I'm a terrible person. (sortof)

[Lyri]

Oh god this question.

Whilst walking in the woods I came across a sheep who had had his back end torn out completely. It was clearly in no state to do anything and it was quite obviously dying, parts of it's insides were hanging out the back end of it.
Having nothing at hand to swiftly end the poor things pain, me and a friend took it upon ourselves to club it to death, yes that was what we came up with.

Except it fell down the bank and into the shallow river, it was at this point I went down and held it under the water.
You're probably thinking why didn't I do that in the first place, but shoving it down a bank didn't seem appropriate and we assumed (Wrongly so) that we could end it fairly quickly this way.

We also didn't know were the farm house was to find someone, those woods were technically on their land anyway so tresspassing was another reason to avoid it.
I'd sooner have shot the thing, it's bleating was quite bothersome and holding it down beneath the water with it kicking was something else.

 

[JWAN]

yes I have. Your brother should have walked around the bush to shoot it and he should have had to finish it off.

 

[loc978]

Eh, it's a rodent. I'm sure there would be fewer people having a negative reaction if it were a colony of ants eating your food, or even a coyote. Still, that was an inordinately painful death for the little thing. Next time end it sooner. I always have a combat knife for that purpose when I shoot something (actually, my first mammalian kill was similar to yours... .22 caliber pellet rifle to a rabbit... but it never started screaming. I pushed the knife through its throat immediately when I saw that it survived. I was twelve. The ka-bar I still use today was a recent purchase, back then).

I've killed plenty of animals for eating my food. Whenever it's feasible, I eat what I killed as well.

 

[Mr. Google]

Snippity snip snip

Good on you man! Thats what I call good self defense and a great story

 

[TheEldestScroll]

i did kill a squirrel with a low powered pellet gun. it was bad because i shot it off a branch but it was only stunned, so i put the gun to its neck and fired. it was still alive, so i cocked it and shot again. still alive. it didn't even start to bleed until like the seventh shot at which point i just hit it in the head with a rock. not exactly sporty nor was it one of my prouder moments. i like to think i was too young to know any better, but thats just an excuse.

 

[Mr. Google]

I am completely complacent with killing animals if need be. In our country a disease was released which blinds rabbits in order to kill them, I've forgotten the name. Once I stumbled across one and was only walking so I picked it up, put it on my lap and waited until it had calmed down, and had it in a petting like manor, then quickly broke its neck. All you can do is leave it to starve or kill it.

I don't get creeped out by killing but it all depends on the circumstances on which you should in good conscience decide to kill an animal.

The first thing I would have done if I found rabbits down at the end of my garden would be to see how it got in... and block the hole. This way, your stuff can go unmolested and the rabbit can live.
If you can't close the gap... why the hell not? If its all open then your asking for it to be had by animals
Now if they are literally breaking into your garden the all you can do is to kill the ones that enter your garden, although one should be enough to keep them away for two or three generations.
I haven't actually tried this but... maybe a warning shot? If you shoot above the rabbit, it may fear for its life so much that it won't come back! Which is a win too.

Killing, no matter what should be a resort only when everything else has been tried first. Does help to keep you guilt free in the situation you described.

Warning shot doesn't work. Been tried before and theyll come back really quick. Not very smart rabbits.

 

[Slick Samurai]

What if I found cockroaches adorable. Little skittery guys running around looking for somewhere dark to stay. Then some guy walks up and stomps on him several times for no reason other than he was there. But obviously rabbits are different. After all, they're covered in fur.

I heard once that in Australia rabbits are a huge problem, and hunting them is considered a service the the community. But who would want to hunt poor, defenseless, disease carrying, crop destroying fuzzballs like rabbits?

As for the topic creator, no you're not a terrible person. Hunting vermin does not count as torturing as you clearly intended to kill it, so you are probably not a sociopath.

 

[Smiles]

Had to kill the rats to feed the snake. Sometimes we would give them to her live, and they are better fresh, but she is a domestic snake and usually unprepared for the amount of fight in live prey. After the one time a rat bit her and gave her a scar above her eye we usually took a hammer to their heads first.

Sometimes the neighbors kids would find baby birds in the forest near our house and pick them up and play with them for a while. Of course after being touched by humans the real parents would have nothing to do with them so it was just more humane to put them out sooner rather than waiting for them to starve.

Another time my dad found a fruit bat in his work truck. the most adorable little thing ever! course he had a broken wing and was not going to survive if we just put him back in the wild.

 

[TheHecatomb]

Had to kill about a dozen blackbirds so far. In all cases the cat brought them in with, like, a wing torn off, legs torn off or their guts hanging out or something. First time I did it, I must say it really ruined my day. But it's like they say, killing gets easier the more you do it. Nowadays I don't mind at all.

 

[Mr. Google]

yeah, one night I found a bird that my cat had injured and brought to the doorstep, it was a dove or something and there was a rather large cut on its back, over one of its wings (looked like the whole wing was rather ruined) I got a pellet gun and pumped it up allot then shot it in the head, then once more to make sure it was dead, it was very strange

also, you should stop shooting rabbits, they are just trying to survive

when you think about it, even the lion that is chasing you is just trying to survive also.




OT:

The only thing I can say that the OP is terrible for is having to take a second shot.


It might be just me and my close hunting community, but we dont ever shoot an animal while hunting unless it is a clean kill and we know for a fact that the first shot will kill it without unnecessary suffering.


to the OP, if your pellet guns are breach, single pump ones [you load the ammo into the barrel, which also acts as the pump], you can put a bit of oil behind the pellet which will cause an increase in velocity.


