A thread about hunting

[WolfThomas]

So I searchbar-ed this and was sure whether to necro a two year old thread or start my own, I figured seeing as this isn't a super recent occurring topic (like zombies) and I have more broader stuff to add, I'd create my own.

I also think with the current surge in gun related threads to look at the other (or only in Australia) major reason for owning a gun, other than self defense.

So I'm a 20 year old Australian country boy and I love hunting. We're blessed in this country to be able to justifiably kill a lot of animals because they're introduced pests. Many cause soil erosion (deer, goats, cattle), out eat indigenous animals (rabbits) or even kill them (foxes).

In Australia you can shoot rabbits, pigs, foxes, and deer (with a permit). There are also wild cats, dogs, horses (though I don't think I could ever bring myself to shoot one), cattle, camels, goats and pigs.

With appropriate licensing and the right seasons, you can also shoot kangaroos when their numbers get too high. Kangaroo meat by the way is some of the leanest, cheapest and tastiest meat.

I used to do a lot of bow hunting with my father and more recently got my own rifle:

Spoiler: Remington 7615

Which is a damn good varmint rifle. Though I would like to get a browning x-bolt, in a larger caliber (you need above .243 to hunt deer).

Spoiler: X-bolt

If I was made of money I'd get a slide bolt barrel changing blaser 93, they can take anything from .17hmr to .338 Lapua Magnum. Or as I like to think, 25cents and 5 dollars.

Spoiler: R93

My former housemate and I have been looking into black powder hunting with muzzle loading rifles, we think it would be a good challenge to try bring down a deer or pig with something our forefather's might have used.

I also have this day-dream of hunting deer in the snow off the back of a snowmobile, maybe one day I'll have the money.

So enough about me, my questions are:

-Do you hunt? If so what and with what?

-What is your opinion on hunting?

 

[VinnyKings]

I go bow hunting when I can. I shoot boar and roos out in the bush in my spare time. I just recently bought a Hoyt Carbon Matrix. I mostly hunt for fun but I do eat the meat from the kill. I get alot of people saying that I'm an idiot and that I should just go to a super market but the way I see it, the animals live in horrible conditions and I just don't want to fund that sort of thing.

 

[hittite]

Modern black powder rifles have a great many advantages over historical versions. Just some warnings if you get into them.
1. They take more cleaning than other guns to keep them in top form, on the other hand, there's a lot less fiddly bits.
2. They kick pretty hard, and in a slightly different way than most guns.
3. They are loud. Yes, I know all guns are loud, but a muzzle loading black powder rifle just sounds different.

OT: My family's big into hunting. From taking pot shots at squirrels with a .22 to hunting deer in every season we can get an excuse. Normal gun season only lasts a couple of weeks. (interesting side note: my school system gets the first day of gun season off.) But bow season spans a couple of months. And there's a couple weeks there reserved for muzzle loaders.

 

[clutch-monkey]

seriously if you like hunting or just want to try it, do this;


get a hold of some older flintlock or percussion cap muskets, english brown bess or remakes, whatever.
go to an op shop and buy an old tux, a top hat and a monocle.
wear all of the above. go hunting, feral pigs most likely. speak only in faux old timey english accents.

 

[WolfThomas]

Modern black powder rifles have a great many advantages over historical versions. Just some warnings if you get into them.
1. They take more cleaning than other guns to keep them in top form, on the other hand, there's a lot less fiddly bits.
2. They kick pretty hard, and in a slightly different way than most guns.
3. They are loud. Yes, I know all guns are loud, but a muzzle loading black powder rifle just sounds different.

Cool thanks for the advice, I was reckoning on buying an actual antique in good nick, the way firearm laws work in Australia means you can buy and own guns pre-1900 without registration or a license and not have to store them in a safe. I've heard of people owning broomhandle Mauser pistols. It because you can't register firearms that don't have serial numbers or something.

I do have a license, its just I wouldn't have to go through all the paperwork.

seriously if you like hunting or just want to try it, do this;


get a hold of some older flintlock or percussion cap muskets, english brown bess or remakes, whatever.
go to an op shop and buy an old tux, a top hat and a monocle.
wear all of the above. go hunting, feral pigs most likely. speak only in faux old timey english accents.

Actually I suggested something like that to my housemate, I said if anyone encounters us to tell them we "slipped through some sort of temporal and spatial portal".

Bah, I would have liked to go hunting English style but they banned it. So no such luck for me.

Hmmm I have a cunning plan, I shall introduce Kangaroos into britain to destroy the eco-system. Then you shall be able to hunt till your hearts content.

 

[TheSeventhLoneWolf]

If birds counts. Yes. But I do that with a fairly large recurve bow and deer hunting arrows.

 

[Jharry5]

I've never been hunting myself, and I'm not sure whether I'd be able to do. Though I think that, as long as it serves a purpose (ie, eating the meat after the kill), then there's nothing wrong with that.

