Anyone else feel 'bad' after shooting something?

I used to take out squirrels with headshots from my scoped .22 semi-auto rifle years ago. I stopped doing that because I started to feel pretty crappy about it. I just got my first hunting license and will be looking for turkey soon. I only want to shoot what I'll eat.
 
GM-GUY said:
Just one of those things about me - I don't 'like' killing anything.
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Nothing wrong with that at all. I also don't like to kill anything and would personally only hunt for food (not trophy) because I respect all forms of life. I have a pellet gun ready to pop coyotes in the ass and would only kill one in my yard if it was a direct threat to me or someone else (or my dog or cat). When I lived in MT I used to pop ground squirrels as the popped up out of their holes in my yard because they were all over the place and were destroying my property. But, I still felt bad doing it. I guess it's part of having a conscience.
 
noddaduma said:
I feel bad when I don't dispatch them quickly. I don't shoot to make the animal suffer.
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Tom Gresham spoke about this on GunTalk the other day. He went on a rant about hunters that have a goal of taking game at long distances. His thought on it was that it took the "hunt" (stalking, getting as close as possible, and taking a clean shot) out of hunting and reduced the animal to nothing more than a target. I agree with him but also know that there are some places where you can't get close and lose distance is your only option.
 
smcnally said:
Tom Gresham spoke about this on GunTalk the other day. He went on a rant about hunters that have a goal of taking game at long distances. His thought on it was that it took the "hunt" (stalking, getting as close as possible, and taking a clean shot) out of hunting and reduced the animal to nothing more than a target.
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I have a problem when folks say that "their way" of hunting is the only ethical way. For example, I've heard some folks say: "Bow hunting is unethical because more animals get wounded instead of killed."
 
M1911 said:
I have a problem when folks say that "their way" of hunting is the only ethical way. For example, I've heard some folks say: "Bow hunting is unethical because more animals get wounded instead of killed."
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Tom never said his opinion was the only ethical way. He said it was his personal opinion. That said.. since when did bow hunting only wound an animal? IMPO their is a big difference between bow hunting and trying to get the farthest shot you can for bragging rights.
 
I feel a little for the animal... but we eat/use everything that we hunt. We never go out shooting animals just because they are in season or because we want to shoot something.

I WON'T feel bad when we get a turkey this year... elusive little bastards.
 
I sent an arrow through a buck this year that we were never able to find. Searched for hours and hours, nothing.....

Sucks bad!
 
smcnally said:
Tom never said his opinion was the only ethical way. He said it was his personal opinion. That said.. since when did bow hunting only wound an animal? IMPO their is a big difference between bow hunting and trying to get the farthest shot you can for bragging rights.
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It has been argued by some that bow hunting has a larger ratio of wound to kill than hunting with a gun. Please note that I have hunted with a bow and I do not think that bow hunting is unethical. But other people do, and that is exactly what Gresham is saying -- "my way of hunting is good; that way of hunting is bad."

I understand that is his personal opinion. Lots of non-hunters have the personal opinion that bow hunting is unethical. Or that hunting with bait is unethical. Or that using scents is unethical. Or that hunting in an enclosed preserve is unethical. Or that driving deer is unethical. Or that hunting with dogs is unethical. And those personal opinions end up changing hunting laws and screwing us in the process.

While I think you should hunt at a distance that enhances the chances of a clean kill, that distance for me is different than for someone else. Is 100 yards ethical? How about 200? 300? 400? Who am I to say that hunter X is hunting at a distance that is unethical?

I don't think Gresham is doing anyone a favor by running down other hunters who are hunting the way that they prefer.
 
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M1911 said:
It has been argued by some that bow hunting has a larger ratio of wound to kill than hunting with a gun. Please note that I have hunted with a bow and I do not think that bow hunting is unethical. But other people do, and that is exactly what Gresham is saying -- "my way of hunting is good; that way of hunting is bad."

I understand that is his personal opinion. Lots of non-hunters have the personal opinion that bow hunting is unethical. Or that hunting with bait is unethical. Or that using scents is unethical. Or that hunting in an enclosed preserve is unethical. Or that driving deer is unethical. Or that hunting with dogs is unethical. And those personal opinions end up changing hunting laws and screwing us in the process.

While I think you should hunt at a distance that enhances the chances of a clean kill, that distance for me is different than for someone else. Is 100 yards ethical? How about 200? 300? 400? Who am I to say that hunter X is hunting at a distance that is unethical?

I don't think Gresham is doing anyone a favor by running down other hunters who are hunting the way that they prefer.
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I think you're taking what he said out of context (which is easy since you're basing your opinion on what I wrote and not on hearing him say it). The way I took his comment was that he personally finds it unethical to take a long shot just for the challenge of taking a long shot (he was talking about 1,000 yards +) and that you should always take the cleanest shot you can. Tom does always contradict himself though...On the episode before it he was all excited while talking to Ted Nugent about shooting hogs from a helicopter with a fully automatic M4 :)
 
smcnally said:
The way I took his comment was that he personally finds it unethical to take a long shot just for the challenge of taking a long shot (he was talking about 1,000 yards +) and that you should always take the cleanest shot you can.
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I don't see how I misinterpreted anything. It's the "I find it unethical to <insert here>" that I have a problem with. That's very different from saying "I don't like to hunt that way. I enjoy the stalk and getting close to the animal." He's saying "that way of hunting is bad; my way is good."
 
