GTA
General Discussion To Gateway To Airguns => Hunting Gate => : redroush00 May 13, 2010, 02:11:02 PM
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I popped a squirrel again yesterday at 30 yards or so. When i walked up to it i saw the neck wound. Alot of blood. Itwas gasping for air and it was sucking through the wound. I felt pretty awfull. I love the atmosphee and peace and quiet. I love the stalk...but the finale is less the climatic for me. :0 I must be soft. I.m disapponted in myself at the same time because so many can do it without regard. I only target shot to hone my skills and now i dont think target shooting will be the same. I'm probably going o get rid of all my equipment and set aside this short lived sport I've only begun 5 months ago.
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Red,
Don't be hard on yourself. You are not soft. I think a lot of us have gone through the same thng you are feeling. I for one have gone through it. If you are not shooting them for food or in my case to keep damage to proprty to a minimum don't shoot them. If you are finding peace in target shooting keep doing it and leave the animals be unless they are causing problems. Keep the faith my fellow airgunner it will be ok. :) :)
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I wouldn't end a sport that you like, because you don't like to kill !
I have killed many animals, and the ones that I didn't have tokill, soured my stomach ! So I quit game hunting, but will kill any animal that is dangerous to my family, pets or property, or wanted or needed for food !
Target shooting is a fine sport, and I enjoy it very much. It doesn't have anything to do with destroying animals for sport or enjoyment ! So keep on shooting your targets, you have nothing to feel bad about, and certainly nothing to be ashamed of !!!
Bill
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Starlings are it for me, they are pests and I dont wish to shoot anything else, guess at 56 im kind of soft too, keep your stuff and go for the pest birds, they are taking over my barn, killing my martins and messing with my robins.
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Red- there have been plenty of times I have gotten a squirrel in my sites just to aim off it and shoot into the ground or over its head. I find killing them for no reason hard to stomach. But when they are destroying property, that is a different story. Or when they are eating my bird food....but even then, how can we set up a buffet and expect them not to come to the table? But, I continue to shoot at paper and cans....Change your targets and keep the guns. Have fun and that is all it is, a game for your to entertain yourself. if the need arises you will have the skills to put food on the table.
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Welcome to the GTA Forums Norm !
The BEST Air Gun Forums on the Internet !!!! And It's a GREAT PLACE TO BE !!!!!
Yes Norm, shooting what you must, and shooting what you need to, is different than shooting what you want to. Most people do not find it too much fun, killing just for sport !
Now that your a member of our air gun family, I hope to see you here often !
Bill
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It's the hunters that don't have a heart that should lay up their hunting equipment. A hunter with a heart show's respect, caring and even concern for the game he or she as taken and Mother Nature. I have taken game that has had life left in it still in the past and because a care I would end any suffering as quickly as possible. I've also taken down sick game because I care, end it's suffering and hopefully stop the sickness from spreading to other animals. I put down a possum not to long ago just for that reason it was deathly sick and and I would rather see it put down then suffering and spreading the sickness. Don't think it's a weakness to feel for the game that you take to me it's part of being a true hunter who takes but also gives back to the sport and nature. Ed
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FRIEND redroush00 to target shoot is to target shoot,to take game is to eat & enjoy stalk,some enjoy the blood lust of it, some loss the lust over time( my self for one)I still hunt but not like I use to & I choose carefully what I do kill to EAT & almost never just kill for sport anymore(unless really needed for pest controll or so forth)I do thank the animal for it 's life & the life it give's to me& I make sure they suffer very little by useing enough gun for the killing,just remember you can enjoy the wood's & the stalk an not have to pull the trigger, hell use a camera & be impressive in your stalk to get close enough for close up shot's, then you've done what few can do (anyone can get in gun range) & there is alway's paper,clay bird's & ton's of other way's to enjoy weapon's without killing, JUST DON'T put any burden on your self for not enjoying the final act of the stalk,not all people do.MOST I've knowen in life don't!!! TAKE CARE & BE PROUD" NOT" TO ENJOY THE SUFFERING OF ANOTHER CREATURE . JAY MORGAN(PAPA DRIFTER)
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I couldn't have said it any better than my buddy Ed just did....
We have all shot game that didn't die immediately and it can have a dramatic emotional effect on you, but there's nothing wrong with that, it just shows that you respect the animals that you are harvesting and like Ed said, in those instances you act quickly to finish the animal quickly. Don't give up air gunning because of this experience. If you cannot bring yourself to hunt anymore then that's fine but you can still have fun target shooting with your air guns.
Jeff
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I moved this post to the hunting gate. I am the same way you are Red. I have only shot a few squirrels since I have lived here. I have seen allot of death in my lifetime and it never bothered me when I was young but now I just stick to paper unless I should go hunting for food and then I have reservations. Stick with the paper Red and let your conscious be your guide...
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N/T
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No, but I have had some bad experiences.