 

[Wadders]

If I was made of money I'd get a slide bolt barrel changing blaser 93, they can take anything from .17hmr to .338 Lapua Magnum. Or as I like to think, 25cents and 5 dollars.

Spoiler: R93

Ohh those Blaser 93's are very nice, but they'll set you back a fair amount, theres one at my local range for over £1000 I think!

I currently dont hunt, but I've had a visit from the police firearms officer this morning, and I should get my Shotgun license within 2 weeks

So yeah, I'm a very happy bunny. Once I get a shotgun (12 Bore, over/under) I'll probably be going rabbit hunting, and game shooting (pheasants) when they're in season. I'll also be doing a lot of Clay Pigeon shooting, as that's a heck of a lot of fun

I have no objection to hunting, as long as people go about it in a way that is sustainable and respectful to the animal and it's environment. I think most hunters are really, as far as I can tell we're past the days of hunting things to extinction, over here in the UK at least

Bah, I would have liked to go hunting English style but they banned it. So no such luck for me.

Hmmm I have a cunning plan, I shall introduce Kangaroos into britain to destroy the eco-system. Then you shall be able to hunt till your hearts content.

Oh God please no!
Our vegatble garden barely survives the pigeons and rabbits and pheasents haha

 

[metalmmaniac]

I don't hunt
I'm actually totally against it, so obviously i don't ever go. but if people want to go hunting, i don't have a problem, as long as they respect the environment, animals, etc.

and I don't know about the English-style hunting. I know it'll probably be less accurate and less effective. and if you don't get the killshot, it's just prolonging the death and pain to the animal.

oh well, there's my 2 cents

 

[Nemu]

Despite being a vegetarian, I have no issues with hunting--providing hunters use the most of wot they can with their kills. Most of my men in my family hunt, and the vast majority save the hides, head,etc and use all of the possible meat (including organs), so I guess that is both largely to do with my stance on it as an activity/sport and why my expectations are so high for other hunters.

That in mind, I don't think hunters need fsking semiautomatic guns to hunt, just a rifle and knife/hatchet, maybe a sidearm JUST in case...

 

[Gilhelmi]

Hunting is a fun and useful. My main recommendation is to learn how to tan hide and make your own leather cloths and equipment. I used to a have a great water skin made out of cattle hide.

 

[Legion]

I don't hunt and am against it unless:

- The animal is killed for a valid reason.
- The animal is killed quickly and humanely.
- The animal is used properly. For example it is eaten, fur/hide used etc.

Pest control is rarely a valid reason. If you don't want animals eating crops then find a way to keep them out, they are trying to survive on instinct and you are supposed to be an intelligent human so I'm sure you can think of something.

Using a bow, or using hounds to rip the poor animal to shreds is just sadistic and cruel as the animal suffers more than it could possibly need to.

If you are killing for sport, then get a better hobby. Or maybe you should see what it's like to be on the receiving end.

Assuming the first three conditions are met then hunt away.

 

[clutch-monkey]

Pest control is rarely a valid reason. If you don't want animals eating crops then find a way to keep them out

lol..
seriously?
do you have any idea of whats involved in keeping rabbits, camels, goats and roo's out of a several hundred acre property? jesus the raw materials alone would be immense.
maybe google "rabbit fence" and it's dingo and fox equivalents.. worked out reaaall well.

/facepalm

 

[Romblen]

I've never really had a chance to go hunting. All I own is a .22 pistol, and I'm more of a target shooter.

Nice rifle though.

 

[Jinx_Dragon]

I didn't think pump actions where legal in Australia.

Still, got no guns on me right now but I have plans to get a good semi, now I am no longer in Australia. Going after elk as soon as I am settled in and have a chance... oh my god, I never thought it would be so gooooood.

A quick look online and yes, pump actions are illegal in Australia, though lever action is completely fine... though that might just be for shotguns. Still don't tell anyone you have it!

 

[TMAN10112]

I'm a hunter, and I really enjoy it. I focus mostly on deer (I hunt the bow, slug-gun, and muzzel-loader seasons), but also hunt turkey and various small game like squirrels.

As a matter of fact, it was probably my thread that you almost necro'd.

P.S. Are you looking at antique, or modern-style muzzel-loaders?

 

[TMAN10112]

Using a bow........is just sadistic and cruel as the animal suffers more than it could possibly need to.

How is using a bow to hunt cruel (let alone comparable to hounds)?

An arrow can kill an animal just as fast, or even faster then a shot from a high-powered rifle.

 

[tsb247]

I hunt deer when I can, and I am hoping to go prairie dog hunting at some point in the not too distant future.

I still have some summer sausage left over from my last hunt. It's tasty!

 

[GreyWolf257]

I haven't hunted large game in a while, but I love to hunt small game (squirrels, for example) with a .22. Squirrel is actually pretty tasty.

 

[Banana Phone Man]

Does fishing in Norway count. I catch, gut, cook then eat my fish. Yum! other than that I havn't been hunting. Although I have been with my faimily in Norway and watched them hunt deer. I was too young to hold the gun. Nevermind.