First hunting experience, thrill or remorse? Hunting experience thereafter?

Growing up in Front royal, Virginia, hunting is a first right to manhood/adulthood. Being raised by a hill-billy from Appalachia Virginia, one would think hunting would be in my DNA. Well sorta. I had helped my disabled dad farm the land, raise the pigs and chickens and steers. Went hunting with him when he felt like teaching me a thing or two. Then one day, after knocking the heads off a few fryers, he handed me the shotgun (Winchester 12 gauge red letter, full choke) and said he "felt like some rabbit for supper, go get us a few." Proudly, I went down into the meadow to pop a couple of the rabbits I knew were there. After about an hour, I jumped a rabbit and hit him with the #4 shot at about 30 yards. I immediately ran up on him and he was still convulsing and screaming and something clicked. When he finally stopped moving, I checked him for parasites and as i was putting him into my game bag, I started crying. I was 12 years old. I owned guinnea pigs and gerbils for pets, this was no different. On the long, lonely walk home, I spooked a couple of squirrels, and knocked them out of the trees, no remorse for the tree rat. Coming up out of the gully from the meadow, I jumped a covey of grouse and without thought, knocked a couple of them out of the sky with one shot (#4 does do the trick) and again, no remorse.

So I finally get home, dad was finishing up plucking the fryers and i started dumping the game onto the bench in the barn. All was cool till i got to the rabbit. I started crying agin. He, in his redneck, hardened, leatherneck way, looked at me and asked if i was crying and I denied it, blaming allergies, (i had no idea what an allergy was at that time, but my sister had them). He brushed it off and we started in on cleaning the game. He dressed everything but the rabbit, as that was my job. P1ss, sh1t, WTF? Just like dressing the squirrel, no problem, right? I mulled through it and all the while, had a hard time doing it through tear drenched eyes.

Fast forward: I have killed three white tail, numerous squirrel and a few more rabbits, with slight remorse, but still a slight feeling of "gee, wish it didn't have to be this way..." I don't like the taste of vineson or sika. I will kill and give to those who do like it. I will trade it for beef or fish or ammo or whatever else is worth trading.

The last time I went hunting was with some Navy Buds in Aztec, NM. ELK was the game! We were in the mountains and camp was set up after a three foot snow fall. The next morning, before sun-up, we all set out to get the game. After sitting in three feet of snow for about four hours with my Tony Llama boots (no insulation, horrible in snow) I decided to head back to camp to coffee up and get warm. I stood up to stretch, leaning my rifle, 30.06 springfield against a tree so i could take a piss, unwrap some gum and light a cigarette. After the nature call, I turned to pick up my rifle and in doing so, i was confronted with a bull elk, standing about 20 feet away. his rack was about eight to ten feet across. He was fvcking big! I froze. He stepped about five feet closer to me, steam columns coming out of his nostrils with each breath. I could not move. I was almost pissing my pants, when he turned (everything in slow-mo at this point) and started walking away. The snow was coming down pretty heavy at this point and when I reached for my rifle to throw a round into him, i realized not to take the shot. He farted, left me with a puff of steam out of his ass, lazily lumbering away and disappearing as if he won the battle. He did. I am not a hunter. Never have been, but all being said, if shit hit the fan and I have to, I'll cry or hunt tree rats.

The reason I laid all of this out, if your offspring doesn't want to hunt, don't make them feel they have to. They can take up shooting as a sport and get college scholarships. I do like fishing though, pity the fish are all getting too sick to eat!

Good story Woodstock. I'm not a hunter either, but I have always wanted to go duck hunting? Just for a few. I have seen friends with photos (in South America) where they shot hundreds and I just didn't get it. I suppose I would do it once, shoot a few, and that would be it unless I was hungry? I was a pretty good shot with a pellet gun as a kid. I once knocked an annoying mocking bird out of our of the neighbor's tree at 30 yards. Maybe not such a big deal, but it was with a .177pistol on the first shot. I was happy to have shut the SOB up, but did feel a little guilty since I had no intention of eating eat. I also once shot a rabbit with a .22 that presented itself in the middle of the trail in front of me. I am positive I hit it (but likely in the ass) because it went flying up into the air before it scampered off into the brush not to be found. I felt guilty that I couldn't find it in the heavy brush. I fish a good bit, and occasionally think twice as I put another in the ice box, but for some reason that's different? I once took my nephew crabbing, and after we caught a few he wanted to let them go. I convinced him otherwise, and after they went into the steamer he had no problem eating them? He thought it was pretty neat that they turned red. It's not a bad thing questioning yourself now and then, its called a conscience.

BTW, I like the Bladetech Nano. Reasonably priced and comfortable at 4:00.

I feel remorse for every animal I kill. I still utter a short prayer for it's soul, as I see it on the ground. I will also put a piece of evergreen in its mouth, as a sign of everlasting life.

My first deer was a bittersweet deal. I was so proud that I got one but felt sorta bad about it. I think it was the large size of the animal. As a kid, we always hunted rabbits and other small game plus countless ducks. That never bothered me at all but the deer was definitely different. That was 30 years ago... now, stack 'em.