I've killed more than a few squirrels in the past two years. I feel bad for em, but when there tearing up the gutters of my home when we just had them re-done and eating there way into our walls/attic I don't feel bad about it. Since I have trimmed the branches near the roof haven't had any problems in a few months (knock on wood). Its always with a pellet rifle, I live in Boston, and generally I will bait them threw the hole.they eat into the attic with penut butter and end them quick, no reason to make it suffer.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk
 
M1911 said:
I don't see how I misinterpreted anything. It's the "I find it unethical to <insert here>" that I have a problem with. That's very different from saying "I don't like to hunt that way. I enjoy the stalk and getting close to the animal." He's saying "that way of hunting is bad; my way is good."
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Whether something is ethical or moral is a matter of opinion and differs based on who you are, what your religion is, and where you live. Who cares if he says "I don't like to hunt that way" or "I think it's unethical for people to hunt that way". He's not saying people should be forbidden from hunting that way...he just said that his opinion was that it was unethical.
 
smcnally said:
Whether something is ethical or moral is a matter of opinion and differs based on who you are, what your religion is, and where you live. Who cares if he says "I don't like to hunt that way" or "I think it's unethical for people to hunt that way". He's not saying people should be forbidden from hunting that way...he just said that his opinion was that it was unethical.
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Anti's then run with it. Guess why trapping was banned in MA? Hunting in enclosures has been banned in 20 states, because people have the opinion that it is unethical: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canned_hunt

If we, as hunters, buy into this crap and start saying X hunting is unethical and Y hunting is unethical, then we play into the hands of the PETA activists. They have learned from the gun banners and want to use the same salami-slicing approach. First ban trapping. Then ban hunting in enclosures. Then go after bait. Then go after hunting with dogs. Then go after long range hunting. We need to stop buying into this crap.

We need to hang together as hunters. What Gresham is doing is sawing off the limb that the other hunters are sitting on. And some other group of hunters who hunt a different way will be verbally sawing off the limb that Gresham is sitting on.

We need to stop criticizing other hunters because they hunt differently than we do.
 
After reading this thread, I just went to the police station and turned in my firearms, bow and arrows, slingshot, and ant bait traps.
I'm now going into a corner and gwieve for all the widdle creatures in the fowest we have injured or murdered. Bye....

Geebuz, what a bunch of skirts! It's no wonder this Nancy of a State is the way it is. Man up and grow a sack! [puke2]
 
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Aside, I hate that hunting magazines are all loaded with articles about hunting ethics, to be honest... I think that hunting ethics in general could be a whole different thread filled with debate.

Doesn't anyone read any Ted Nugent?? [laugh]
 
First time I ever shot something, I think it was a sparrow in the chicken coop. I was about 11-13, and I felt horrible. It was all warm and limp and lifeless. I felt like such a fool and a creep and an idiot. Another time, I shot a Bluejay and it didn't die right away. Even after about 10 point-blank shots to head and body. It just kept squawking. I finally had to snap its neck bare handed so my mother wouldn't hear it. That SUCKS as a kid to have to do that. But, you learn your hunting ethics, and then grow up.
 
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The first one is the tough one, after that it gets easier. Never kill just for fun or just to waste a life. If the killing has a purpose, there should be no guilt. Been hunting since I was a kid.
 
Harleynut said:
I shot a rat once with my 45 and just wounded it then missed my follow up shot and stop it dead on the 3rd shot. I felt terrible once I remember I just used up $3.75 of good carry ammo on a rat.
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I have the misfortune to have traveled from the remote environs of Kansas to Lynn. I use a gamo to kill rats, last year I bagged 66, I have 4 more this year to catch up.
 
I realize that this is MA, but geez....suck it up!

Sad about a porcupine....really? How would you feel if it unloaded on a pet or a kid?

Do you also grieve over dead chipmunks, mice, rats, etc.? All very destructive and virtually begging to be 'taken out'!
 
Patriot said:
After reading this thread, I just went to the police station and turned in my firearms, bow and arrows, slingshot, and ant bait traps.
I'm now going into a corner and gwieve for all the widdle creatures in the fowest we have injured or murdered. Bye....

Geebuz, what a bunch of skirts! It's no wonder this Nancy of a State is the way it is. Man up and grow a sack! [puke2]
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Titan said:
I realize that this is MA, but geez....suck it up!

Sad about a porcupine....really? How would you feel if it unloaded on a pet or a kid?

Do you also grieve over dead chipmunks, mice, rats, etc.? All very destructive and virtually begging to be 'taken out'!
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Thank you for showing us the error in our ways! I need to figure out how to get this pesky little conscience out of my head; all these feelings about ending the life of another being are really hindering the growth of my sack! [rolleyes]
 

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