Varmit hunting

[COUESAZ]

Rugerman that is the funniest thing i have seen all day. It is so true.

[ruffcountry]

Tonight after I fed the horses there was a big ole rat in the feed barrel when I started to put the lid on . Well I grabbed a stick and knocked him in the head , but I didnt know what to do with it to morally justify killing it . I thought maybe I could feed it to the cats , then I remembered that I didnt have any cats . I didnt figure the pelt was worth much , how was I gonna sleep killing something that I had no use for ? Thats when it hit me , heck you dont really know whats in those tacos from those roadside stands but they're usually pretty tasty .

 

TACO de la CARNE de RATA

[tommat]

Ha ha. The point I was trying to make is that I have just been a little uncomfortable with killing to just kill. I myself have horses and regularly kill pack rats that make a mess of our feed...not just to kill them for fun. I have no problem with ranchers / herders that need to control predator populations, with trappers who sell pelts, etc. Killing for "fun" just isn't the way for me. I know that the Lord placed animals on the earth for our use but does that include target practice? Prarie dog shoots come to mind here, (I know they can damage pasture).

I did go varmit hunting with the co workers and a yote was called in. I decieded not to hunt the yotes and watched as a shot was made and missed. We later went out to hunt Quail. None taken, but I did shoot a nice Jack rabbit and he is now boned and in my freezer. Got some strange looks from the guys, but he will be eaten. I have no beef with varmit hunters and would fight any attempt to ban, but have decieded it's just not for me.

[desertdog]

This is a good topic. Not only do they do a trick on wild game, but the calf crops as well. Ranchers number one enemy. I know a few ranchers that if you are hunting on their ranch and pass up a chance to take out a yote of lion, well lets just say they wont pass the chance to take you out. Just kidding, its almost that serious.

[CEI]

This is a good topic and it is one that we have to be able to answer to defend our way of life, when it is in question.

 

I hunt predators quite often and I also hunt big game. In my opinion the first thing you have to remember is we don't live on the disney channel. This is reality and we are hunters and we compete with the predators for prey. That is just a fact.

 

Second, nothing goes to waste in nature. Every living creature around that area will benefit from that coyote being shot, even if it is left to lay and the other coyotes in that area might end of up benefiting the most. Now, I will say that for me, it is a lot harder to let a coyote lay but many hunters do and there is noting wrong with that (just ask the other coyotes, bobcats, foxes, crows, mice and insects). People some times try to view animals as humans but they are not humans! If they were human or had the ablitiy to think with logic, coyotes would take over the world. Coyotes are deer, antelope, elk and rabbit eating killers. They were created as a killer and they will always be a killer, even though PETA and other try to make them look cuddly and pick on.

 

Hopefully, every one hear will give you a few more ideas or opinions. I hope you realize that you are not alone, because many of us struggle with killing things some times but that is most likely because society has helped us to become disillusioned.

 

Nobody, values animals and the woods more than a hunter!

[firstcoueswas80]

This is a good topic and it is one that we have to be able to answer to defend our way of life, when it is in question.

 

I hunt predators quite often and I also hunt big game. In my opinion the first thing you have to remember is we don't live on the disney channel. This is reality and we are hunters and we compete with the predators for prey. That is just a fact.

 

Second, nothing goes to waste in nature. Every living creature around that area will benefit from that coyote being shot, even if it is left to lay and the other coyotes in that area might end of up benefiting the most. Now, I will say that for me, it is a lot harder to let a coyote lay but many hunters do and there is noting wrong with that (just ask the other coyotes, bobcats, foxes, crows, mice and insects). People some times try to view animals as humans but they are not humans! If they were human or had the ablitiy to think with logic, coyotes would take over the world. Coyotes are deer, antelope, elk and rabbit eating killers. They were created as a killer and they will always be a killer, even though PETA and other try to make them look cuddly and pick on.

 

Hopefully, every one hear will give you a few more ideas or opinions. I hope you realize that you are not alone, because many of us struggle with killing things some times but that is most likely because society has helped us to become disillusioned.

 

Nobody, values animals and the woods more than a hunter!

 

 

Very good post!

[IHunt2live]

I'm just cerious how many people beleive that the big game population would be a whole lot more "healthy" (you can define that term in your own way), if we could eliminate, or dresticaly reduce, the predator population.

I hope this doesn't come across as I'm against predator hunting, I for one wont pass up a chance to shoot legal predator, I am just wondering what you all think.

[Ernesto C]

I have seen several times coyotes chasing deer and I know for a fact that coyotes and bobcats have a big impact on fawns (sp?) year round but specially the months of March to July!

I dont think they will be a "whole lot more healthy" but I know they will do little better with a predator or two less to worry about.

For example: Do you know how many deer a mountain lion kill in one year?

 

Ernesto C

[tommat]

I'm just cerious how many people beleive that the big game population would be a whole lot more "healthy" (you can define that term in your own way), if we could eliminate, or dresticaly reduce, the predator population.

I hope this doesn't come across as I'm against predator hunting, I for one wont pass up a chance to shoot legal predator, I am just wondering what you all think.

 

 

That is messin with Mother Nature. I am sure really bad things would happen if predators were hunted to the point of extinction.....Not that G & F would ever let that happen. I see a yote most times I am out hunting now and I feel the current practices are not harming their porulations but Lord knows what would happen to the balance of nature if we really knocked things out of whack.

[firstcoueswas80]

I agree, that is mother natures form of checks and balances.

 

If predators come to nearly extinsion, then deer etc will thrive. In a few years, there would be a boom in predators because there are so many deer. Deer will die from starvation because they are exceeding an areas carrying capacity. I believ it is called " S" curve? not sure if that is right or not... (College was too long ago!)