Have butchered a lot of livestock and killed lot of deer over the years, and I ALWAYS have a twinge of something, maybe not remorse, but something, and am always thankful.

Stuff dies so other stuff can live: it's that simple and that complicated, all at the same time.

I just took my 11 year old on her 1st deer hunt. I can't say that she felt remorse. She was amped up from the hunt and very happy about the successful hunt. I have brought home wild game ever since she was a baby; deer , hogs, pheasant, ducks & goose. I taught her respect for the animals we hunt and that we don't kill for the thrill but for the meat. I think it is more moral to use your own hands to kill the meat you eat than it is to buy the cellophane wrapped stuff in the store. I have more respect for life, and my kids do as well, than most who don't hunt. Its something I believe everyone should do, they probably would be less likely to waste food. That said I understand that not everyone can pull the trigger and sleep at night. I gave my daughter several outs on going hunting but she really wanted to go. I made her help clean and butcher the deer. Now she wants to try bow hunting.

I feel that it is a serious and personal thing to take the life of an animal for food. There is no way that the animals I harvest don't feel pain. They all have nervous systems. With that, there is always some sadness and sympathy in a successful hunt along with the elation. I thank every animal in my own way that I harvest for enduring this so I may eat.

I will not stop eating meat so if I don't hunt, it is only transferring this unpleasant task to other people. Some of the things I have seen from industrial farming makes me think hunting is far more ethical than buying a package of meat at the store.

It is our duty as ethical hunters to take our game as humanely as possible. I feel remorse when I did not get a clean, ethical shot or I was not able to successfully recover an animal from the field to eat. It does happen though. We are all flawed humans that can make a mistake and there are some variables in hunting that make our best efforts have an undesirable consequence.

I'll take my kids hunting with me, but I will not force them to do it themselves if they don't want to.

I always feel a little sad whenever I take the life of something. I like to be respectful and thank it for giving up its life to feed my family. There should alway be a Little guilt whenever you kill something and if there ever comes a point that I don't feel that way then I know it's time to stop hunting. I'm not in it just to kill something

I have never killed a rabbit. Shot at one once as it was bounding here and there toward the corn. Nobody touched it. The last time I had a chance at one, we were setting up decoys for a goose hunt and the dog started chasing after something. I saw it was a rabbit and grabbed the shotgun. The dog cornered it along a corner of the fence and the poor thing laid there shaking with fright and looking at me with big black eyes. My buddy yelled over, "are we having some rabbit for dinner?" I responded with, "Not unless you want to come over here and kill it." He grabbed his gun, loaded it up, walked over, looked at the rabbit, turned to me and said, "Hope the geese and ducks come in." I called the dog off and we let the rabbit go.

There is a huge difference between walking up on something that is dead and walking up to something that is wounded and writhing in pain. I HATE killing wounded waterfowl. I usually have some cheap #4 steel with me for the wounded birds, and my buddies make fun of me for not wringing their necks. Thing is, I think about how I would feel in that situation. If I am going to be put out of my misery, make it with a quick shot to the head versus spinning me around by my neck in the hope that my neck snaps.

This is also the reason I practice my shooting a good amount. I HATE wounding birds or animals.

My 5 year old wants to come goose hunting this month and I am going to take him. No shooting for him, only observation. I think he is pretty much like me though. It is in his blood. Not so much my older daughter. She likes shooting, but has expressed zero interest in hunting. Here he is last year shooting a coffee can:

Good story, as I get older I have experienced the same thing. The last deer I shot required a second shot to put it out of its misery and this bothered me to the point I haven't shot a deer since although I still go out hunting and would take the shot if a nice older Buck came along. On a second note, I have always wondered about the Woodstock name, my Father is from the Fort Valley and I have climbed the Woodstock Tower many times, nice area.

DaveP said:

Have butchered a lot of livestock and killed lot of deer over the years, and I ALWAYS have a twinge of something, maybe not remorse, but something, and am always thankful.

Stuff dies so other stuff can live: it's that simple and that complicated, all at the same time.

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mark71211 said:

I always feel a little sad whenever I take the life of something. I like to be respectful and thank it for giving up its life to feed my family. There should alway be a Little guilt whenever you kill something and if there ever comes a point that I don't feel that way then I know it's time to stop hunting. I'm not in it just to kill something

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I dont feel bad enough to quit hunting but to see a beautiful creature killed by my hand does make me feel a little sad but I dont see it as remorse...more like respect. The sadness I feel is replaced by the meals the animal provides. Wild game is tasty!

I always feel a bit of remorse and sadness after ending the life of an animal.

Then I'm pumped at getting food for the larder.

I don't know if remorse is the right word for me.

I also don't know about the word remorse. I could go with respect , and a sense of gravity.

One offspring into hunting , one no intrest, all good.

Remorse no...... pissed off maybe if it rained all day and I sat in it to no avail. Not the hunter I used to be..... don't take it NEARLY as serious BUT still like sitting under a tree, read a book, snooze aand enjoy the sights, smells and peacefulness.

