Do you pity your prey?

0ak

0ak

New member
I have shot several deer in the spine and what not. I'm about as far from an anti as you can get lol, but i feel pity on animals that i have wounded but have to finish off. More often than not i walk up on the animal that is still alive for a finishing shot.

This in my eyes is the only downfall to hunting in general. I can feel the fear in them and i only can imagine what it would be like to be paralyzed, watching your death walk towards you. I'm not a very emotional person. Pretty stoic for the most part, but this is the part of hunting that takes its toll on me. Does anyone else struggle with this?
 
Originally Posted By: 0akI have shot several deer in the spine and what not. I'm about as far from an anti as you can get lol, but i feel pity on animals that i have wounded but have to finish off. More often than not i walk up on the animal that is still alive for a finishing shot.

This in my eyes is the only downfall to hunting in general. I can feel the fear in them and i only can imagine what it would be like to be paralyzed, watching your death walk towards you. I'm not a very emotional person. Pretty stoic for the most part, but this is the part of hunting that takes its toll on me. Does anyone else struggle with this?

nope i beleive kill swiftly and make no apologys.
death is a a part of life and not all death is pleasant
in nature is a tooth fang and claw reality. all things die
i dont beleive there is a downfall to hunting and trapping lets be proactive on killing swiftly but remember stuff happens. ive seen elk deer horses cows and sheep eaten alive bye predators and it took them longer to die from them then they ever have me.
 
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Originally Posted By: ChilsonOriginally Posted By: 0akI have shot several deer in the spine and what not. I'm about as far from an anti as you can get lol, but i feel pity on animals that i have wounded but have to finish off. More often than not i walk up on the animal that is still alive for a finishing shot.

This in my eyes is the only downfall to hunting in general. I can feel the fear in them and i only can imagine what it would be like to be paralyzed, watching your death walk towards you. I'm not a very emotional person. Pretty stoic for the most part, but this is the part of hunting that takes its toll on me. Does anyone else struggle with this?

nope i beleive kill swiftly and make no apologys.
death is a a part of life and not all death is pleasant
in nature is a tooth fang and claw reality. all things die

X2, the only other thing i can add is when i make a bad shot, the feeling is disappointment in myself, not pity.
 
Sounds like you need to spend more time at the range. No hunter worth his salt wants the animal he is pursuing to suffer. A quick and precise kill is what we all want. Bad shots happen, but quick, finishing shots should be used to end any suffering immediately. If you're walking up on wounded animals more often than not, you need to study where to place a kill shot on an animal and practice more. We owe a quick finish to any animal we pursue.
 
Mostly i have felt pity for animals wounded by other hunters,,,that ive finished...as it is a pity when yahoo tail shooters (deer hunters)..blow a leg off,,put slugs through the rump,,and maybe their lower jaw.

Around here i barely deer hunt due to this,,as ive gotten older i figured there is only 2 kinds of shots...a good shot..or no shot.



X
 
It's OK to feel that way; I do too sometimes. It means you're a good hunter who feels compassion for the animal whose life you take, and a desire to end its life quickly and painlessly with a good shot.
 
I am an traditional archery hunter 90% of the time and I believe that we owe it to the animals we hunt to kill as quickly and humanely as possible. Especially with traditional equipment this rule is paramount. This means we must have good quality equipment, be well practiced with this equipment in a variety of different shooting situations, have knowledge of proper shot placement and possess excellent judgment.

Once upon a time hunting was a necessity to eat and the animals were honored and respected. Trophy hunting was not something that was done, neither was killing for sport. I do not have an issue with either, so long as it is done in the appropriate ways I listed above.

Again, we owe it to the animals we hunt to kill as quickly and humanely as possible.

I agree with Switch, if you find yourself wounding or spine shooting often, upgrade your skills and maybe your equipment.
 
I normally make a clean kill. But I hunt nearly every animal I'm allowed here in PA and at some point or another I critically wound an animal that needs finished off. I consider myself a very ethical hunter and use only sufficient calibers for the game I'm hunting.
 
I feel most ethical "outdoors men" don't want animals to suffer. I have seen some that could care less though. As mentioned above, practice, practice,practice!!

We all know this is NOT an exact science. Stuff does happen. I just always hope it is not something I could control..

jmho
 
I kill alot of coyotes, as well as, I witness alot of coyotes being killed. I'll be honest, there is a little something that one feels, right when they are pulling the trigger, knowing that their prey is about to die. I'd fear the person that doesn't feel that slight bit of pity, when they pull the trigger on another living animal.

Tony
 
No reason to give Oak a hard time about having to finish an animal . I'm sure it's a once in a while deal,not everyday. It does happen no matter who you are. What I hate are "hunters" that don't want to "waste" another bullet or arrow to end it. I've seen it to many times on big game. Now growing up as a trapper and saving fur , a good crack on the head with a trappers shovel or stick is OK. BUT if you have to chase'em .... shoot'em.

