoof and mouth disease didn't hear people complain about that because we were conserving what could protect its self same in the chicken deal and on and on and on

Answer 3

Because it's fun.  It's also rewarding.  It is also the hunters who organize the habitat restoration projects and ensure healthy populations of game animals.

Answer 4

shooting plays one of the biggest parts in conservation in the uk if it wasn't for shooting and hunting the uk would be allot different most woodland would not exist and allot of bird species would be extint conservation plays a big part in country sports more than any other group

Answer 5

because it is fun, it takes skill, it isnt lazy and it is tradition, just because you use the supermarket every time you need anything dosnent mean everybody does and what are you gonna do when the supermarrkets are gone? your gonna starve thats what, and I'll be sittin pretty,

stop whining

Answer 6

A lot of people think of hunting as shooting an animal.  If that were the case then everyone who hunted would come home with meat every time.  Remember, most hunts go unsuccessful.  Many times you're just out in the woods for days tracking deer or other game and find nothing.  But you had fun anyway because your buddies were with you and you escaped work for a weekend.  Most of the time you're not killing: your tracking, hiking, camping, and just enjoying the outdoors.  The sport is finally finding the animal after days of not seeing anything and managing to it hit it (bow or rifle) and kill it.  

For those of you who say you could easily hit a deer with a gun even though you've never been hunting, I would laugh at you when you miss.  (It's not like shooting at the gun range.)  You're never going to know what skill your going to need until you see the deer 150 yards away and up on a hill.  Plus it's raining, you're cold(shivering), you can barley see him and the more time you spend eyeing him in your sights is time he'll take to run.  I challenge you to make a shot like that.

Answer 7

I've never been hunting and I would never shoot anything, even if it was "just an animal."

However, I have no problem** with hunters if they kill a deer or something and then eat it. It's better than the chickens we eat locked up in little cages that don't even have enough room to move around. At least the deer probably had a better life and isn't pumped full of hormones.

However, if hunters shoot a deer just for shooting a deer, and don't eat it or use any part of it, I really don't see the point.

And to the person that said hunting isn't a sport because it requires no skill. I've never been hunting but I'd have to say it sure as h**l requires skill.

**other than the whole gun control thing, but I won't get into that.

Answer 8

people who hunt are discusting excuses for human beings and they need to be chased by a lot of angry dogs and see how they like it. twats.

Answer 9

Hunting can be both a good thing and a bad thing.  It depends on why it's happening.  I grew up in upstate NY where the deer population is way out of control so they allow people to hunt them.  My father, uncle and gradfather all hunt.  BUT they do hunt for the food, not the trophy.  My dad has shot many deer and supplied us with plenty of meat for the rest of the year.  This helped b/c we didn't have a lot of money growing up.

Hunting for "sport" or for the trophy is nothing more than animal cruelty and should not be tolerated.

Answer 10

Because there are a lot of people who think that hurting or killing animals makes them superior. Instead they are scum.

Answer 11

HUNTING IS A DISGUSTING PASTTIME KILLING POOR LITTLE ANIMALS FOR FUN!

HOW WOULD YOU LIKE IT IF A FOX COULD USE A GUN!!!!

Answer 12

Hunting gets a bad reputation, that it does not necessarily deserve. In some ways hunting can be good for the environment, provide food, and can be used to save human lives. I think that when people say "sport", or whatever else, it just means that they are passionate about hunting in a safe, positive, and humane method. The problem comes when people kill animals just for fun, whenever they want to. That's when it becomes cruel to animals and starts affecting the environment in bad ways.

Answer 13

they don't even hunt animals they put food so the animal can go eat it and then they kill it, its not even hunting, its a masacre...

Answer 14

Love to kill things.

Answer 15

what u mean? I hunt for food, family get hungry.i hunt to live not to kill. move out of my country vggie head. u dont know squat

Answer 16

Probably all the inbreeding over the centuries amongst the landed gentry..

