Non hunters

[jspradley]

I've never had a bad interaction in person with a non-hunter. It's almost always been genuine curiosity over how the whole thing works. It's hard to blame someone for thinking we kill every animal we see unregulated and just chop off the horns and leave the body in the woods when that's the message they see every day. And to be fair up until recently even hunters have done a pretty piss poor job of outreach and explaining how hunting works and why we do it.

I do think we owe a lot to guys like Rinella, Cam Hanes and even Rogan for putting it out there that we aren't all (or even mostly) knuckle dragging idjits.

 

[TheGDog]

Recently, most such interactions have been at trailheads with questions like “are you actually hunting in here?” With the implication being “I’m nervous to be hiking in the same place you are hunting” in which case I tend to take some time and explain some things conceptually, usually resulting in them being much more at ease and thinking about hunting very differently than they have previously considered.

Ugh... recently had an encounter sorta like this. Have a spot I like to sit on for rabbits. It's near to a trailhead. I was much further back inside the forest earlier that day and had hiked in to a deer spot to check cams. So thought was hit up this spot in setting sun and see what could be got in terms of rabbits so could get some action that day.

While I'm driving up on the access road... I peek thru to the place I'm talking about.. and WTF?? I see what looks to be a photo session going on? What in the Actual F**k?? Younger couple, maybe late 20's? With 2 toddler kids. I'm all like... do they NOT know that Rattlers routinely go thru there??

So I figure "Meh, she's probably trying to get those last couple of pics at "magic hour" (just after sundown). So I figure I'll take my sit, be quiet, and wait for them to leave.

So whatever... by this point, I'm crabby and I'm pissed they are here, but... I figured I'll do a power play.I hike over to very nearby where their two autos are parked. I drop my pack. I pull out my little Tripod stool, shooting sticks, and my lil .17 HMR and throw on my Leafy suit and then just sit and quietly wait.
Where I'm facing is obviously very much in the other direction of where they are currently at. And like I said. Not interacting with them. Just trying to sit and be patient and hope that they leave soon and see what I can do in those last 30 minutes.

So I'm just listening.. and for sure these two toddler kids are as checked-out and pissy about being there anymore as you can get. So I'm over here wondering what in the hell are you waiting for, JUST GO ALREADY!! You'rekids are obviously fit to be tied and grumpy and all that.

Anyhoo... once they decide to call it... the snootie little young photographer chic decides she's gonna say some sh*t to me.

I relished being able to be supremely calm in interacting with her! It was glorious!

her - "Are you... Hunting?"
me - "Yes. Well. I will be. Once you all finally leave."

Then the bitch tries to get all pseudo authoritarian on me!

her - "I don't believe you can hunt here. This is a reserve!"
me - "Actually this is Public Land. The moment you crossed inside that big steel gate you passed thru to get in here, you entered into a National Forest, and you can actually hunt anywhere you want on either side of the road."
her - "This is a nature reserve."
me - "The <name of reserve> is over that hill over there, this.. is National Forest. Public Land"
her - "I've been going here for like the last ?? years. I'm pretty sure you can't hunt in here."
me - "Well, that you may elect to *believe* something, unfortunately doesn't make it true though. I can assure you that I am well within my rights to hunt here."
her - "I'm going to call the Sheriff about this."
me - "By all means! Please do so! I whole-heartedly encourage you to do so! ... as I know full-well I'm 100% legit and within my rights to be hunting here."

Then... as she's leaving and her cars turns roundabout... I do hand-signs to suggest...
"You... Call... Thumbs Up!!!"

I shortened the back-and-forth of story a lil bit. But not much.

 

[NUGGET]

First off I don’t lie to them. Hunting is about the killing. If you don’t kill stuff it’s not really fun!

 

[TheGDog]

When I'm hiking back down outta somewhere back to my vehicle... if I encounter hikers, I always make it a point to be sure to greet them with a smile and be the first to vocalize a greeting.

I've also noticed that since my chin hairs went all white that the other folks don't spaz as much about seeing a weapon as they used to in the beginning.

 

[PablitoPescador]

I agree with Nugget. I get so tired of hunters dancing around the topic and using politically correct terms to appease the anti-hunting mob. It's not a "harvest" it's a kill. A harvest is going out and plucking fruit off the vine, not taking an animals life and butchering and eating the meat.

 

[TheGDog]

I agree with Nugget. I get so tired of hunters dancing around the topic and using politically correct terms to appease the anti-hunting mob. It's not a "harvest" it's a kill. A harvest is going out and plucking fruit off the vine, not taking an animals life and butchering and eating the meat.

Gotta pick your battles man. I soo totally know the feeling you're talking about... but WE have to take a page outta how the anti-gunners have been executing their playbook over the last 60 years. Gotta start with subtle changes to verbiage. In our case, picking ones that have better, more noble, connotations to them.

Yeah.. I know it sucks donkey balls to have jump thru these hoops when speaking with them. But we need allies man. Plain and simple.

 

[MattB]

Unless they're a straight up Vegan, they're hypocrits if they hate on hunters.

And even if they are vegans, they are still hypocrites. You don't need to consume or wear animals in order for your diet to result in their death. Most vegans are just ignorant enough not to understand that.

 

[brsnow]

Hunters will cannibalize themselves before any other group can take away hunting.

 

[Poser]

When I'm hiking back down outta somewhere back to my vehicle... if I encounter hikers, I always make it a point to be sure to greet them with a smile and be the first to vocalize a greeting.

.

I try and do this as well. Of the various user groups, climbers are usually the coolest to interact with.

 

[TheGDog]

I try and do this as well. Of the various user groups, climbers are usually the coolest to interact with.

