Hunters

[ArfinGreebly]

I've always subscribed to the fillet and release method.

Watch it, chum.

[Jamisjockey]

I've always subscribed to the fillet and release method.

Depends on the fish.  I like king but its not my favorite.  Lots of other fish I'd rather keep.....

[AJ Dual]

Not a hunter here.  Never had much interest in it.  That is probably a good thing because I just don't need another hobby.
However, I applaud those that do hunt as, IMHO, it is a great outdoor activity for both individuals and families.

This.

Although maybe substitute "too lazy" for "not interested".

I'd like to go hog hunting someday down South.  Maybe even take a stab (pun intended) at the knife/spear hog/boar hunting one does with a pack of trained dogs. Pretty primal.

OTOH, the desire is not so great that I'd really worry or regret it if it never happened.

[RocketMan]

I'd like to go hog hunting someday down South.
[snip]
OTOH, the desire is not so great that I'd really worry or regret it if it never happened.

I've often thought hunting wild boar would be fun due to it being a really useful activity.  The damn things are breeding like rats and causing significant damage in large areas of the country.  It would be even more fun if there was a bounty on them.
There is a very small population in NE Oregon, and hunting them is pretty tightly controlled at this point.

[SteveS]

SteveS,

Where in Michigan are you?  I'm transferring to Muskegon, MI this August.

I am outside of Lansing. I usually hunt up in the UP or the NE part of the LP.

[BobR]

There is a very small population in NE Oregon, and hunting them is pretty tightly controlled at this point.

That sounds like a sure fire way to increase the population to the point they can put a bounty on them eventually. 

bob

[AJ Dual]

I've often thought hunting wild boar would be fun due to it being a really useful activity.  The damn things are breeding like rats and causing significant damage in large areas of the country.  It would be even more fun if there was a bounty on them.
There is a very small population in NE Oregon, and hunting them is pretty tightly controlled at this point.

I would wear a GoPro type camera on a headband, record the hunt, and I will narrate by screaming "BACON BACON BACON BACON BACON!" etc. like the dog in the "Beggin Strips" commercial.

[Boomhauer]

I've often thought hunting wild boar would be fun due to it being a really useful activity.  The damn things are breeding like rats and causing significant damage in large areas of the country.  It would be even more fun if there was a bounty on them.
There is a very small population in NE Oregon, and hunting them is pretty tightly controlled at this point.

Your wildlife management people need to open that *expletive deleted*it up and extinct them while the population is small.

What would be really fun would be helicopter hunting of hawgs. I've got absolutely no interest in traipesing through the woods and remaining still and quiet in a stand or whatever waiting on something to wonder by, especially when I can shoot all the deer I want from my back deck.

[Jamisjockey]

Your wildlife management people need to open that *expletive deleted* up and extinct them while the population is small.

What would be really fun would be helicopter hunting of hawgs. I've got absolutely no interest in traipesing through the woods and remaining still and quiet in a stand or whatever waiting on something to wonder by, especially when I can shoot all the deer I want from my back deck.

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=helicopter+hog+hunting+full+auto&view=detail&mid=CBF4A11847FB73C26A33CBF4A11847FB73C26A33&first=0&FORM=NVPFVR

"And everybody remember....you CAN'T do this in France!"

[roo_ster]

Nope, don't hunt.  I don't deal well with the whole gutting process.

I haven't hunted formally for many years.  Will start up, again, now that the kids are getting older.

I have nailed a few small varmints "that needed killin'" around the house and the kids are FASCINATED when I dress them out to show them the anatomy.  I can only imagine their thrill after we shoot our first hog or such.  They were both scandalized when I was prepping the turkey for Christmas that the slaughterhouse did not provide the full/usual panoply of innards for them to gawk at and handle.  "Daddy, they didn't include the HEART!?"  Next time, I will buy fresh-killed and slaughter at the house for their edification.

Perhaps it helps explain that my wife was going through nursing school when our eldest was born.  Both kids have been exposed to A&P books & suchlike since they were old enough to flip the pages.  We have never held back from describing anatomy or the reality / function thereof, human or otherwise.  I do quantitative work and my wife is a nurse, so it all gets matter-of-fact treatment.

The other day they were at the elementary school playground when they returned and told me they saw a "skull at the school."  Oh, that's nice.  Well, unbeknownst to me, they snagged a ziplock baggie.  They then bagged the skull and brought it back inside the house and show it to me.  "Daddy, it smells funny." Hmm.  "That is because it still has most of the wet parts, honey.  They will rot off eventually, if you take it outside and expose it to the elements.  Put it up where the dog can't get it."  Not sure, but it was likely a feral/house cat that got et by the coyotes.

[BlueStarLizzard]

Nope, don't hunt.  I don't deal well with the whole gutting process.

It's funny what people can/cannot handle.

Back before I started working at Creature's I figured I would not deal overly well with the gutting process either, but now?

Well, I handle signifigent amounts of raw meat on a regular basis, i've been involved in the patching up process on who knows how many wounds, and one highlight in the time I've worked there was getting to watch an AI implantation surgery.
So far the only thing that really gets to me is rotten meat (eww) and I had a minor issue when we had 50 gallon trashcans full of raw meat scraps from a local slaughter house. That was a bit overwelming in terms of smell and grossness. On the other hand, I still don't like handling dead animals, although, the fresher they are the easier it is.

[French G.]

I'm a hunter on hiatus. My dad was going out of his hunting phase when I was a kid so I only went on a few hunts with him, probably none after I was 12. His theory is he'd do anything a kid showed interest in. Now couple that with a kid who had no clue how to show interest and... But I have some good memories and know the basics of tasty animal prep.

