VERY VERY OT:

My sister-in-law says the same thing, Karen - but I have to agree with Lucille. My SIL says when her Aunt told her to go get supper from the yard, she knew exactly which one she would gladly chop the head off. I can't imagine looking into the eyes of something, then seeing it on my plate - nope, uh uh, no way. My meat grows on trees then it is packaged up in nice little styrofoam trays and covered with plastic - no eyeballs. :-))

Shar> >

It might depend on how hungry you are. LOL! I think people might eat less as in portion sizes if they were closer to how their food was produced. Chicken was a treat when I was a kiddies and I was not the least bit unhappy to kill and pluck one as I understood the necessity. I also used to check my brothers rabbit traps for him in winter but was always able to separate food from pet. I love animals, even chickens can have very individual personalities. Learning to respect ones food is a good thing I think. Makes one very grateful. Many aboriginal peoples have ceremonies they preformed when they kill an animal, basically thanking them for giving their lives so that they and their families may eat. I think that is something we lack in this age of chicken parts neatly presented on Styrofoam trays , respect and appreciation for where our food comes from .

Actually, after a few minutes, it didn't really bother me. It's the farmer's (grand)daughter in me combined with the kid that was (and still is) fascinated by predators (otherwise known as the top of the food chain).

Cheryl

I have no problems with hunters that eat their kills. It's the trophy baggers that bug me.

I wish some one would come up with a better way to cull the local herds of whitetail deer. The herds are starving already and there are no predators to cull the weak.

Cheryl

The top of the food chain here are alligators and vultures, with an occasional panther, and I say to them: "Eat to your heart's content but don't tell me about it."

I also know a lot of 2 legged, human predators but I wouldn't want to eat them either.

I told you I was irrational about this. ;^))))

I have a son and also a SIL who hunt. Both eat all the edible parts, that is the main reason for hunting. My son killed a black bear this season (it had been bothering people in the local area) and that too is in the freezer. If I visit, bear is not on the menu as I saw the pic he took of it before he killed it. That is irrational I know, but it's how it is.

My son hunts with a bow which means he has to track what he kills and get very close, unlike a rifle with a scope. He also had to pass a strict exam in order for it to be legal for him to hunt with a bow, most of the exam dealing with his capabilities of tracking said animal in case it is not a clean kill.

You should not be hunting in Canadian woods as an inexperienced hunter, there are exams to be passed.

That's the quandary, if you don't allow hunters the deer herds always reach saturation point and die more slowly. Culling yearly does help limit some suffering.

I know some people who objected to my son killing a bear, but they are reaching saturation point here, that is why they emerge from the woods and start killing pets or chasing humans. Some people do not realize that bears are not totally vegetarian, they do eat meat. They are also knownfor killing mammals even if they don't subsequently consume them. When I thought about the bear and what my son said about it all, I had to agree ultimately that probably that bear while he lived had a far happier time here than his steer counterpart who born and raised for the market, perhaps only to be made into a McDonalds hamburger.

I don't like hunting that much but since it is going to happen, I just hope each hunter is a good shot with bow or gun and the animal never knows what happened.

But bear is tasty. ;) Yes, they are cute, but bears are dangerous.

One shouldn't be hunting with out experience or out with an experienced hunter. (You have to learn somehow.) I can just hear the hullabaloo if any states started requiring hunters to pass an test.

I feel that since humans are responsible for eliminating 90% of the top predators, humans must undertake that task and do it well. And that includes deer on the menu.

See above.

Our Jane won`t shoot deer, although she`ll happily shoot game birds and rabits and pigeons. However, once Peter has shot the deer, she doesn`t mind gralloching, skinning, and butchering. She`ll shoot an injured one to put it out of it`s misery (they often get called out by the police to kill deer involved in road accidents - there were four last week, all with broken legs, poor things.)

Unfortunately we don`t much like venison!!!

Pat P

I know all that, and I agree, bear is very tasty but I can't eat it having seen it live so to speak, and I realize that is two faced.

The problem during our hunting season is booze. Hunters get to drinking and trouble happens :) I worked for a man years ago who finally got a licence to shoot a moose (only a few are given per year by lottery) and he and his friends, plus one of his sons set off to get that thar moose. They were tracking one and by nightfall pitched camp, lit a fire and boozed. During the night when all the adults were out cold the son was scared silly by the moose rooting round the camp and shot it. Those men were furious lolololol

Booze and guns should never mix.

Cheryl

In college I had a professor who talked about how we use different words for the meat we eat as opposed to what is in the field-in English anyway. We eat beef, not cow or steer, venison not deer, mutton or lamb not sheep, pork not pig. The words for what we serve are derived from French whereas those for livestock are old English words.

This dates back to a time when England was heavily influenced by the French and people decided that it was more civilized to distinguish between what they served and what was grazing outside. The French terms were considered more sophisticated and they became part of the English language.

He didn't discuss why we sometimes use the term poultry (especially in cookbooks) but mostly use the words chicken and turkey for what we eat and to refer to the animals.

Interesting?

Jane

Yes, interesting...but it doesn't explain why in my family we (only occasionally) eat "roast beast", LOL! (Truth in advertising?)

Sue

LOL! Reminds me of the summer my best friend and I worked for my BIL, who had cattle. #19 (ear tag) kept getting out of the fence and we had to go chase her back in. Later that year we were having steak and BIL informed me it was #19. Best steak I ever had!!!

Joan

What would you suggest...poison? trapping? increasing the predators? neutering them?

And in the hands of experienced hunters??? It's truly the most humane way.

I don't find your statement offensive and I obviously don't agree with you but I realize you have a right to your own view on the subject and that you'll respect mine! :)

Joan, wife and mother to *experienced* hunters who hunt for the meat and not just for "fun".