Small animal hunting

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sasha

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As most of you know i just took the hunting class. One of the things i keeped hearing is about ground squirls and some other small animals. People keeped saying how much fun it is to shoot with with .223 or .17 and watch them explode when they get hit. Been checking lots of forums and there are lots of pics. I know every one talks about ethics. Mind you im not aginst hunting but i would never shoot an animal just to watch it explode. When i told my mom that i took the class and wanted to start huntint. The first thing she told me was to make sure i shoot only what i intend to eat. She would also show me how she used to cook rabbits when she was younger. with lots of garlic and veg till the meat falls of the bones. Just want to know what is your opinion about the small animals?? I dont mean to offend any one on here just want to know the opinion that you guys on here have.

sasha
 
right on Sasha... i feel the same way man...:thumbup:

i really enjoy hunting small game... it is a lot of fun.. especially for younger folks..
when i was growing up, my Dad used to tell me, "you kill it you eat it"... therefor i rarely killed/squashed any bugs as a kid, unless it drew first blood...:o
now that i have 2 boys, i have used the same philosophy for a long time now... i have yet to catch them killing bugs or anything else for that matter, that they have no intension on eating... the hippie wife loves it...:D
 
I grew up around a few guys who occasionally shot (and still do occasionally shoot) squirrels, seagulls, and chipmunks just for kicks. It drives me right up the wall and is an absolute contradiction of everything I believe about wilderness and hunting ethics. It's tough - these are old friends who would jump in front of a car for me, but I find this sort of behaviour to be really problematic, and we have had arguments about it in the past. There's nothing wrong (and quite a bit right) with hunting for food, especially when it is done responsibly. Killing animals for the sake of it demonstrates a definite lack of character, to say the least. Obviously, there are grey areas - trapping mice and rats around one's home, protecting livestock and crops, etc. But 'plinking' animals for fun is :thumbdn: in my opinion.

My $0.02 CDN.

All the best,

- Mike
 
It is morally unethcial to shoot if you do not intend to eat (certain exceptions apply - crop damage, etc.) If you shoot it, you should eat it.
 
As a 15 year old kid i shoot a song bird for no other reason but cause it was so pretty that i noticed her... I feel bad about i till today at 42. Well im happy to know that im not the only one that thinks that shooting small animals to watch them explode (that the word i noticed alot of people descride it) is not ethical hunting. Mike some bugs i cant stand but kill them lol. I dont like to share my blood with some of those blood suckers.

Sasha
 
Considering I grew up with hunting in my blood, I never took what I didn't need, nor what I wasen't out for. Im rabbit hunting, I stick to rabbits too many people would stick a slug in the sock incase they see a deer, and that is out of season, I don't like that.

You seem like you've got you head on your shoulders, all you need to do is watch out for the people who don't. I have to admit, there is nothing more satisfying that shooting something you have been stalking for hours, but don't let it get to your head.
 
Seeme Like we're all in agreement with you on this one sasha... when I was 13 I shot a barn swallow with a bb gun... got about a boogers worth of meat off it...but had to eat it none the same...that's the law of the jungle bro....
 
While I understand the need to eliminate prarie dogs and whatnot from certain areas, I find the laughing and carrying on really inappropriate. What point is there in taking a prairie dog with a .50 Barrett, anyway?

-- FLIX
 
I generally shoot only what I eat. An exception was a friend's ranch and his father's ranch, both of which were infested with burrowing ground squirrels. They had so many burrows they actually undermined a road on the side of a hill, which washed out when the first big rain arrived. Their holes were also a hazard for the horses and cattle. My friend's father used to poison them and he asked me to shoot some (with a .22 long rifle) whenever I visited. There were plenty of ravens and vultures to eat them, so they weren't just fertilizer.

I suggested increasing the predator population with hawk perches, owl boxes, etc. The father didn't want to do that but my friend put some up on his 20 acre adjoining parcel. Man did those owls knock the hell out of the squirrels and other rodents! My friend hasn't had to poison the rodents and I haven't been up there shooting in years. However, I think his father still poisons on his portion of the ranch.

Bottom line, I would shoot and leave varmints only if they were a serious problem for crops, livestock, roads, etc. In fact, I asked if the squirrels were decent eating (like tree squirrels) and a couple locals said they'd tried that in their youth and the answer was negative.

