Replies

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.

You're following much the same path I did. I became pro-life and anti-hunting simultaneously, because I saw that all life is invaluable. My mind finally changed when a squirrel I had shot was gagging blood at me, and I realized I'd committed an atrocity in a chain of atrocities. Rush Limbaugh converted me to the pro-life position; Aristotle changed me otherwise: "The unexamined life is not worth living."