How many of ya are hunters?

[Black Hills Barb]

Dog Woman's comment on another thread got me thinking, how many of you also are hunters (or shall I say huntresses)? Or, is CAS all the shooting you do?

I don't hunt - never did. I grew up when pa taught the boy how to hunt and ma taught the girl how to cook. :re I think if my dad would have acted more receptive to the idea and offered me some encouragment, I might have hunted though. I was one heck of a tomboy though, and I did manage to weasel my way into just about everything else on the farm. Maybe he drew the line at hunting to get some peace and quiet away from me! :2

Nowadays, I'm just not really interested at all. And seeing as I can't hit a clay pigeon to save my soul, it would appear that wild game such as pheasants, squirrels, rabbits, are very safe.

However, I recently learned that some friends of our went on a trip to Nebraska. He was going on an elk hunt and she had booked a buffalo hunt. Now, I gotta admit, that buffalo thing sounded cool!

[Allie Mo]

Hello Barb,

I went Dove hunting once, back in '69. What a waste of time. They're such tiny things. I did get some. My mom cleaned and cooked all of the birds we got.

Now, my attitude is that I couldn't shoot Bambi. Also, I don't see the sport in shooting something that is just standing there. I think internet hunting is terrible. I think you should be reasonably up close and personal to something that you are willing to kill.

I would never favor infringing on someones right to hunt. It even serves a purpose when one animal is too plentiful and interferes with "the balance of nature." If you like it, it's fine with me.

I guess I'm somewhat of a hypocrite because I will eat game. I just won't shoot it myself.

I would shoot an animal in self defence.

Regards,

Allie Mo

[Kid Sopris]

I have hunted. Countles migratory, upland game and over 50 head of big game animals. I fed my family nearly 16 years doing that. I would love to return to mountains and continue where I left off. Only thing to hunt in Las Vegas is Crack dealers! At least "Bambi" is more sporting.

Those who chose not to hunt, bless you in your convictions. I choose to be hunter not a gather.

All three of my older daughters have hunted, though they don't now. I am sure that if they had to, they would again.

Hunting is NOT about killing, though I have seen the shameless display of those who do otherwise just for the sport. There will be a hot seat in Hades for them upon their arrival.

For those Cowgirls who won't shoot your game, Well, That's why there are Cowboys.

:cgun

[Iron Ed]

Dog Woman's comment on another thread got me thinking, how many of you also are hunters (or shall I say huntresses)? Or, is CAS all the shooting you do?
Welllll, technically I suppose I'm not a hunter, BUT, I have gone out in the woods, held a rifle and froze mah li'l tookus off a few times. Nothing to shoot at though.
I also do silhouette shooting competition locally. Marlin .22 lever-action and Winchester .30-30 lever-action, both with octagonal barrels and iron sights.

[Chihuahua Floyd]

"how many of you hunt?"
That would be me. If it has fur or feathers and is legal in NC, I probly ben after it. Although, since moving to the mountains, not as much as I would like.
Muzzle loading rifle is really challanging.
And youhave to eat what you bring home. Its a rule. Venison fatitats are wonderful when sone right. Don't taste like chicken either.
CF

[Fannie Kikinshoot]

I have never gone hunting, but would like to....there is just the little problem of time; I never seem to have enough of it.:bhd

[Hugh Damwright]

When I was young (-er) I used to go dove hunting and then squirrel hunting wtih dad. I was too small to have a gun at the time, so it was just "our" time. We usually didn't bring much back, had horrible luck! When I could shoot, we did the same thing and then went on and tried deer hunting. He lacks the patience, so I do that more myself. I still try but have never gotten one. Out hunting though, I have seen many places and watched deer and seen things that no one else knows and can appreciate. (Such as coming through thick, thick brush to the top of a mountain and suddenly burst into a several mile wide view of mountains of 2 counties at least.) I have watched squirrles play, almost stepped on a fox and several rabbits. I was once sitting high in a tree in deer season and watched 33 wild turkeys walk underneath me in spitting distance. I have been within only a few yards of deer, listening to them grunt and trying not to make a single sound and ruin it. I would love to have some deer meat and would like to try boar and wild turkey. Yep... I still hunt but do MUCH more shooting at the cowboy matches!