Originally Posted By: bigsky_songdogs

X2, the only other thing i can add is when i make a bad shot, the feeling is disappointment in myself, not pity.

Fin I agree.
 
Originally Posted By: 0akI have shot several deer in the spine and what not. I'm about as far from an anti as you can get lol, but i feel pity on animals that i have wounded but have to finish off. More often than not i walk up on the animal that is still alive for a finishing shot.

This in my eyes is the only downfall to hunting in general. I can feel the fear in them and i only can imagine what it would be like to be paralyzed, watching your death walk towards you. I'm not a very emotional person. Pretty stoic for the most part, but this is the part of hunting that takes its toll on me. Does anyone else struggle with this?

It's by no means a downfall of hunting. It is the downfall of being a caring human.
 
" I kill alot of coyotes, as well as, I witness alot of coyotes being killed. I'll be honest, there is a little something that one feels, right when they are pulling the trigger, knowing that their prey is about to die. I'd fear the person that doesn't feel that slight bit of pity, when they pull the trigger on another living animal.

Tony "

+ 1 Well said
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I guess that's one of the reasons that I don't consider myself a "Great Hunter"...While I've killed a few Deer to stock my freezer with summer sausage when my supply gets low and I've certainly killed my share of Rabbits and Quail...I hunt very little since I generally make a practice of eating what I kill, with the exception of Predators...But I really want them to be 'clean' kills, and will take whatever time it takes to make that happen...

I've had many pleasurable hours of watching other wildlife just being wild and in their natural habitat, some I've been fortunate to catch on a camera...To this day, I've never been a "Trophy Hunter"...I don't object to those that are, but it's just not 'my thing'...I don't even have fish mounted on my walls...
 
Wouldn't say I feel pitty, it's more of alittle remorse. But I was brought up to respect the animals I kill and kill em as quick as possible.

And oak don't let them one shot drop em dead guys get to you. If you hunt most your life bad shots happen and some animals just won't drop with one well placed shot. It's just up to us to pursue the wounded and dispatch em as fast as possible.
 
As for firearm kills on coyote and larger sized game, I can only recall needing a finishing shot 3 times. All 3 were on whitetail:

One was a spinal shot on a U.P. 7 pt. buck that severed the spine from back to neck. It went right down, and would have expired fairly quickly, but when it raised it's head back up, the rest of it's body was paralyzed. I was still about 85yds away, but I smoked one right through his neck, and it was over. That was with a Savage 16FSS 7-08 via 140gr Partition.

A not so perfect 120yd neck shot on a doe resulted in the doe going straight down. She was still kicking around a bit when I got up to her, but would have died soon, nonetheless. Thnking I had a 7-08 then also.

Lastly, during "doe only" season, I hit a doe that was being chased by a coyote through the cedar swamp. First I shot the coyote. I was up in a tree with a 357 S&W. I had mistakenly loaded some factory 158gr SPs instead of my 180gr cast handloads. Hit that doe quartering to in the point of the shoulder. Let's just say it resulted in the 2nd longest tracking job of my hunting career. Same shot with one of my larger handguns, and that doe is DRT. Prolly better results with the cast bullet load too, I'm sure.

I am ususally very controlled and precise when it comes to pulling the trigger. I seem to have learned to "shoot at the right angle" instinctively. Meaning I usually tend to put the bullet where it will do the most damage. Giving consideraation not only to where it goes in, but where it will come out(if at all). I have come to be able to do this much faster than I was capable of when I was younger and less experienced.

I do not like to see the animal suffer, and take pride in what usually results in a painless one shot kill. Which should be the goal of all hunters. I have very little respect for those who just throw lead in the direction of a running animal, or "spray and pray" shooting, if you will.........



 
Only time I don't feel a little down is if I know it's a
problem predator or if it's put something out of it's misery
or if I'm hungry and need the food.

I just had to put down an old pet goat a few minutes ago.
She'd been off for a week and think she had a stroke last
night. She was suffering and I don't feel bad. I'll have a
drink in her honor this evening.
 
Many here have said my peace, TT, Coyotex and switch to name a few.

I've only pitied one deer that I shot. He had been hit by a car, back leg literally hanging by a thread. I pitied him cause he had survived several weeks like this, which is not a condition for any living thing to be in. I figured I could let him go as he would likely die anyday or I could end his suffering and still get some decent meat out of the deal.
 
We, as hunters, owe it to whatever game animal we are taking to take it cleanly and efficiently. I've taken a lot of deer and to the best of my knowledge, all have been one shot kills.

Along the lines of the other poster, I don't necessarily feel anything when pulling the trigger, but I certainly do when I walk up to the downed animal. I do take time to admire the animal for what it is, and to thnk the hunting gods for being kind to me.

As the other poster also said, I would feel sorry for the person who doesn't feel anything.

I do feel pity for an animal that was wounded and never found, finding them in the woods is always disheartening, as is seeing road killed animals, big and small.
 
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