I own guns, shoot guns, keep them for protection.
I have never hunted, because I never had a desire to. I shot rats with a compound bow one time (grew up in a city).
I have no problem with hunting. My Grandsons all hunt. The oldest took 2 of the first Elk taken in KY in 40 years. Man was the meat good. I eat the deer they kill every year.
Hunting for the sake of killing, or even trophy hunting, I have some problem with that. Caught that eldest Grandson about to shoot a bird with the slingshot I had given him. I grabbed his arm, spun him around and asked him if he was going to eat that bird.
Killing for the sake of killing is wrong. God gave us control of the beasts to use. We are not meant to abuse that power.
Luring an old Lion, out of a preserve, shooting him with an arrow, and letting it suffer for 40 hours, then shooting it with a rifle, and taking it’s head?
I see no value, or use to this. Both men should pay a penalty.
Dad? Is that you dad? I thought you were dead? LOL
See post 36. Cheers.....
That is not exactly right - Killing predators for the sake of killing them is fine with me... And such has a loooong history wrt survival. Managing predators is often a very necessary thing (think wolves, bears lions, coyotes, even badgers and wolverines... even skunks, minks, weasels)... And large predators (really any predator) are harder to stalk and more dangerous to take, so it is natural that a hunter would want to 'make his bones' that way, as it were...
Not that I disagree with you fully, mind you - I MADE my boys intentionally shoot a sparrow as the first kill when I gave them their bb guns... Each one held that dying, fluttering life in their hand and wept... I told them each, exactly at that moment, "Now, this one is on me - I made you do this - I caused this death, not you. But I want you to remember this moment deep in your heart, and never take life of any kind without cause." They have never forgotten it.
And as a general rule, we too mainly eat what we kill - But I do think you paint with an overly broad brush that would discount necessary killing that city folks don't understand...