What are your thoughts on hunting and fishing?

[seopard]

I LOVE hunting. But my family actually eats what I kill.

[unnbrellas]

Hunting:
Im fine with shooting deer and such. It keeps the population under control, which keeps ders in the woods, not on the sides of road (To many like that now a days). For the other forms of hunting/trapping, I reall have little opinion.

Fishing:
Fishing needs to be done in SCRICT moderation. Preferably catch and release unless you really need that fish.
As for whaling and such, for the most Im against it.

[Warrior4ever]

I absolutely adore fishing, fly fishing in particular. Even if it means waking up at four in the morning to drive up a mountain to a lonely river. I love standing in/by the water, and throwing back a pole to watch the line land in the water in front of me. There's just something about catching a fish that I find extremely satisfying. I've only recently started keeping what I catch, and learned how to clean the fish as well. I can honestly say, my first license was one for fishing

As for hunting, I respect those who like the sport, but am not that fond of it myself. There's just something I don't like about guns, perhaps the sound... I like bow hunting, though I've never been myself ^^' I find it kind of ironic, my dislike for hunting, since the majority of my cousins and uncles hunt all the time, and actually own a hunting cabin for long trips.

For both of these sports, I do agree that they're only fun with the right permission and licenses, and I strongly disagree with poachers and illegal hunting on reserves. All wildlife should be respected, even those pesky deer ;3

[starthewolf445]

If it were not for the abundane of animals left orphaned after the effects of hunting I wouldn't have a problem with it.If you were a deer or a bear cub would you like it if your mother was shot and have your life stripped away from you.I have one thing against fishing as in some cases where you catch and throw back the hook impales through the mouth on occasions and their left in pain.Let us all remember humanity is just another animal in the kingdom as we fall under mammals.We all feel feelings and the animals killed might of had family left behind.We don't know what happens after we take the body.Just like Elephants perhaps they grieve.

[Warrior4ever]

I understand what you're getting at, but in truth(for fish), the fish have no nerves in their mouth, or many places really. As for the hunting of mammals and such, hunting is a way of life for some people. Anyways, if a hunter doesn't shoot a specific animal, something else will more than likely take it as its next meal. Murph, everyone is entitled to their own opinion

[Abomine]

Found this interesting little article and thought it might be relevant to this topic.

http://www.outdoorlife.com/blogs/hunting/2012/01/60-minutes-uncovers-how-hunting-helped-saved-scimitar-oryx-and-how-anti-hunter

Basically, scimitar oryx went extinct in the wild in the eighties, but thanks to captive breeding programs funded by the US Department of Fish and Game (which is mostly funded by *gasp* hunting licences!), these animals have attained healthy populations on hunting ranches in Texas, USA (you can hunt scimitar oryx on these ranches, but only with a special permit), and are being reintroduced back into their original habitats in Northeastern Africa.

[Vespian]

I don't very much prefer hunting but fishing is alright. My family's never been big animal killers unless it's absolutely necessary, in that matter. However, that's just my opinion. I don't mind it if other individuals do such, as long as they're not doing something like illegal hunting or anything.

[silverwolf120]

I never actually went hunting but I wanna try it I'm a good shot with a be-be gun as long as your not my brother trying to teach me and Your not ready and I shoot and i almost shoot your hand...BUT If i ever went hunting I would make sure the whole animal gets used. I probably wouldn't keep it as trophy cause When You keep the heads they kinda freak me out...like I'll go to poke it on the wall and In my head images of it biting me will show up ._." I have went fishing and it's a meh kinda thing to me It's fun but boring as you wait and I love the feeling of seeing the fish i caught and then returning it to the wild.((Without the hook in it)) So yea And I am definitely not a fan of people killing animals just to get a laugh. People who do that better sleep with one eye opened cause if not I'll round house kick them in the face with a steel toed boot on. DUN HURT ANIMALZ JUST FOR LAUGHS IT'S NOT RIGHT ANIMALZ HAVE FEELINGZ TOO! But yea if your hunting for sport and to use the animal Then your fine. If your doing it just to be a jerk face and want to just kill stuff then You go into my category of people I will hate for ETERNITY!! And Don't get me started on Shark fining, Why would people do that sure sharks aren't adorable but they are still pretty cool I mean really people This is how i think of people who take shark  fins just for fricken soup "Hey look at me I just hacked this sharks fin off now Imma let it suffer MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!" *throws shark back into water* "HA Now you can suffer shark cause you ain't cute.". I Hate people who let adorable and not adorable but still really awesome animals suffer cause they feel no empathy for the animals. My brother used to shoot things with his pellet rifle just for fun and I always got mad at him. And I know most hunters actually use all the meat from the animals so They are OK But people who just kill them for trophy and don't even use the meat I dislike. I mean seriously animals were created for a reason the least you could do is use all the animal and not just make stupid coats and rugs from them ((Unless of course you'll also eat the meat.)) My grandma gets mad when I waste hamburgers so on that note it makes it no better to waste animals. I mean really who is the fricken idiot who is clubbing baby seal pups? Really dun beat baby animals to death They are just babies! *Rant over*

[F a t a l]

[SteampunkWolfdog]

In my view, killing an animal, be it deer or fish, is okay, as long as you're going to do something with it! I'm completely against killing an animal for no good reason.

Earlier this month I went to Scotland with my mum, step-dad and friend. We caught a lot of mackeral and few other species of fish, like whiting and dogfish. We killed and ate most of our catch and those that we didn't eat by the end of our trip we froze and brought back home to cook and eat another time. Some we gave to family and friends. (My friend and I gutted the fish in a collaborated effort - I cut open the belly and cut off the heads, he pulled the innards out. xD)
Last autumn I also went hunting with my step-dad for rabbits. We found a nice spot, hid ourselves and waiting for some rabbits to turn up. That time we only got one, and the step-dad killed it. We use some sort of gun (I don't know what it is) rather than traps like snares; they're horrible things. The rabbit had a quick and painless death which is more that can be said for the prey of other human hunters. The day after, we had rabbit stew for dinner and it was yummy.

Hunting and fishing is fine as long as you do something with your kill/catch and you do it responsibly. I think that if we go hunting or fishing, we catch and kill only as much as we need, say, maybe enough fish that could feed a family for a week or enough rabbits to make a couple of casseroles. We need to make sure that we don't make to much of a negative impact on the environment in this respect.