It's in their genes,like having no chin and looking gormless

Answer 17

What I think is interesting is that peoples morality follows their behavior rather than their behavior following their morality. In a society where land is plentiful and everyone had a weapon 200 years ago hunting was seen as a good thing. Now that land is shrinking, privately owned, most people don't own rifles, and theres' development everywhere most people find hunting wrong. You can see this in urban verses rural opinion of the matter. Morality is a joke.

Answer 18

Because etymologically speaking the word 'sport' does not always mean the bloodless, effeminate, poncy stuff done on astro-turf or gyms. It (Latin:deportare, Spanish: deporte) means something that is a diversion, a pastime, a fun thing to do, etc. Hunting used to be an essential activity to put food on the table. Then it became a diversion for the rich and powerful, although for the great unwashed it was still food-gathering. Is it OK to regard hunting as a diversion fit for the 20th century? Well, it's horses for courses isn't it? For the rich and powerful of today and tomorrow, it IS a diversion, a pastime. But if you can only afford an anorak from an Oxfam shop, then it is your life-blood.

Answer 19

i hate hunting.....maybe if you eat it or give it to a soup kitchen...but to just killl it to shoot at something is terrible....you shouldnt do that....and some ppl let them ppl hunt at nature conserves...arent they supposed to be safe and protected at nature preserves??...i mean seriously.....ppl are sick and nuts...

Answer 20

Many people here are missing the point of modern hunting. While it's true that many take advantage of the priviledge, Hunting has it's place in the modern society.

Animal populations need to be maintained in urban and growing rural areas. Hunting is the best way to handle this. Many hunters do eat the game they shoot, and it's still far more humane than other methods of population control.

Speaking from experience, hunting in the north is still a way of life. My grandfather will go out on a two month trip and shoot two or three Elk or Caribou and on the way home drop off hundreds of pounds of meat to the villages on his way home. the rest maintatins the pantries until next year.

As far as hunting being a "sport" it's kind of a judgement call. A sport does not necessarily demand atletic prowess to be legitimate, only that there be an element of skill. Before you say there's no skill involved, try it. Fishing is a sport. Kinda why they don't call it "catching"

Answer 21

some people think it is a skill and a good hobby to have to be able to shoot to kill

in my opinion if you think that shooting helpless animals that are less powerful than yourself purely for fun and power and not for food or survival than you have no compasion for the feelings of other living creatures

i do not disagree with hunting for food and people who hunt and don't waste what is killed just hunting for "sport"

Answer 22

Why do they think it's OK?  Because it is.  Hunting is an essential part of the human experience. We evolved from omnivores.  We didn't evolve from grazing herd animals (although I sometimes wonder about that, given the mindless, predictable "ewwwww, hunting NASTY" style of responses you'll see here).

Hypocrisy abounds.   Each time someone takes a bite of that Big Mac, feasts on holiday ham and turkey or digs into the breakfast sausages, they're expressing their carnivourous heritage.  The only difference between meat-eating people who whine about hunters and the hunters themselves is that the whiners have chosen to pass off the chore of killing to someone else, thus allowing them to convince themselves that they are righteous and superiour.

As for the "defenseless animals", nothing could be further from the truth.  Animals are gifted with instincts and senses that are far superiour to the human hunter.  A  hunter's job is to match his own set of skills with those of his prey.  

Personally, I wouldn't use a rifle to pick off animals at 1000 yards.  I prefer the more traditonal methods of bow and arrow - tools which demand a great deal of technical skill, woodsmanship and perseverence.  However, I will not berate someone who choses a rifle. There's enough hypocrisy surrounding the topic without my contribution.

Answer 23

I am an animal lover.. I used to be strongly opposed to hunting..