Also, if you are going to be doing this on a regular basis, I have to suggest you do some target practice during your free time, make sure you learn the kill areas of whatever animal you are hunting, and most importantly use a pellet gun specifically made for rodent/small animal hunting.


That's just the hunter in me talking though.

Good idea with the oil I might try that. And they are made specifically for rodent killing. And it really isn't too often that this happens. During the spring through summer months well maybe find...5 over all? And again we always aim for the head it was just some strange angle or my brothers poor shot so it hit more of it's spine. It might seem like it was way off but again the angle.

 

[pearcinator]

This one night I wrapped a guy up in plastic and stabbed him in the chest with a large knife but that was like 2 days ago now. Ive since moved on.

 

[Mr Pantomime]

so much self-righteous bull shit in this thread... Rabbits, like rats and mice and bugs are pests. Nobody here has a problem if I squash a tarantula with my foot, or squeeze a rat in half with a rat trap. But if its a cute fluffy adorable rabbit, and I do what we all do with ugly non cute, non fluffy pests then I guess that makes me a baby murdering lunatic. Oh double standards and their shenanigans

I agree. I can see where some of these people are coming from, but they dont seem to really understand what theyre talking about. Rabbits are pests, just like flies. Its fine to disagree, but to literally condemn the OP is heartless.

And really, the same applies to anyone saying the OP horrible for not dropping it in one shot. Clearly he meant to, but hes not expert. Im just glad he finished it off.

As for me, ive killed things up close. Its never pretty, but sometimes it has to be done

I personally watched my dog starve to death because my parents told me I'm not allowed to go near it. It was living at the front door outside of the house and NEVER left the house. Traumatic experience indeed. This was when I was 11. I felt like I killed my own dog...

What the hell is wrong with your parents? Its their dog, they should either feed it or send it to the pound. Or at least kill it.

You shouldnt feel bad about it at all. Id comment more, but it seems I dont entirely understand the situation.

 

[6_Qubed]

You are not a terrible person. You are a person, involved in a terrible decision.

 

[fenrizz]

You do not shoot an animal unless you are certain that your first shoot is going to kill it.

Simple as that.
Otherwise it is just cruel, and you should not be allowed to use a gun.

 

[II2]

If, like me, you're fond of animals, it haunts you the first time or two, but you get past it, however unpleasant and distasteful it remains.

If you've got to kill an animal at close range don't plink at the poor thing with some dinky pellet gun; it's more messy and protracted and awful than just black jacking it with whatever is on hand. If you've got to kill a creature in close quarters just steel yourself and do it quick with whatever you've got. It may be "gross" but it'll spare the creature more pain than it'll take you to clean up.

Anyways, I'm just speaking general opinion on how to quickly get through what needs doing sometimes. I'm not personally calling you out for being startled and uncomfortable OP - you did your best and no, you're not a bad person. (At least, not for anything you described in this thread)

 

[Ando85]

I don't think it is all that horrible. It is just the way things are. Look at what they do in the slaughterhouse. All rabbits do is eat stuff, reproduce, and make more rabbits eating stuff. Like mentioned before they are pests, and just because they are cute and cuddly looking doesn't make you bad for killing them.

I do feel somewhat bad though whenever I injure and animal before killing it, even a snake. As I don't intend to make the animal suffer. A big snake was once in my garage and I was going to kill it with a shovel. Unexpectedly it took quite a few blows and bloodshed before it was dead.

 

[theevilgenius60]

I have had to kill off pets, Old Yeller style in the past and it never gets easier. Once I had to kill one of our tomcats that was killing our other animals. Shot him from a distance so he couldn't get those claws in me. He did the most macabre little dance afterward, I still have nightmares. Once I had to put a puppy out it's misery as it had gotten is legs mangled under the house. It would have never walked again and lived a terrible life, so I ended it as humanely as possible. That one still hurts as it was one of my favorite dog's puppies.

 

[Mr.Numbers]

yeah, one night I found a bird that my cat had injured and brought to the doorstep, it was a dove or something and there was a rather large cut on its back, over one of its wings (looked like the whole wing was rather ruined) I got a pellet gun and pumped it up allot then shot it in the head, then once more to make sure it was dead, it was very strange

also, you should stop shooting rabbits, they are just trying to survive

They're both tasty and a horrible pest in Australia.

I have no qualms with shooting rabbits so long as you prepare and cook it afterward, or at least keep the pelt.

And I don't kill spiders, I'm hardly a bad guy, I just like knowing where my meat came from and how it got there.

Sometimes the neighbors kids would find baby birds in the forest near our house and pick them up and play with them for a while. Of course after being touched by humans the real parents would have nothing to do with them so it was just more humane to put them out sooner rather than waiting for them to starve.

Sorry to break this to you man, but that's been well established as a myth...Baby birds on the ground tend to have just been learning to fly, being touched by a human means nothing to the parent it just picks the bird up and lets it try again...

SO umm...Yeah...No more killing baby birds please?

 

[Griffolion]

I'm certain there's a more humane way to deal with your rabbit problem, and uh, I think you might want to get your brother checked out. I don't think laughing gleefully at something like that is considered healthy.

Yeah, I agree here, having fun at causing pain to small animals is a telling sign of psychopathy, seriously.

 

[Rawne1980]

Yeah speaking as a vegetarian animal rights activist who can't stand this sort of shit, all I can say is that this thread is making me ill.

Speaking as a 100% carnivore who doesn't like the taste of vegetables therefore lives of the flesh of farm animals and other cute fluffy things ...... I have nothing more to add.

Ponder that while you muster up enough energy to reach your keyboard.