[Tornado Alli]

I remember following my dad and a bunch of beagles through the briars and underbrush hunting rabbits when I was about 6. I carried a .410 shotgun that was my dad's when he was a kid. I don't remember actually shooting at anything then but I was damned determined to at least keep up! I started dove hunting with Daddy when I was about eight and I soon starting getting those, and with that same .410! We also fished almost every day when we lived at the river (now that the real estate has become valuable, it is called "the Lake"). Daddy went deer and duck hunting but that was always an overnight trip and I didn't start going on those until I was about 12. I still have never shot a deer because I soon discovered boys and didn't go hunting quite as much...at least not that kind of hunting! But back before that, I absolutely worshipped my dad and would have followed him into the jaws of a grizzly if he led me there! It was in his footsteps that I learned to love the country and the woods and nature. It was in those footsteps that I learned to respect nature and never take it for granted. Never kill what you don't plan to eat, never leave anything behind but your footsteps, never take an empty gun for granted and many many more lessons, taught quietly and gently by example.

I have now had the joy of watching my son toddle along behind my dad in the same way. As he grew into a young man, I watched Thomas learn those same lessons following those same footsteps. And I know that he is a better person for it, too.

So yes I grew up hunting. It was a way of life, not because we needed to eat but because my dad felt most comfortable there and loved me enough to share.

[Zeb]

:) Yup, I'm a hunter! Grew up eatin' any and everythin' my dad cud shoot. I kin remember goin' out before I ever wuz school age huntin'! Now mind ya, paw used me as tha dawg! :D I got my first gun when I wuz 9 and paw still took me huntin'!

I've hunted rabbit, squirrel, dove, quail, pheasent, wild boar, big horn sheep, bear and deer! We ran traplines and cleaned everythin' we every captured. I've ate 'coon, 'possum ( hate it), turtle, ground hog and many udder aminals!:sk

[Goldie]

I have hunted, (mostly birds like quail and rabbits) and my husband likes to hunt wild turkey when we go up north. I like it, but what I like most is that is we ever were left to feed our family using our own devices, we could. I have three sons (the two younger ones are still small) and every one of them is going to learn to shoot straight, ride, rope, and trap. Call me old fasioned, or a suvivalist, or whatever, I'm big on being self sufficient.:re

[Carolina Chipmunk]

:fw :( :fw :( I've been begging to go hunting most of my life but have yet to go. :( :fw :(:fw

[Singing Bear]

Used to hunt Axis deer, wild pig, upland birds and doves. I no longer go deer hunting. My first go round I had to find cover behind a large boulder. Heard all the shooting further up the hill and from the sound of it, it was starting to come my way and did. :eek:

Second go round, we climbed through a fence and started the hike up a mountain on Moloka'i. Our host took us aside and told us, "Eh, if you guys see one truck and dey stop you, you don't know me." He later offered to take us to the west end where he saw some really strange deerlike animals with huge horns. There's an African wildlife sactuary on that side of the island. :re

Wild pig, we never got any. Saw a bunch, but without dogs.....:re
We always ended our pig hunts at a Chinese restaurant ordering pot roast pork (kau yuk) for lunch.:)

Upland birds? Ain't going there. :o

Doves? I got tired of trying to outrace the mongoose to the downed birds. :re They be fast. Bird comes down in deep grass, all you hear is the thrashing, see a few feathers floating away in the breeze. When I get there, there's only a ring of feathers. No bird. :( Also got tired of smelling cow manure all day. Used to shoot at a dairy farm to help control the birds which contaminate the feed.

Now, too old and too sore to take on any rough hiking for pigs and deer. I'd love to get back into upland birds, but will wait till I meet an owner of a macadamia nut farm on the Big Island. Clean air, flat ground to walk, no deep grass and mongoose, lots of shade and lots of birds out in the open. ;)

[Lily Orleans]

I haven’t been able to be on the Alley much lately; this whole work thing really gets in the way & takes up so much time! Geez! Anyway I just wanted to chime in here. My husband & I both hunt. I got to go on my first deer hunt 2 seasons ago. Not that I actually got one but I have higher hopes for this year. I wasn’t able to go out at all last fall, but Hubby got a 7 pointer. We are going to hunt both regular & black powder seasons this year.

I guess that we are similar in thinking with Goldie & her family. We have a garden & I raise chickens. For eggs right now but hope to hatch out a few for meat next spring. We hope to get enough land cleared this winter for pasture, a bigger garden & a small orchard. Hubby wants to raise a couple beef cattle & I would like to get a couple pigs (hubby is not that keen on that idea but they are so cute!).