Out here... ya just have to man... otherwise you can feel the tension in the air of these people gettin' all nervy just because they see some dude with a rifle on a sling over his shoulder. It's really stupidAF but it is what it is.

 

[Rokbar]

Where we hunt is vastly becoming a large hiking destination. Sometimes I dread having to interact with some of the hikers. First question 90% of them ask is if there are bears around? Some are very considerate, and offer to go hiking somewhere else, of which I always tell them they are not hurting my hunt by any means. Some hi-hat you as they pass you. I've been called everything but a white boy for hunting where some of them believe you shouldn't hunt there. The USFS has a major problem around where we hunt, the USFS has admitted there is a problem, and the USFS knows it's too many people accessing a given area of public land. But, the USFS has not yet figured out how to address the problem yet. All in all, most of the hikers are cordial. Some are very interested. Some have been told to pound sand. But, I always try to be polite, smile, and mind my own business.
The best one I met was a man from Germany on a business trip and hiking the area I was hunting. Through broken english and broken deutsch, he told me of hunting boar in the rhineland. I regret not getting his info as it may have turned into a trip to Germany for boar! He was interested in bear, of which I would have gladly helped him out on a bear hunt.

 

[Don Qui Puncher]

I saw on a community page yesterday a woman is tryin to petition to shut down waterfowl hunting next to her house on the marsh because she doesn’t like the noise and it’s “barbaric”. It’s federally protected marshland open to hunting so she’s pissing into the wind, I made the comment about the protected marshland and said I wouldn’t buy a house next to the train tracks and complain about the noise then petition to shut them down. Good lord some of the responses were crazy. Some people just hate hunting no matter how well of a job we or others represent us as a community.

 

[FLAK]

And even if they are vegans, they are still hypocrites. You don't need to consume or wear animals in order for your diet to result in their death. Most vegans are just ignorant enough not to understand that.

Yep, cant live on this planet without displacing other creatures.
I wonder how many small creatures; insects, voles, mice they kill driving around in their Subaru? How many do they step on while hiking? Its simply unavoidable.
My BIL's wife is a Vegan. I try to avoid her at all costs. Most annoying Karen ever!!

 

[Boarmaster]

Nonhunters arent the same as anti-hunters. If a nonhunter has a question I am happy to answer it. I dont care to engage with a anti-hunter as they dont have any intention to change their mind Regardless of what I say. Frankly Im not that interested in changing mine.

 

[boom]

i dont think a Non-hunter is the same thing as an anti hunter. both need a different approach. but both; i respect their ideas. there isnt a wrong idea here.. well, unless the anti-hunter isnt vegan

 

[PablitoPescador]

Here's a harsh wakeup call to vegans and antis, and I share this reality with nonhunters who don't really understand how a hunter can be an animal lover: I would guarantee with almost absolute certainty that the average vegan diet contributes to more animal death than the average meat-eating hunter's diet. We've all seen it...after the harvest of just about any monocrop you see scavengers feasting to their heart's content on all the animals that were killed in the process. The impact of the harvesting of plant foods on the lives of sentient animals boggles the mind when you really think about it. Compare that to the average western hunter who kills maybe 5 animals per year and probably consumes less grocery store meat and monocrop trash foods due to having a freezer full of the good stuff. Being vegan is just another form of virtue signaling that is blind to the reality of the way the world works. Life eats life

Millions of songbirds vacuumed to death during Mediterranean olive harvest

2.6 million birds are sucked out of trees and killed every year in Andalusia

www.independent.co.uk

 

[Poser]

Here's a harsh wakeup call to vegans and antis, and I share this reality with nonhunters who don't really understand how a hunter can be an animal lover: I would guarantee with almost absolute certainty that the average vegan diet contributes to more animal death than the average meat-eating hunter's diet. We've all seen it...after the harvest of just about any monocrop you see scavengers feasting to their heart's content on all the animals that were killed in the process. The impact of the harvesting of plant foods on the lives of sentient animals boggles the mind when you really think about it. Compare that to the average western hunter who kills maybe 5 animals per year and probably consumes less grocery store meat and monocrop trash foods due to having a freezer full of the good stuff. Being vegan is just another form of virtue signaling that is blind to the reality of the way the world works. Life eats life

Millions of songbirds vacuumed to death during Mediterranean olive harvest

2.6 million birds are sucked out of trees and killed every year in Andalusia

www.independent.co.uk

Take that a step further and consider the indirect death’s caused by loss of habitat due to agriculture.

 

[Carpenterant]

I have tons of conversations with non hunters but very rarely run into anti hunters. I don’t skirt the issue of killing, especially since I do a lot of predator hunting, but the conversation usually ends up talking management and conservation

 

[FatCampzWife]

I tend to politely counter by responding that without population management, many more of those "poor animals" would suffer lingering, unpleasant deaths due to disease, starvation, etc. I then ask if they are vegan, or if they get all their animal products from trusted family producers... when they (almost always) respond in the negative to both questions, I state that my organic red meat was obtained from an animal who felt no fear, no apprehension, & was given a quick & merciful death. That usually ends their debate quickly.

 

[n8saki]

Every non-hunter I'm associated with I invite them out to archery then possibly hunt. Something about archery and it's connection to providing food helps people understand - almost immediately. Humans have been flinging arrows for thousands of years - somehow it's in our DNA.

Best thing is to expose them to it and help them understand that it's better to know where your meat source came from rather than outsource the kill and not know where it's from. Outsourcing the kill doesn't make one holy. It's still killing in an indirect manner.

Don't waste time with those that are unreasonable, help those that have an open mind understand then participate.