Too soft hearted... need to stick to feathered prey

[87th PVI]

Here is my 7 pointer... he might be an 8 depending on where I measure from :P

without a doubt the WORST shot I've ever put on a deer... I still feel bad about it, he was about 12 yards out, caught a branch and hit high back... right in the spine so he couldn't walk. shot again, hit the same branch again and it just barely skimmed his back.

shot again and it was a very solid hit but he refused to go down. finally had my hunting partner put another arrow in him and he still refused to die for quite a while.

when I opened him up he was missing one entire lung (from my 3rd shot), his second lung had a perfect hit on it (from my buddy, would have double lunged if the other one was there). He just refused to die...

the worst part of archery hunting... absolutely horrible

I couldn't do it. I love venison, & I like reading the accounts of the hunts & seeing the pics...but the above account & others like it are what keep me to hunting small game & things with feathers.

I guess my heart is just too damn soft & it keeps my taste buds from all that tasty big game meat

Even with small game, I feel bad taking a life but I can do it if it's quick.

Is anyone else out there like me or am I just wierd & watched too much Disney as a kid?

Guess I have to keep depending on other hunters for a stick of deer/moose/caribu bologna, some tips or a little ground once in awhile.

[renegadephoenix]

Chris, please turn off the disney channel and hand over your man card.



J/K.

some people do have a hard time with it. my brother loved being out hunting, but whenever it came time to shoot, he would make an excuse on why he couldn't. latter he told my dad that he couldn't kill anything. he can't stand the sight of blood.

[87th PVI]

Chris, please turn off the disney channel and hand over your man card.



J/K.

some people do have a hard time with it. my brother loved being out hunting, but whenever it came time to shoot, he would make an excuse on why he couldn't. latter he told my dad that he couldn't kill anything. he can't stand the sight of blood.

The blood doesn't bother me... I could field dress it after it's dead...I think it's the suffering even if it's for a short time.

Your account of the buck you got a few days ago was a great read, but I couldn't have watched that play out without my heart wrenching.
That nice Tom you dropped quick was more how I need my hunts to go.

My mind also connects larger mammals to things like dogs & they definately have individual personalities & seem to have feelings.
At least a deer is wild so if I had to, I could do it...I'd really suck as a farmer if I had to raise a big animal like a cow & eventualy kill it for food.
I do love me some beef though, just like I love the taste of venison.

[87th PVI]

FNG19, Thanks for possibly the best rep comment I've ever gotten.
You should post that here!

[mrjam2jab]

You are not alone my friend. I get a shiver those times where you cant help but run over already flattened roadkill. I know full well its already dead...but in my mind there is always that chance it is not...and it sees that tire coming...

[Steve in PA]

Deer hit with an arrow do not act/react the same was as one shot with a bullet.

Remember, those broadheads are scalpel sharp. I'd say most deer do not even know they have been hit with an arrow. Any reaction you see is because of string noise, not necessarily the impact of the arrow. A deer taken with a bow dies from blood loss. They may just stand there until they collapse.

A person would not be a hunter if they did not feel something when harvesting an animal. If they felt nothing, they are just a killer....not a hunter.

I do not like to see any animals suffer and strive to make every effort I can to ensure they do not.

[Feddog82]

Every time I see a big ol cow all I can thik of is PRIME RIB! Sometimes I can even smell it. Same goes for deer; I will be sitting in my treestand thinking, "Not taking another doe until I fill my buck tag." Then a tasty doe will walk right under my stand and all my brain says is, "JERKY, HICKORY STICKS, BOLOGNA, STEAK, POT ROAST, STEW, YUM YUM YUM YUM!" So then I have to take the shot. Damn brain always talking me into doing things I don't want to do.

Seriously though I have felt bad for making a bad shot 2 times in my life but that is what you are supposed to do. Fell bad b/c you messed up. But if it all goes well and you make a clean/quick/efficient kill then you should be ecstatic that you are a proficient hunter. There is no time to feel bad when you are excited as hell. And when I approach any kill I am always thankful for the animal that I have just taken. I always take the time to show my respect.

[Sandcut]

[QUOTE=87th PVI;966921]Is anyone else out there like me or am I just wierd & watched too much Disney as a kid?

QUOTE]

I'd be more concerned for you if you DIDN'T feel something. But, with that said, as heterotrophs, something has got to die so that we can survive. Turnips just don't have the big, brown eyes so Disney doesn't market them as much.

I think you owe it to yourself to try it. At least once. You'll learn a lot about yourself. You may gain a perspective on how frail life really is once you're face to face with something that is "you" sized and very recently killed. I'm sure it'll give you a different perspective while researching your books on how all those lads that got hit by minnie balls a century and a half ago might have felt.

In the end, you may end up feeling the same way and give up hunting big game. You'll just have a better understanding of why you no longer do it.

Or you could end up being a cervid slaughtering psychopath!

[archtimb]

No, you are human. Any hunter that does not have that moment of hesitation, or remorse at the kill, has lost any respect from me. If you do not honor the life taken you have crossed the line, IMHO.

I hunt. I kill. I enjoy the hunt, but the kill still makes me hesitate. One shot, one kill applies to more than the military. Make a clean kill. Respect the life taken. Even the animals we have raised for food are killed humanly and given the respect they deserve. This is one reason that the majority of our animals killed and butchered, are done by myself. I know how the animal lived, and I know how it died. It was the best I could do.

Mitch

It is surprising what a man can do when he has to, and how little most men will do when they don't have to.

[87th PVI]

I felt bad shooting my first ever kill...a squirrel... & it didn't suffer at all. It was just surreal thinking that I'd just taken a life & realizing how fragile life really is for all living creatures including myself.
Then when I was cleaning him I was fine having been a secondary ed bio major, it was just like dissecting a lab subject. BUT when I leveraged him a certain way as I was skinning him & the air left his lungs I had another surreal moment as I realized that had been his last breath inhaled before I killed him.

All I know now is he better be damn tasty!


All that & yet now when I look at the squirrels in my neighborhood I notice how fat they are!