A Personal Gripe

[Justin Crossley]

I dont love it, it feels forced to say it sometimes, but I do depending on the audience. I also think a few hunters are overly callous and like to rub it in peoples faces, which bugs me just as much. I really have no issue with couching something in terms that allow the people I’m speaking with to see past something they are uncomfortable with, in order to see a bigger picture. Other times I dont worry about it. Its like speaking a foreign language—it’ll never feel perfectly comfortable to me, it’s not “home”, but I still think there’s value in speaking someone else’s language sometimes. Usually I use the word “take” for this, but you write enough legislators and you start to need a couple different words to say the same thing.

In any case, there is such a movement/industry around growing whitetail deer with strategically-managed properties, food plots, planned bedding areas, etc, that I think there is some argument to “harvest” being reasonably accurate in situations like that.

Also, kill=a single animal, something I do, while harvest=the collective amount killed toward a management objective. All of our “kills” are really part of a planned management program, and as such harvest is probably technically accurate in that useage.

Great post.

 

[plebe]

All good. Didn't see the need to debate online is why I deleted. No personal opinions on you, you Internet hero ha. I do think you're full of shit but let me research

Lol. probably the real Internet hero is anyone who learns anything from the Internet, rather than sticks to his/her shit without due consideration. But maybe you got this. Perhaps there’s another approach as well, all good.

 

[flyfisher117]

I'm going to run a Leupold scope on my 338 win mag. Ill harvest a lil ol 2 point and post a well manicured grip and grin. As well as a bloody body shot in the back of my rig.

With this combo I will upset 90% of Rokslide.

 

[FAAFO]

Am I the only one bothered when hunters say they "harvested" an animal?

We aren't farmers. We are hunters. We kill the animal and harvest the meat. Why are we so afraid to say the word kill?

Not nearly as bad as someone using the word “running” when it comes to the gear they use.

 

[Sinistram]

Boy, this thread blew up quickly! Since asked, yes, the use of the term "harvest" by any person or agency referring to the hunting and killing of an animal bothers me for several reasons.

First, as others have stated, they're not crops. It's not even an appropriate term for the activity. Secondly, the use of this term to soften or disguise the fact we're killing animals can actually do more harm to the sport than many would think. Correctly and respectfully referring to hunting in literal terms to those inquiring benefits the sport by painting it in an accurate light. We're not out blasting things indiscriminately and/or without respect for the quarry. We pursue animals for the pursuit itself; the actual end product is just a bonus. When rewarded with the successful killing of an animal, we make every effort to pay homage to and use the resource to the highest degree. The use of softer terms to describe hunting have negative perceptive effects beyond the intrinsic meaning of the words themselves. You continue to dilute the reality of the situation.

If your target audience has an issue with hunting on principle, swapping the term "kill" for "harvest" isn't going to bring them over to your side. "Oh, you didn't kill the deer, you harvested it. No problem then." It is incumbent on us to educate on and correctly portray our sport to anyone who's interested.

Conversely, those among us who overcorrect to the extreme are equally offensive. The "whack and stack" or "if it's brown it's down" crowd would do well to temper their language.

 

[sndmn11]

Am I the only one bothered when hunters say they "harvested" an animal?

We aren't farmers. We are hunters. We kill the animal and harvest the meat. Why are we so afraid to say the word kill?

I'm still campaigning against caliber/cartridge otherwise I would fully support your vendetta.

#30carbineforelk
#smokedem

 

[cmahoney]

Am I the only one bothered when hunters say they "harvested" an animal?

We aren't farmers. We are hunters. We kill the animal and harvest the meat. Why are we so afraid to say the word kill?

Me too, we need to resist the PC terms.


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[Backyard]

It bothers me as well. But the icing on the cake for is when they add that the Lord blessed them with the harvest. Seems very hypocritical.


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[Mike 338]

Word smithing... in a world of nothing more than endless meetings, typing on keyboards and spreadsheet analysis, this is where a person's worth can be found. We no longer make things but we do talk about it a lot.

 

[Slick8]

Gripe on dude, it's pandering to people who weren't spanked as children.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

I'm still campaigning against caliber/cartridge otherwise I would fully support your vendetta.

#30carbineforelk
#smokedem

 

[hereinaz]

As a recovering attorney, I still see both sides of stuff and know the importance/power of using words.

I understand exactly why the word harvest can feel really annoying and weak.

