Pursuit of game animals, principally as sport. To early humans hunting was a necessity, and it remained so in many societies until recently. The development of agriculture made hunting less necessary as a sole life support, but game was still pursued in order to protect crops, flocks, or herds, as well as for food. Weapons now commonly used in hunting include the rifle, shotgun, and the bow and arrow, and methods include stalking, still-hunting (lying in wait), tracking, driving, and calling. Dogs are sometimes employed to track, flush, or capture prey. In Europe much of the land once hunted upon was owned by the aristocracy, and gamekeepers were employed to regulate the amount of game that could be hunted in a given area. By the 1800s the land hunted upon was not or had never been privately owned, and there began to develop a “tragedy of the commons,” in that no one hunter had any motive to limit the number of animals killed; certain species were hunted to, or very close to, extinction. To counter this development, ethical codes were established that give the quarry a fair chance to escape; attempts were made to minimize the suffering of wounded game; and game laws, licensing, and limited hunting seasons were established to protect game stocks. For instance, a modern license may authorize a hunter to kill only two deer during the brief season for deer, and he or she must present a kill to a game warden who will then document and tag the animal. There are often penalties and fines for being found with an animal that is not so marked. fisher1221us

Hunting, my family and myself, is a way of life.
We don’t buy meat from the grocery store unless we have a guest over that does not like game meat. All of the meat we consume is wild game. We eat venison, hog, dove, duck, rabbit, quail.

Most of the the Texas Fish and Game Department’s budget, 53% of it comes from from licensing and permits. So given that, if they outlawed hunting then the state would loose 53% of its conservation budget. Second Amendment Defender

Now there are some hunters that go shoot just to kill stuff, and I’m not talking about eradicating predators or vermin. That kind of “hunting” has some moral issues to talk about. P12

There are some things that I feel that most folks who have never hunted do not understand. Morality has nothing to do with hunting. I know many folks in my church that enjoy hunting. I think folks confuse making a humane kill in the field with morality.

Most hunters use a rifle that has a large enough caliber to make the kill quick and clean on the first shot. Make no mistake, there is a significant amount of skill required to make these long distance shots at targets that are often on the move.

I have witnessed hunters in my years that have been abusive to animals that have been quarried by them. Trust me when I say there is nothing that makes my more angry when I see this happen. But, let me state a fact. Those incidents are very rare, and anytime I have seen this behavior, I have made a b-line or those folks trucks to record license plate numbers for report to Fish and Game Officers. In the years that I have been hunting, this has only happened twice.

I think what is not understood about harvesting of any animals is the fact that we are so used to purchasing or chicken, beef, fish, lamb, pork or any other product from our supermarkets. This detaches us from the reality that these animals provide our food.

When I lived with my parents, we operated a small subsistance farm. Mainly chickens. The chickens provided meat and eggs for our family. One per we would purchase a Pig and a Steer for slaughter. This provided the remainder of the meat we would use for the year. Fishing was done on a fairly regular basis, and this was always a welcome change.

But let me state this. It was always hard to kill the animals for slaughter, but it was something that had to be done for our family. Additional animals like rabbits wer hunted from my father’s property, along with Phesants, Quail and Dove. All make excellent meals by the way.

All of these animals were dispatched in a completely humaine manner and rendered immediately.

Some may not agree, but hunting is a natural extension of the Agriculture Industry. As you can research, the Department of Fish and Game allow hunting and license for it. All of the major game animals also require Harvest Tags for the animals being taken during their open seasons. There are some animals that do not have a specific season, but this is mainly because they are animals are considered a menace, and therefore there is no limit on the amount of animals that may be taken.

Two that fall into this category in California are Wild Pigs and Coyote. This is because their infant mortality rate is nearly 0%, and the give birth to litters of animals like many rodents. However they are large enough, they have few natural predators, and to keep the population in check, hunting is the only option.

One of the sources that I would recommend that you explore is the State of California Department of Fish and Game. If you do not live here in this state, you should have a Fish and Game site available.

Sorry for being a little long winded, but there was quite a bit to answer in your question.

And… finally you ask about morality in this use of animals???

My dad and I were also thieves. How?

We also raised Honey Bees for their Honey and Wax. This is really nothing more than symbiotic theft. They make the honey and wax, and may dad and I take it and sell it. The only thing we provide for the bees is shelter and care.

Good luck with your report. Teknoman Saber