Originally I was going to save this blog post for something a bit more interesting, but due to a few comments that were sent on the last post.. I feel there are some things I should address now rather then later.
First off, I don't publish anonymous comments in my blog... regardless of if they are good or bad comments. I feel that if you have something to me and the world that you can either use your name or a nickname.. anything but anonymous. Second, if all you are going to do in your comment is be negative.. don't bother sending it, you'll just have wasted your time and it won't upset me.
I guess I touched a nerve with the last post because I got a couple comments that told me I am stupid and that hunters are stupid/killers/animal haters. I wasn't going to waste time on them, but since it was more then one I will.
Your opinion on my intelligence won't cause me to lose sleep. Thing is, those who matter to me know about my intelligence.. and those who don't, don't matter. That may sound offensive, but it's the truth. If you don't want to take the time to get to know me and actually have a conversation with me.. then obviously it's not that important right?
A far as the insults to hunters go... most of the hunters I talk to are intelligent, family oriented, caring people. This is the part that I absolutely love to rub in the face of people who go on and on about hunters being stupid.. a majority of the hunters I know are (ready for this?) *gasp* college educated. In fact, chances are more then likely that if you were to put a hunter in a room with other people who don't hunter.. that those who don't hunt wouldn't be able to pick out the one who did hunt. That's right.. hunters are just like you and me, they're normal (ok.. so maybe not like me, I dislike normal but that's another blog) everyday people with normal everyday jobs and lives.
The killer thing is true by definition.. they do kill animals. I don't understand how someone can be up in arms over a hunter killing a deer or a rabbit.. when that person pays to have animal slaughtered for them. Even if you are vegan, unless you grow your own food.. you have the blood of many animals on your hands. Animals are killed when we take up their habitat, spray pesticides, harvest food, drive our cars, etc. The only difference is that we (people in general) don't want to think of our food as being alive at one time. We'd rather just buy it all packaged up nicely at the grocery store... and the hunters will go out and kill their own food. We also tend to humanize animals... which makes it harder to accept their being killed. I'll get more into this later.. but yeah, if you want to leave a comment about how hunters are killers, I won't dispute it. I dislike the derogatory note that is behind it, and I won't use it myself.
Now we get down to the last bit for this blog post. Do hunters hate animals? Quite the opposite! Most hunters have a great respect for the animals they hunt and take the time to learn as much about them as they can. We'll get more into this in another blog post. I will add that just about every hunter I talk to, with the exception of one, have pets. They treat these pets rather well. If they hated animals.. why would they have pets, let alone take good care of them?
Alright.. in closing, a friend of mine always tells me when I gripe about stereotypes that there is a reason there are stereotypes. True enough.. but more often then not when you come across someone who has been stereotyped you'll find that they don't fit the stereotypical image. I hope ya'll keep that in mind over the course of these hunting blogs. I encourage you to go explore on the net, find hunters to talk to. The only advice I will give in that regard is don't come at them swinging.. no one wants to have a conversation with someone who starts out hostile.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Hunting.. the beginning
This is a blog that has been long in the making, and due to all the content I want to add this has become a multi-post subject that will take place over the course of the next few weeks.
There are not many people that I talk to that are aware of my interest in hunting. While I don't ever plan to hunt, the various aspects of it and the people who do it intrigue me. It's not often that I get to talk to someone on my level, as a non-hunter with a rather open mind, about hunting. Most people have already made their minds up about hunting.. and when the topic is bought up it turns into a debate usually ending with the other person and I agreeing to disagree.
I have found over the course of the last few years that a majority of people don't have the first clue about hunting. All they know is the hunter goes out in the wild, kills an animal, and then eats it. To the "normal" person that makes the hunter a near savage person.
Given the chance to talk to some hunters who are open minded and willing to talk about hunting rather then lecture or argue about it, I've discovered there is a whole lot more to the world of hunting.. and that if one listens to what is being said and gets to know them that they may just change their mind about hunting and hunters.
It wasn't long ago that I was much like the majority of people I run across now in regards to my views on hunting. It disgusted me and I didn't see the need for it. I labored under the idea that hunters killed out of the enjoyment of killing.
I'm trying to remember who among the hunters I talk to coined the phrase "bambiology". He used that phrase once when there was a discussion going on about how most people have seen Bambi and that's where their dislike of hunters starts. Poor Bambi is orphaned by the mean old hunters.. a friend pointed out today that in the book it's not hunters but rather poachers that kill Bambi's mom. I doubt that knowing that would make much of a difference in the average person's mindset... but there is a big difference between hunters and poachers.
A couple of non-hunters I talk to have saddened me recently.. one told me that hunters were one step below someone who murders a human.. and the other told me that hunters hated animals. Neither of these is true, and it bothers me because the hunters that I talk to are all wonderful people who care about animals and wouldn't hurt a human unless that human was hurting them or someone else.
Enough of an introduction on the topic eh? In the next few posts I will be discussing:
Why hunters hunt
How they got started hunting
What they hunt, how they hunt it, and where they hunt it
The weapons used in hunting
A few myths and truths about hunting
Controversial topics such as canned and high fence hunting, trophy hunters, and people who hunt just to kill.
Books, magazines, etc. that you can read to learn more on your own
If you ever had questions about hunting, feel free to send me an e-mail and I will do my best to get it answered.
There are not many people that I talk to that are aware of my interest in hunting. While I don't ever plan to hunt, the various aspects of it and the people who do it intrigue me. It's not often that I get to talk to someone on my level, as a non-hunter with a rather open mind, about hunting. Most people have already made their minds up about hunting.. and when the topic is bought up it turns into a debate usually ending with the other person and I agreeing to disagree.
I have found over the course of the last few years that a majority of people don't have the first clue about hunting. All they know is the hunter goes out in the wild, kills an animal, and then eats it. To the "normal" person that makes the hunter a near savage person.
Given the chance to talk to some hunters who are open minded and willing to talk about hunting rather then lecture or argue about it, I've discovered there is a whole lot more to the world of hunting.. and that if one listens to what is being said and gets to know them that they may just change their mind about hunting and hunters.
It wasn't long ago that I was much like the majority of people I run across now in regards to my views on hunting. It disgusted me and I didn't see the need for it. I labored under the idea that hunters killed out of the enjoyment of killing.
I'm trying to remember who among the hunters I talk to coined the phrase "bambiology". He used that phrase once when there was a discussion going on about how most people have seen Bambi and that's where their dislike of hunters starts. Poor Bambi is orphaned by the mean old hunters.. a friend pointed out today that in the book it's not hunters but rather poachers that kill Bambi's mom. I doubt that knowing that would make much of a difference in the average person's mindset... but there is a big difference between hunters and poachers.
A couple of non-hunters I talk to have saddened me recently.. one told me that hunters were one step below someone who murders a human.. and the other told me that hunters hated animals. Neither of these is true, and it bothers me because the hunters that I talk to are all wonderful people who care about animals and wouldn't hurt a human unless that human was hurting them or someone else.
Enough of an introduction on the topic eh? In the next few posts I will be discussing:
Why hunters hunt
How they got started hunting
What they hunt, how they hunt it, and where they hunt it
The weapons used in hunting
A few myths and truths about hunting
Controversial topics such as canned and high fence hunting, trophy hunters, and people who hunt just to kill.
Books, magazines, etc. that you can read to learn more on your own
If you ever had questions about hunting, feel free to send me an e-mail and I will do my best to get it answered.
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