DancesWithKnives
 
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My wife works with a typical boneheaded woman who thinks that chickens, pigs and cows should die to supply us all meat and that's OK because they're ugly animals. But squirrels, rabbits, deer and other animals are off limits and it's "cruel" to hunt them and kill them. Even if a clean shot with a high-powered rifle is far more humane than the ordeal some livestock endure through the modern slaughterhouse.

She doesn't understand, and many others do not understand, how I can sit in the dirt with a bag full of peanuts and hand feed squirrels and chipmunks and call them in with cutting noises...and love them...but still eat them if I want to. :D

Same thing with rabbits, on my last job there were tons of them. I always picked up baby carrots once a month or so for them and brought a few into work every night along with the occasional head of lettuce or cabbage. People don't understand this sort of thing.

I can understand killing rodents and perhaps even feeling some satisfaction in doing so but, in general, people with a lot of money using expensive equipment to make small game animals and rodents explode...well, that tells you a lot about the character of some people who can afford such things.
 
I am a meat hunter.

Other folks are not.

I don't discuss it with them.

Your behavior reflects your...?ethics?...dunno, maybe "value system" works better for me. Eventually, you will select those folks you hunt with and defer from hunting with those you will not.



Kis
 
Squirrels, prarie dogs, chipmunks, groundhogs and anything else considered "Varmints" I have no problem "exploding" and laughing about it. They are rats.

I have not, nor do I condone killing waterfowl, deer, gamebirds or any other animal considered a game animal and not consuming or giving them to someone who will consume them. Nor do I condone killing songbirds.
 
You either have moral ethics or you don't in life. I tend to associate myself with people of fine moral character, who you hunt or hang out with is your choice. Make the right one and life sails along smoothly; hang out with the knuckledraggers and well, expect nothing less.
 
have hunted most of my life, and have always eaten what I have shot. I have never shot varmints.

That being said, I have absolutely no problem with varmint shooters. I do not understand the ethic that would say let's poision them in masses because they are pests who ravage crop and pastureland, but heaven forbid if someone gets a little pleasure from shooting them one at a time. Nor do I understand the thought process that
says they are somehow less dead if shot with a .223 than with a .50 Barrett.

If someone is engaged in a legal shooting sport that I do not choose to participate in, then I am all for them. They are my allies, my friends in the gun rights battle, and I
will not condemn them.
 
mtnfolk mike said:
when i was growing up, my Dad used to tell me, "you kill it you eat it"
Click to expand...

Glad to hear I wasn't the only one who got that lesson growing up. :D

Luckily back then the only thing I managed to kill was a nice plump rabbit that my dad had absolutely no problem grilling for dinner. Ever since rabbit is one of my favorite meats. Nowadays when I go visit my dad we split a 6 pack on Sunday evenings and shoot the squirrels that are climbing into the bird houses/feeders he made and hung in the back yard. Its the only time I ever even shoot at anything I don't intend to eat, and honestly I don't really feel bad about shooting those them. They're eating bird eggs, the bird seed Dad puts out and the last time the dog caught one he got sick as all get out.
 
TheGame said:
It is morally unethcial to shoot if you do not intend to eat (certain exceptions apply - crop damage, etc.) If you shoot it, you should eat it.
Click to expand...

+1:thumbup:

I only hunt for food & hide myself.
 
On the whole, I feel the same way with two exceptions. Snakes and spiders. I hate snakes and spiders and will kill almost all of them on sight. I would eat a snake, but that isnt why I would go out of my way to kill one. I just dont like them.
 
I will only shoot what I eat, with the exception of the groundsquirrels that get out of control on my friends ranch and cause problems. However, I do not laugh at their death or celebrate.

My friend leaves all the predators alone, but there are still not enough to control the populations some years.

I have even eaten them too, because of my beliefs, but they stink when you cook them and don't taste very good. I definitely do not eat all of them that get shot.
 
We used to shoot ground squirrels on my dads ranch because they were way overpopulated. Just used a .22. I normally wouldn't kill anyhting that I wasn't going to eat, but most of these critters were diseased. I definitely feel the same ethically, but some varmints just need to be culled. (Funny how we all have ranch stories, with overpopulation, but it seems to be a problem in certain areas)
 
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