I still oppose trophy hunting BUT hunters who hunt for food.. that is something I have changed my opinion of...

farm animals such as cattle and chickens, pigs... etc are raised in extremely cruel ways... (chickens probably the worst.. but who's to say?) warehoused.. squashed together.. and such... fed chemicals and hormones.. then ultimately starved and killed in a cruel method.. (which I wont get into here...)

hunted animals live good enjoyable lives.. the hunter does his best to ensure they are killed quickly..

as such I have begun to see hunting in a positive way.. IF its for food.. NOT for pleasure or "sport".. meaning I dont like Trophy hunters... if thats their exclusive goal

trophy hunters eliminate the biggest, best, and stongest of a species.. thereby weakening the species on the whole...

Answer 24

I dont know if this has been said but I didnt feel like reading any of the other responses. But I have a strong opinion about this. I am a huge animal lover and I have a college minor in wildlife ecology. Im gonna make it short, and for anyone who cares, they can do the research.

Hunting is necessary for a lot of species - white tailed deer being one. If these animals were not hunted, their populations would explose. Disease would take over and more animals would die of disease than from hunters. Also, animals in abundance cause a huge threat to humans, whether it be to crops, homes or actually putting people in danger.

Even more, hunters are one of the biggest supporters of conservation efforts. (look up the difference between conservation and preservation). There are taxes on bullets, guns, hunting licenses - all these taxes go to protecting not only the hunted species, but many other animals as well.

Hunting is also good for economy in some states - Louisiana, Alaska - two quick examples.

There are hunting tactics that I dont believe in, but overall, hunters are not out to kill everything in sight. They are true lovers of nature and they do care about conservation, most likely more so than the average person.

Answer 25

well their first choice was to hunt people who put dumb questions on the computer.   but instead they are helping to keep deer herds in control so they don't starve to death in the winter...most hunters eat what they kill and they do not torture or maim animals....

Answer 26

Can you give me a good reason why it is not?

Answer 27

Hunting for the sake of killing the animal is just twisted. 21st century has nothing to do with it. Hunting for the trophy is just wrong. They should just hunt each other.

Humans are carnivorous.

Hunting for food, as most of today's hunters do is perfectly acceptable. They prefer to deal with it themselves rather than modern meat preparation. Sure there's a supermarket, but only in industrialized places. In many places around the world hunting is still part of survival. Plus, these hunters generally have great respect for the animals and nature because they witness the animal die, and have a personal stake in the meat preparation; unlike the impersonal process of farm animals being prepared for you. Hunters generally respect conservation and understand limits placed upon them to insure those species remain available.

Answer 28

So tired of all of the people out there who don't understand the sport of hunting.    Have you ever tasted grilled venison?  Or grilled quail.  Yummm.....good.  I use to be a big deer hunter, but just don't care to anymore.  Now, I just feed the deer on my place just to watch them.   Everything our family hunted and shot was eaten.  No waste.  I now love to fish and once again, if it is not released, then it is taken home and eaten.   I just let the men in my family do the hunting now.

I do not agree with shooting animals for the fun of it or for stuffing and putting on their mantle.  If it can't be eaten, don't shoot it.   Some of my best memories were of me and my dad sitting in a stand and hunting.  He taught me how to care and respect a firearm, how to learn patience and best of all, to care and respect nature by not killing nothing that could not be eaten.

Answer 29

Look at nature. Things are made to eat meat. Look at us. We have pointy teeth for tearing meat. We just go about our killing in more high-tech ways. I'm not a hunter, but I don't look down on people for hunting. As for a scientific technique, hunting can help us correct ecosystem problems we created in the past by hunting irresponsibly. We often times removed the top predator from the ecosystem, and threw it off of balance. Look up information on Aldo Leopold. This should help you grasp hunting's use as such a technique.

Answer 30

Yes, people think hunting is a sport. It is not at all. A Sport requires skill. Shooting something does not take skill. I do not hunt and i could tell you i could kill something by shooting it without even practiceing. Now a real sport requires skill. Basketball,baseball,football,soccer,hock... etc. that takes hours and hours of dedication and hard work. thats what a sport is all about

Answer 31

Because they taste sooooo good! Yum!