It’s funny because we moved from great jobs & city life in S. Florida in 2003 to SW Michigan with the intent of buying acreage to have a small ranch & be more self-sufficient. I agree that there is something very comforting in knowing that you are able to support your self off you own land & two hands. Not that we are at that point yet, but hope to continue to move in that direction.


And with that I would like to leave you all with something to think about, if we continue to turn this countries farms into subdivisions & malls, how long to do think it will take before we are just as dependent on other countries for our food as we are for our oil? Maybe give that some thought the next time you are in the produce section at the store…where did that tomato come from?... :10

[Goldie]

Amen to that!

[Garnet Rose]

*innocent look* You mean meat doesn't just grow on those styrofoam trays in the market's freezer section?:re

[Kid Sopris]

Now you may laugh at this, But I will tell you a true story . This happened in Grand Junction, Colorado. Back when the Federal Government was holding hearings on raising the grazing fees for cattlemen.

After much debate, I grown women stood up approached the microphone and announced, " I don't understand why we are all having this hearing. When I want a steak I just go to the supermarket"!

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry at this womens ignorance and stupidty!

[Goldie]

I used to be a tour guide for a farm that school children could take field trips to, and I used to make a speech at the beginning of the tours about farming and the way plants grow, and the importance of farming in our communities etc... At one part of my speech I would ask where different products came from (Milk from cows and whatnot) and you wouldn't believe how many kids would reply things like "Vons" to "Where do eggs come from" and "Sheep" to "Where does cotton come from". These were just kids... A grown woman?????::noe :re We gotta get back to our roots!

[Chihuahua Floyd]

"Call me old fasioned, or a suvivalist, or whatever,"
Goldie, I would just call you SMART.
I may take CFK hunting this year, let her take the 1894 Marlin she has been shooting. After all, I bought it to hunt with way befor I started shooting steel.
CF

[Garnet Rose]

My sister-in-law is a teacher and frequently reads books to her class. She was reading a story about a farmer taking the sheep to market and one of the kids wanted to know which store he was taking them to to go shopping.

[Garnet Rose]

We gotta get back to our roots!
And hope we're not blonde at them :noe

[Jessie Lyn]

I love to hunt deer, elk, rabbits, and pheasants. I would love to go turkey and pig hunting but I hate duck/goose hunting. Pheasant season opens soon and I can't wait. Unfortunately I will have to hunt on the weekends because I am taking a week off work for Jersey Lilly.

[South Paw Sadie]

I went deer hunting for the 1st time last year and plan to go again this year. Haven't gotten anything yet but had fun sitting quietly, observing nature around me. My goal is to go moose hunting by the time I'm 60! That gives me 5 years to learn all I need to about hunting and get real good with them big guns!!

[Shotglass]

About the only type of hunting I do is for a good deal on CAS clothing, I'm just an old cowgirl at heart!:noe

[Hugh Damwright]

Wait wait wait, did I say I like to go deer hunting or dear hunting ???? hmmmmmmmmm..... decisions decisions :rolleyes:

[Coffee Em]

Welllll, technically I suppose I'm not a hunter, BUT, I have gone out in the woods, held a rifle and froze mah li'l tookus off a few times. Nothing to shoot at though.

Now, see, that would be me. It was me, in fact, when it came to fishing. Finally caught a bass about the length of my hand and decided I could rest on my laurels henceforth. (I was about ten at the time. And I wasn't crazy about eating fish even then, but it did convince my grandpa I was related to him.)

When people hear I'm a vegetarian, many of 'em figure that means I'm opposed to hunting. Far from it. A good hunter produces a lot less suffering for animals than a big commercial feedlot and slaughterhouse. The meat he or she gets is leaner and free of hormones and antibiotics. And a hunter knows where meat comes from, understands something of the life of the creature he or she hunts, and takes responsibility for that life. I have a lot of respect for people who supply much of their protein with their hunting skills.

