How do you deal with Anti-hunters in public?

[Dinkshooter]

Never ever, ever apologize and have the charm to win her over or the wit to beat her back down to reality.

 

[William Hanson (live2hunt)]

I generally avoid and/or ignore it at work. Elsewhere its on. I will tell them if they or their significant other don't hunt what good are they? If its a woman I'll usually comment on how she must have her old mans balls in her purse. Just general antagonistic mocking comments till they get angry, because once they've got angry they've lost. Then I laugh and walk away.

 

[brewer427]

Not sure how you can eat meat but think hunting is unethical. Somehow makes sense this happened in Bozeman, probably hasn't lived here long enough to realize most People who live in Montana like to hunt.

Agreed that's exactly what I thought, are state is being over ran with rich opinionated people who have no clue what goes on in this state and what's best for the state. They bring there money and try to change things for personal gain or for what they think is right.

 

[brewer427]

Never ever, ever apologize and have the charm to win her over or the wit to beat her back down to reality.

I wouldn't have apologized and I would have been up for more of a fight if I wasn't working. I think it would look very unprofessional to argue with her when people know I'm there working for the store. I also wouldn't want to cause problems for the store owners because they had no part in it.

 

[spdcrazy]

I live in a small town in Alaska. if your not ok with hunting, you won't survive well here.

 

[Browtinemt]

Tough spot, I think you handled it well brewer427. Lots of money moving into our state, we're getting both ends of a double barrel chit spectrum with the oil fields and our cheaper cost of living/land. This is a debate we will have to become used to having.

 

[Colbyqueso]

So many choices to respond. The best is to smile and ignore. You hunt for you and yours. No one else.

 

[Where's Bruce?]

Yesterday I was working outside of a building welding up a new compressor rack, when a jug of oil accidently got spilled on my work shirt. I went to my truck and proceeded to take it off and put on another one. In the process a woman seen my I EAT ELK shirt I had on underneath my work shirt. She then proceeded to say I was a terrible person for killing animals for my meat. I turned around and trying to avoid a public argument and just said I'm sorry my shirt offended her and that it was not my intention to offend her. She then said I should be ashamed and walked off. No big deal, thought that was the end of it, but it wasn't.

I finished welding then we proceeded to carry the rack through the building and set it in place. I then stared walking back to my truck when I seen her standing in line, waiting to check out. I took a wide path around her to try and avoid any further comments, but to no avail. She started calling me an animal killer, barbarian and a disgraceful human being. Trying not to make a seen I apologized again and told her I'm sorry hunting offended her. But she kept going. Long story short I kind of lost it and asked her if she eats meat, she said yes. I then proceeded to tell her that the meat doesn't appear out of thin air and that the animals have to be killed, in order for the meat to appear at the grocery stores. She then said that slaughter houses are way more humane then hunters. I just laughed and told her she needs to do some research and get her facts straight, then said have a nice day and walked out.

I finished the day and went back to work only to find out that she called the office and chewed out one of our secretary's, saying she couldn't believe my company had the audacity to hire someone who murders animals.

So what do you guys do or say when your called out, or have you ever been. I tried to stay professional since I was working, but it was hard...

This is one way to go.

 

[Kevin Root]

I wear shirts with hunting themes and I also wear shirts with some sort of theme about Jesus or the bible. *I'm not ashamed about either of the them, they make up who I am and it is why I wear them. *Most people I run into that do comment are positive saying, "I like your shirt" and most folks that don't, keep it to themselves.

If someone does make the comment how could you kill defenseless animals, I straight up tell them I like to eat meat. *Hunting has been around far longer in human history than the non hunting views and I like being part of my heritage in history. *It is not something I'm ashamed of.

Most folks drop it at that point but if they continue and want to argue with their anti hunting agenda or call me names, I just say, we seem to just have differing views and or that the conversation is not going in a positive direction and I stop the conversation. *If they ask more questions wanting to understand more about hunting, I'm open to try and help answer their questions the best I can.

 

[Jason Snyder]

I wear shirts with hunting themes and I also wear shirts with some sort of theme about Jesus or the bible. *I'm not ashamed about either of the them, they make up who I am and it is why I wear them. *Most people I run into that do comment are positive saying, "I like your shirt" and most folks that don't, keep it to themselves.

If someone does make the comment how could you kill defenseless animals, I straight up tell them I like to eat meat. *Hunting has been around far longer in human history than the non hunting views and I like being part of my heritage in history. *It is not something I'm ashamed of.

Most folks drop it at that point but if they continue and want to argue with their anti hunting agenda or call me names, I just say, we seem to just have differing views and or that the conversation is not going in a positive direction and I stop the conversation. *If they ask more questions wanting to understand more about hunting, I'm open to try and help answer their questions the best I can.

I agree with your post 100%.

 

[tttoadman]

I like the way you handled it. You did the best you could with a tough spot.

I am about as opinionated as they come. It tends to come out when someone strikes a chord with me. I tell people I hunt with a camera for 350 days a year, but for 2 weeks a year I hunt to fill the freezer and for the personal fulfillment.

I am about as far from religious as anyone could be, but the forest is my spiritual sanctuary. I find that when someone sees that I have as much passion as they do on the subject and I am not an uneducated thug, we can at least agree to disagree and be good with it.

 

[Coyote Commander]

Most are just misinformed. Kind of like some on here. "Shackled pigs"? Where does this shit come from? Way to throw commercial livestock production under the bus too, by the way.


But than you get a true wackadoodle. Ya know, the type that really believes humans are bad, hunters should be killed, and that there's too many people on the planet and that we're a "disease" on the planet. These types are best just walked away from. If you can get them cranked up so they look the fool, by all means do. I've found that suggesting they go off themselves (ya know, because humans are a "disease" and there's to many of us and all, and maybe they'll start a movement amongst like minded people in lowering the earth's human population) seems to work well.

 

[Jason Snyder]

If you don't understand commercial livestock production, including the kill floor process, don't try to make shit up in order to put hunting in a different light. LOTS of money has been put into making slaughterhouse processes as low stress as possible, because stress and panicked animals = lower quality meat = lost money. Obviously dead is dead, but it's not the nightmarish environment that some would protray it to be. It is coldly efficient.

Also, if you are going to be antagonistic to someone to push their buttons, remember that folks who are watching will likely see you as antagonistic. I prefer to take the high road myself.

 

[Jdog]

So many non-hunters are just plain ignorant--I think they only eat meat from animals that commit suicide?!?!

If they would only engage in intelligent, fact-based dialogue regarding the way most good hunters/conservationists hunt.

Like Brandon Bates says--"hunting is conservation"...if we could get them to think about it for a minute...

 

[horngobbler]

You did the right thing.let them look like the idiots.most of the animal rights people don't have a clue about g the conservation efforts of the Hunter. Let them speak there mind because that's what they want is the confrontation from us hunters to make us look like the idiots, so they can tell everybody we are the a$$hole in the world.

 

[Craig Van Arsdale]

If someone eats meat but does not hunt. Then the blood is on their hands just as much as it is mine. The difference is they don't realize it.

 

[rodney.black]

Most encounters that I have had with anti-hunters have ended with them understanding why I hunt and how passionate I am about it. They aren't going out hunting tomorrow, but they get it. In these situations I try to keep my cool and explain the pro's of hunting and all of the conservation that hunters do. If they are intelligent people they will understand. If they aren't, then you may as well go talk to a wall because they aren't listening to what you are saying and will continue to argue with you until you give up and have to walk away.