BlackBart said:

Remorse no...... pissed off maybe if it rained all day and I sat in it to no avail. Not the hunter I used to be..... don't take it NEARLY as serious BUT still like sitting under a tree, read a book, snooze aand enjoy the sights, smells and peacefulness.

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hunter you say!

woodstock said:

hunter you say!

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Hunter, naturalist, political analyst, adviser to the gods, card counter, tiddy watcher, rocket scientist and sometimes brain surgeon..........

I have also been known to dabble at Acey-deucey.

I voted yes. I grew up on a farm and killing hogs, butchering and processing the meat making sausage was a big family thing. Uncles and Aunts would all do a part and got a share of the meat, sausage and my favorite, cracklins. As a kid we would take turns chopping the heads off chickens and we laughed watching the headless chicken running around the yard. It never bothered me.
I also shot dove and squirrels when I was growing up in N.C. I had never been Deer hunting.

After being dischared from the Navy I stayed in S.C.. I became friends with a man that lived in what is Known as Hell Hole Swamp. My friend asked if I wanted to help weed out some of the Deers. I was all in only one thing I didn't have a gun. No problem he let me borrow a single barrel 12 gauge shotgun.He set me up in a tree at the edge of a soybean field no tree stand just sitting on a limb. He gave me 3 shells buck shot. He went to the other end of the field. As the sun was going down I could hear a slight noise coming from the woods. An 8 point buck stepped out and walked slowly almost under where I was sitting.

My heart felt like it was going to burst out of my chest. As the buck lowered his head to eat I pulled the gun up to my shoulder and pulled the trigger back and it went CLICK. The buck jerked his head up and looked directly at me, I froze and didn't even blink. As he was starring at me another spike buck just 2 points walk out to my right. When he stepped out the 8 point looked over at him lowered his head then went back to eating.

I already had the gun pointed at his upper left shoulder shooting down at an angle. I took a deap breath let it out slow and BAM the gun kicked so hard I almost fell out of the tree. The only thing that stopped me was a branch just above my legs. The buck made a bellowing sound and dropped in his tracks. I looked over and the other deer just stood there, so I ejected the shell threw in another slamed it shut and hit him in the front right shoulder. He took off running. By that time my friend ran over and was like WTF how many times are going to shoot that deer. I told him I hit another and climbed down the tree. The other deer was about 25 feet inside the tree line.

We threw the deer in the back of his truck and drove to his house. He went over to a shed to get everthing to process the deer. I stood there looking at the two deer. I reached up and grabbed the rack on the 8 pointer and as soon as I touched it I broke down crying. I never had that happen to me but I felt like I did something wrong. That was the last time I ever killed any kind of game. Would I ever kill again? Yes if I have to feed my family.

If I felt remorse I would simply not hunt. Not sure what to call it...maybe a certain kind of respect or even appreciation. I enjoy hunting, but now that I am older and have been hunting for 35+ years I enjoy it more so for the time with my Dad, brother, and son then actually killing something. I still will not hesitate to shoot an animal that I am legally hunting. Can't say that I have ever felt remorse or bad about it.

I grew up with a dad who was a president for the maryland saltwater sportsmans association, so from a very young age I was helping filet lots of fish. Never felt remorse, but a few times I felt something along the lines of gratefulness. Not that an animal died, but that my father could provide food that wasn't bought.

Now fast forward to the last couple years. I met my now wife about 4 years ago when I was 21. She introduced me to her father, and he grew up the exact opposite of me, being a hunter. We hit it off immediately due to his interest in learning about fishing and my interest in learning to hunt. After a few months of talking about it I decided to start deer hunting. He offered to give me his fathers muzzleloader. This was after his daughter and I were engaged. He's a fairly quiet guy so it seemed this was a way of showing me that he didn't just approve of me marrying his daughter but that he genuinely liked me.

So I went on my first couple hunts with no success and then one day I hit the jackpot. I got my deer, perfect placement on the shot, but in my excitement I didn't give the deer enough time to die. I found it and ended up having to slit it's throat. I was too far of a walk from my truck to want to risk going away for it to die and it running another 30 yards. Would have killed me. So that process wasn't full of remorse, but was the hardest thing I've had to do. My wife and I had discussed wanting to stay away from
Grocery store meat as possible and this was the start. So again, I was grateful, but felt some sadness.

And again, my father in law offered to take me down to his duck blind. I go, and the first couple times, no cripple birds. So everything was good. The first time I go alone, I shoot a goose that my dog brings back to the blind not dead. I knew this was part of waterfowl hunting, but I didn't know how to put a goose down. Called my father in law, and he tells me what to do. I leave the details in the duck blind, but it wasn't fun. The whole time the process is going on, I'm thanking the bird for its sacrifice.

To finish. I've never felt remorse. But I've felt sadness and gratefulness. I'm not a bible thumper, but I'm fairly strong in my beliefs that God gave humans dominion over all animals for food. So I'm grateful for my skill to be able
To provide for my wife and I, and whenever we have children, I'll be able
to provide for them. And when it's their turn to pull the trigger, hopefully they're able to understand what hunting means deep down and the connections, friendships, and bonding moments hunting can provide.