And if one hunts with the folks Singing Bear's met up with, it may provide a lovely opportunity to get to know the local law enforcement personnel. :rofl

Excuse me now, while I go out and bag a brace of bell peppers and check my trap lines for whole-wheat pasta. :D :D :D

Cheers,
Coffee Em

[Goldie]

Well said Em:)

[Chihuahua Floyd]

(Whisper mode on) Don't tell the Chipmunk but I plan on taking her with me next month. She can use my Marlin, she already shoots it anyway.
Now, where can I find a bottle of patience for her. (Whisper mode off)
CF

[Four-Eyed Buck]

Used to hunt, but like was stated above, developement caught up with the areas I had access to. Rabbit, squirrel, deer, ground hogs( loved that, liked to play AT&T with them. "Long distance is the next best thing to being there"). Then along came CAS, shot more and had too much fun.....Buck:re :cgun

[DogWoman]

Obviously I also hunt. Growing up, if we didn't shoot it or raise it, we didn't eat it. It did not come in plastic wrap on a styrofoam plate!

So I grew up eating a lot of wild game, fish, and raising our own steer and pig.

I also was raised that those critters were alive at one time and we were not to take them unless we were to eat them or treat them with respect. I firmly believe that any life taken holds a responsibility.

I get FURIOUS when I see the legs and hide in a pile. I was taught they were of use and to waste as little as possible.

Last year at the black powder hunt I got to watch two bull moose have at it about 25 yards away. It was a rush but scary at the same time. This year I got to watch two bulls circle for several hours, but MUCH further away. I also watched raccoons play, coyotes toss mice into the air and eat them (reminded me of tossing M&M's into the air and catching them in my mouth), and a cougar.

My favorite critter encounter was a squirrel who ran down the tree and onto my baseball hat (on my head). It wandered to the brim and looked underneath straight into my eyes. Darned thing almost died on the spot. I busted up laughing and probably scared every deer for MILES. That squirrel ran up the tree and started dropping pine cones on me.

I've almost had deer run me over more than once. I guess I sit so still they don't see me.

Don't know about anyone else but hunting Bambi here in the rugged mountains is challenging. Bambi doesn't stand around and you have to ask yourself: If I shoot it and it goes to the bottom of the canyon, can I get it out???? We had to quarter a doe a few years ago because that was where she went. It took three trips and over 8 hours to get her out.

I spoke to a 'hunter' a while back that I wanted to use as target practice. He said if he shoots it and it runs, he's not checking to see if he hit it. My grandfather would have kicked my backside around my shoulders if I even THOUGHT that way!

We start our doe hunt tomorrow (I drew a doe tag). I'll be sitting there on the mountain tomorrow with my grandfather's rifle and several books. If I don't get any, that's fine. God always gives me something to watch and remember.

[Jessie Lyn]

I am in total agreement with you DogWoman. Maybe we should all post a few of our favorite recipes? Good luck tomorrow and I know you will have a great time even just sitting with in the wild. There is nothing that can compare to sitting there in the wilderness. Never had a squirrel but had a chipmuck want to know what I was doing sitting up in "HIS" tree blind. Boy did he ever yell at me.

[Poney Racer]

I have been hunting since I was old enough to shoot a 22lr (10 in my father's house) and have never looked back.

I hunt deer, and upland birds as well as squirrels and rabbits.

I have used a rifle, shotgun (single shot, and pump) and b/p inline rifle.

I love going out still with Pop (now in late 70's) and hunting near my parents farm for deer, squirrel and rabbits and hunting with oldest sister and her german short hairs (grouse, chucker and pheasant).

Pheasant breasts wrapped in prusciotto (sp) over a bed of sage venison dressing is my favorite wild game meal. Add some veggies on side (potatoes, broccolli)

PR

[Coffee Em]

I also watched raccoons play, coyotes toss mice into the air and eat them (reminded me of tossing M&M's into the air and catching them in my mouth)...

Coyotes just aren't serious about anything, not even food. They're the frat boys of the animal kingdom.

Don't have a recipe, but back when I ate meat, my father-in-law did elk in the slow cooker. That turned out pretty well, as I recall.

Cheers,
Coffee Em

[Garnet Rose]

We get a coyote chorus nearly every night. One evening one of the boys was jogging down the game trail when a butterfly fluttered overhead. He leaped for it, did a back flip, missed it, looked up at me and shrugged with an "I meant to do that" look and traveled on to join the rest of the gang.

[Coffee Em]

:lool That is so funny! I can just imagine the look!

Cheers,
Coffee Em

[Nellie Blue]

It wandered to the brim and looked underneath straight into my eyes.

:rofl :rofl :rofl :rofl :rofl :rofl

[tarheel mac]

Used to hunt, but don't much anymore...Places are disappearing fast around here...Would like to do it again though, just never seems to be enough time these days...