Personally, the word includes and conveys a powerful concept of gratitude and wonder for nature/God. It’s a word of Grace and thankfulness. where I harvest but didn’t sow.

Thought experiment: if you can’t use the word hunter, would you rather be called a “killer” or a “harvester”?

Kill and killer obviously have negative connotations that are not associated with hunting or war.

Among friends, I have some I call them cold blooded killers. But, would never use that in public because context and audience matter.

Thought experiment 2: if you prefer the word “kill” are you the sensitive ones who can’t tolerate the use of a serviceable word like “harvest”?

Is it the word itself, or the emotional baggage a person might carry by feeling like hunters who kill are getting pushed out and it is weak to give in and use soft words to appease?

There is an underlying sentiment, which I get, to resist being PC. I like to resist that as well. There are PC terms I resist. To me, I don’t include harvest.

I’m not offended at all and I am OK with Justin and everyone else pushing back against the use of harvest when it is weak and wimpy. If I am in a crowd where there is some weak anti hunter sentiment, I will absolutely push back. I use the word kill and associate it with their hamburger or bacon.

Why doesn’t it bother me? The word “harvest” provide the FULL picture of what we do. Kill then gather the meat. It feels good to me to use a more descriptive word.

As one word, it includes the idea that we kill and take the meat to eat later.

I don’t think I have ever use the word harvest when only kill will work. I don’t “harvest” an animal quickly with good shot placement. I kill quickly… I might use a euphemism like “put down” in polite company.

If there are pansys that hunt and completely avoid using “kill”, that’s pretty pathetic, IMO cause that is exactly what we do. I don’t think that person exists.

Another good reason to use the word harvest is to get the point across that the killing is for the meat. I think that is why fish and game use it. The argument against hunting by many is that we are there only for the killing. So, I see the word harvest as a direct and easy way to convey that the killing is part of the process, but not the end result. No one doubts that I killed an animal if I say I harvested it.

It is also economy of words. I don’t have to say, “I killed and gathered the meat for the purpose of eating later.”

“I was hunting javelina.”
“Did you catch anything?”
“I harvested a good boar.”

If the conversation continues, I will use the word kill if I talk about the actual specific act, like “I killed it with my bow.”

I think there is a cultural aspect to some people’s use of harvest, especially those who truly thank God/Nature for making and perpetuating the animals that we then harvest. We don’t plant animals like we plant crops, that’s God’s/Nature’s work. For me, harvest includes that feeling of including God and thankfulness.

I regularly use the word kill and killed, and I think it is perfectly fine. It doesn’t offend me to hear or use it.

I also use took/take, shot, and others to be a little more creative.

 

[EastHumboldt]

Well this seems like a tempest in a teapot, or more accurately… a shitstorm in a colander….

I think some people object because they see harvest as a euphemism… and they really don’t care if they piss off the antis. Other people don’t want to offend so they say it instead of kill.

You be you.

 

[schmalzy]

I always thought “harvest” sounded creepy/weird in relation to animals.


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[NJStricker]

The term partially originates from Aldo Leopold in the 1930’s, who is considered to be the father of modern wildlife management. Each fall there is considered to be a “harvestable surplus” of wild game. Individuals who would die over winter regardless of the cause, whether killed by a hunter or other predator.

 

[rtkbowhunter]

Well....considering how many whitetails are killed on large leases, food plots with year round variety, and supplements for antler growth, cell trail cams to moniter patterns, harvest isn't too far fetched.

 

[AnnualRye]

I used to manage a meat processing facility. We used the term "harvest" and "kill" floor interchangeably amongst those i worked with. Optics-wise, "harvest" was a lot easier for the uninitiated to stomach when discussing my job duties, so to speak. I do use the term "kill" more often than harvest, but have nothing against those who use "harvest," because if you think of livestock and game animals as resources utilized for food, the term is inherently no different than "harvesting" a plant-based crop. The fact that animal dies in the process isn't lost on me even if I do not use the word "kill" to describe it.

 

[NRA4LIFE]

I always thought “harvest” sounded creepy/weird in relation to animals.


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This

 

[weekender7]

Never sweat the "small stuff" Justin.

 

[Idaboy]

Am I the only one bothered when hunters say they "harvested" an animal?

We aren't farmers. We are hunters. We kill the animal and harvest the meat. Why are we so afraid to say the word kill?

I get what you are saying, but really, who cares? Life's too short to have words bring me down