wildcard163:

1. It is tough to carry a 1911A1 in your bathrobe (Smoking jacket, although I don't smoke.) and still look debonair.

2. There is no Mafia and that group that does not exist prefers the Ruger .22 for attitude adjustments.

Thanks!

Bountyhunter

Now the secret is out! Thanks a lot! <img src="/images/graemlins/ooo.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

The "problem" (or more accurately "my moral dilema") is that it is not being done out of true and dire necessity. Keep in mind that by my saying this, it is coming from someone (me) who has spent most of his life hunting and fishing and has even done his small share of trapping... not some urban-dwelling, politically correct, neo hippy, city slicker. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> I have begun in recent years to find it increasingly difficult to kill living creatures when there is not a true and dire necessity.

Now the question I ask myself is, whether or not practicing to prepare myself to be able to survive is justification enough to practice hunting and more specifically trapping (which is inherintly cruel) with primitive tools and small kit tools. <img src="/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

Brian:

With the advent of digital cameras, you can practice hunting and shooting at moving targets to your hearts content without killing anything, making a lot of noise, upsetting the politically correct (No matter how much fun upsetting them is.) or violating any laws. Buy a camera buttstock and fire away. You can check your results on the screen, or take them home to review your technique.

Trapping is another matter. You can use live traps and the practical aspects of that are that in a survival situation extending for a long period of time, you are going to want to consider animal husbandry so that you can raise what you need instead of always chasing it. Modern technology gives you a lot of alternatives to do what you want without killing animals.

Good luck!

Bountyhunter

Please don't take offence, I respect your viewpoint, but unless you're a vegetarian, what's the difference between a slaughterhouse doing the processing for you and doing it yourself?

This is coming from someone who has hunted/fished/foraged quite a few years, and after seeing the process at a slaughterhouse (gory details left out on purpose), an animal taken in the wild (yes, even in a trap) suffers less than those that are commercially processed (after seeing it first-hand), in my opinion.

Troy

Have you tried this? No doubt that the practice stalking would be good experience, but I am just wondering if it would feel the same. Anyone who has hunted can tell you about the adrenaline rush you feel the first time you take a shot at a deer. It is something that has to be controlled or you might as well just unload your rifle and throw your ammo at the animal.
Even after all the hunting I have done, I still feel it. I have just managed to learn to control it.
Does taking photos give the same sensation?
Not being difficult, just wondering.

I'm a camera only hunter. Or birdwatcher, depending on how you define it. One of my most exciting moments was when I was in the woods near my house with my camera, and there was an American Redstart Warbler flitting around. It was always within 20 feet of me, but it was always behind something or never holding still quite long enough to focus. After about 10 minutes of this and a whole roll of film, I have an identifiable picture of him, but his butt is behind a leaf. It's not going to ever be on the cover of a magazine (or even on my web page), but it's my favorite picture. If I had a net, I could have caught him easier.

Goon:

Have you played video games? Do you get caught up in the action? Does the adrenaline pump up and tunnel vision take over?

You and I both know it does if you are interested in winning the video game. Once you have killed game animals, you know you can do it, but seeing them and shooting them with a camera will depend on how important it is for you to succeed, just like a video game.

Goatrider gave a great example of how you can get caught up in the moment if it is something you want. If the actual kill is necessary for you, than the camera angle will probably not work for you.

Bountyhunter

Since you put it that way, I do kind of understand. I often find myself trying to look around corners or peek over rocks when I am sniping at the red army on Flashpoint. <img src="/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />
As far as hunting, I don't really like it as much as I just like to get out in the woods. I often pass up shots on animals. The kill isn't really important. I do still hunt because I like venison and there is only one way I know to get it.
Anyhow, I can see your point. I might have to try that. I have literally gotten close enough to deer to reach out and whack them with my rifle. Some of those encounters would have made unbelievable photos.
There was also one time with a large black bear that would have made a great picture, but I was more comfortable with a rifle on that one than I would have been with a camera. <img src="/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />

I take no offense. Your viewpoints are helpful. I'm really just trying to put out there what I have experienced and then get the opinions of people like yourself to help understand why it may or may not be justified. I'm honestly leaning towards the justified side. Obviously killing animals to survive is something I see as fully justified. Also, I realize that I have much less of a chance of survival unless I actually practice the skills that are likely to be required in a survival situation. Sure I have hunted and guided for years with rifle and shotgun and am probably what many would consider an expert but odds are I will have neither rifle nor shotgun with me if/when place is a survival situation. When you look at it like the idea of practicing and gaining experience, it seems like a no-brainer.... ah but I still get that feeling of guilt. Deadfall traps are nasty things when they don't make a clean kill. Finding a wounded animal in your trap the next morning is (for me) a lot worse feeling than wounding a deer whos blood trail you follow to finish him off as soon as you catch up with him.