I've hunted off and on as an adult, 14 years on a rusty boat and in the city curtailed things down to public land. I still go, but I often go to places where there really aren't deer, just an excuse to take a gun for a walk and not see people. If I see something it'd probably be a bear, and if there are big cats in the east I'm high on the list of most likely to meet them.

For the economics, I'd rather buy a pig. Now I have no land but I know deer are in my future garden every night. Wabbits too. Time to take up bow-hunting again and whack something in my back yard.

[AJ Dual]

The gutting process, how bad can it be? 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMa44W5jNDA

[BlueStarLizzard]

The gutting process, how bad can it be? 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMa44W5jNDA

Luckly, that had a must sign in warning, so I read the title.

I'll pass.

[41magsnub]

There is a reason I carry a 2 qt canteen (beyond my drinking water) and a towel in my hunting pack...

[brimic]

So far the only thing that really gets to me is rotten meat (eww) and I had a minor issue when we had 50 gallon trashcans full of raw meat scraps from a local slaughter house. That was a bit overwelming in terms of smell and grossness. On the other hand, I still don't like handling dead animals, although, the fresher they are the easier it is.

There used to be a department where I currently work that would get garbage bags full of frozen hog livers and human placentas and run them through a large filter press to extract enzymes.
They would throw their biohazard byproducts in garbage cans in a common hallway on 'press' days. There was one day that I barfed after walking past their suite on the way to my lab.
Dressing large animals out is no biggie, but the stuff they were doing was an order of magnitude higher on the grossness scale than I could handle.

[BlueStarLizzard]

There used to be a department where I currently work that would get garbage bags full of frozen hog livers and human placentas and run them through a large filter press to extract enzymes.
They would throw their biohazard byproducts in garbage cans in a common hallway on 'press' days. There was one day that I barfed after walking past their suite on the way to my lab.
Dressing large animals out is no biggie, but the stuff they were doing was an order of magnitude higher on the grossness scale than I could handle.

Yeah, see, I figure a lot of what I deal with is grosser then dismantling a fresh dead thing in an orginized and neat manner.
Besides, don't you bleed it out first? So, that takes care of one of the gross aspects. I can deal with meat that retains a slight bloodyness, but half congelled goopy blood is disgusting. The raw meat scraps had pulverized bloody meat and fat goop at the bottom and the smell was... unpleasent.

[mtnbkr]

There is a reason I carry a 2 qt canteen (beyond my drinking water) and a towel in my hunting pack...

I carry long-sleeve plastic gloves, baby wipes, and extra water.

I'm ok with field dressing once I make the first couple cuts.  For some reason, it's getting the critter open that skeeves me out.  Once I'm up to my elbows in deer innards, I'm cool. :D

Chris

[Ben]

I'm ok with field dressing once I make the first couple cuts.  For some reason, it's getting the critter open that skeeves me out.  Once I'm up to my elbows in deer innards, I'm cool. :D

Chris

The only place I get a bit hesitant is cutting around the anus. mostly for the spoilage, partially for not wanting crap on me. I grew up around slaughtered meat somewhat. From before I was born, my dad and uncle would get a pig a couple of times a year and butcher it in the backyard. I can't remember how old I was, but I was pretty young when I started helping. My dad also worked as a meat cutter for a good while and would take me to work once in a while, so cutting up dead stuff has just never bothered me. My niece on the other hand - the first time we butchered a pig in front of her (I think she was around 7 or so), she started out all excited and the dead pig didn't bother her at all. We had the pig hung before we opened it up. Once we sliced it down far enough where guts started spilling out, she turned all kinds of color and ran to the bathroom to throw up.  

I've got to remember to find a picture at my folks of my dad and uncle doing the backyard butchering once before I was born and scan and post it here. They had just come to America and the families were living together in this little shack. The picture is black and white and of them in the backyard in bloody coveralls with a couple of my cousins in the pic looking like neglected children. It's the perfect redneck zombie horror movie pic.  

[41magsnub]

I carry long-sleeve plastic gloves, baby wipes, and extra water.

I'm ok with field dressing once I make the first couple cuts.  For some reason, it's getting the critter open that skeeves me out.  Once I'm up to my elbows in deer innards, I'm cool. :D

Chris

Everytime I use gloves, every single time, I end up tearing them.  Last deer I gutted I was trying to figure out what the freaky looking tumor on its lung was when I realized it was a chunk out of the back of my glove stuck to it.  This is with the light exam gloves or heavy dish washing gloves.

[brimic]

Yeah, see, I figure a lot of what I deal with is grosser then dismantling a fresh dead thing in an orginized and neat manner.
Besides, don't you bleed it out first? So, that takes care of one of the gross aspects

Nope, don't bleed them out.
When you are shivering and your teeth are chattering due to the 15 degree weather and coming down from an adrenalin dump, being elbow deep in 100 degree blood and innards feels pretty good.

[BlueStarLizzard]

Nope, don't bleed them out.
When you are shivering and your teeth are chattering due to the 15 degree weather and coming down from an adrenalin dump, being elbow deep in 100 degree blood and innards feels pretty good.

Well, I wasn't really planning on going hunting on Hoth.
 

[brimic]

 

[mtnbkr]

Everytime I use gloves, every single time, I end up tearing them.  Last deer I gutted I was trying to figure out what the freaky looking tumor on its lung was when I realized it was a chunk out of the back of my glove stuck to it.  This is with the light exam gloves or heavy dish washing gloves.

Same here, but it keeps me from looking like I dipped my hands in a vat of blood. 

Chris

[charby]

Nope, don't bleed them out.
When you are shivering and your teeth are chattering due to the 15 degree weather and coming down from an adrenalin dump, being elbow deep in 100 degree blood and innards feels pretty good.

so true, so true.