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There are three kinds of hunters:

1. "Cultural" hunters, like I once was, who grow up in a culture where it's normal.

2. "Spiritual" hunters, like yourself, who consider it part of the natural. I don't speak of you, particularly, but I get arguments like "Hunting makes me one with nature." I answer that attitude puts humans on the same level as animals, who have no choice but are part of a system which requires them to kill, and we've grown beyond that level.

3. And there are subsistence hunters, who have been discussed.

4. Oh, and there's sadists. We don't need to talk about them.

I probably qualify as both #'s 1 and 2 on that list.

I started deer hunting relatively late in life, to get venison, which I had found out I loved. There were people who would give me some, but I finally decided I should be going out and getting it on my own.

Strangely the "spiritual" part was unlooked for and came as a surprise to me. Perhaps it is just a result of sitting for hours in the cold (kidding).

Yes, my attitude is very definitely putting me, at least in some ways, on the same level with an animal. By definition.

However, I do believe, that for many of us, hunting may increase our respect for life. You are likely an example of this. Yeah, I don't think it possible to kill without wondering at least occasionally whether or not it is really right.