Youmight get some holier-than-thou sermons on not taking shots that aren't sure things, but no shot in the wild is a sure thing. There are just too many variables. So, you have to be prepared to take the quick follow up coup de gras, or use the boot or knife. That really is part of pointing a rifle at a critter.
Killing isn't for everyone, for sure. Still no reason to hang up the irons, there is plenty of fun to be had and skills to be honed, shooting paper and reactive targets. Guns aren't about killing unless you think they are.
If you are shooting for food or pest control you gotta steel yourself. But you can shoot for the pure joy of connecting a parabola with a distant target and no harm done.
Whatever happened to your squirrel was quicker than what happens in the natural world. Animal kills often start with eating the victim while still alive. Just polish the bugger off quickly and it'll be way ahead of what nature has in store. There is nothing crueler than a cat.
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Be soft, that makes you a hunter and not a killer. Next time, take a camera, and see if it feels the same. People shoot for different reasons. Some shoot for trophies or numbers, some for pest control, some for food. Just because you made 1 bad shot, doesn't mean you should stop. It means that you should practice more so that you can get a better shot. On the opposite end, consider how the squirrel could have died. Eaten by a bird, fox, etc. Do you think that would have been quicker or less painful?
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I have felt that way once a long time ago. I just had my fill of shooting tons of birds. Now I have guns for target and guns for hunting which I don't get to do all that often. I have more enjoyment target shooting and it is becoming a great hobby just at that level. Stick with the targets and plinking and just relax and have fun.
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No, you're not soft. Some people hunt some don't....and that's it to that.
Alot of times I've had squirrels in my cross-hairs....and I give them a pass just because they're not destroying anything on my property. Starlings, Grackles and Crows are different because they kill the song birds....so I shoot them any chance I get. But I still feel abit sad when I pick up their body (Used for food later)....they had to give up their life for me.
I target shoot alot so when the opportunity arrives....I aim for a "One Shot One Kill" shot....less suffering for the prey.
Normdiver, a BIG WELCOME to the GTA forum and family.
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mr. red i lost my will to hunt in 1971 i want go into why . other than a short trip with a kiwi to go pig hunting which i survived about 9 years ago i don't kill anything thats not threating me or family. i can tell you i have all sorts of arms from 22s to a 300 magnum i have had them for years and hardley every shoot them but they are not for sale. every now and then i will wipe the dust off them and go out back and put a few rounds through them. i shoot my air rifles almost everyday and have killed multitudes of cans and bottle caps and i injoy it very much. just because you have a weapon dosen't mean you have to kill , this is a fine sport and there are a lot of things to shoot at that aren't living so please don't don't give up this hobby that you injoy. i quess we all get on here and *_*_*_*_*_* and grumble that a certain rifle want shoot right or want do this or that but in reality thats what these forums are for. i am a lot like big bill i almost shot a oreo cookie the other day so don't give up on this hobby . thanks david
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I'm not much of a killer unless it becomes a necessity. I had this idea a long time ago to give the thrill of the hunt to the tree huggers. Who knows, it's probably already been done, like the rest of my great ideas :). The scope image is mirrored out to a small camera somehow, while still being able to look down the scope. As a blank round goes off inside the chamber (with adequate recoil to require decent gun control), it triggers the camera. The camera takes an image of the prey and the crosshairs / mildot hold / whatever.. This way you'd still get the fun of the hunt, the feel and sound of the weapon, and would still need the one-shot-one-kill discipline since the blank would scare everything away. Your camera image would show (after trigger pull / recoil) if you still had a "kill" shot on the game, without all the blood and suffering and death and what not.
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That's a little extreme in my eyes. I felt bad about the first squirrel then as I collected 4 more with plans to eat them I didn't care as much then when I cooked them! Holy cow all the care was gone. Squirrels are good I will continue to hunt.
If you don't like hunting then just target shoot. Shooting steel is alot of fun. Trying to figure out more impressive shots everytime. It's good times. I woulldnt sell your stable yet or all of it for that matter.
On another note does the big cat have a steel trigger? If so dibs if you can do paypal. Lol
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Red, The best way to "ruin" a potential hunter is to allow them to go hunting with an underpowered tool that fails to kill quickly and efficiently. I've seen this happen all of my life with well intentioned but sadly misinformed mentors (usually Dad's, uncles and brothers) who encouraged the young charges to go afield with underpowered (usually a .410 shotgun) hunting guns. Their reasoning being that the shooter friendly, mild recoiling .410 is more appropriate for kids and small frame shooters. After all, hasn't the .410 shotgun been touted by many outdoor writers as a great "first" gun for the youths for many decades they reason? Well the sad but real truth is because it's a lighter payload and has a more limited effective killing range a novice hunter is more likely to not kill but rather simply wound and not recover the squirrel they shoot at with it.When a novice or young shooter shoots at live game and doesn't quickly dispatch the quarry the result can be trumatic and emotionally scarring to the point of hunting becoming a huge turn-off The real truth is the .410 shotgun is better suited to a veteran shooter (expert) who knows the limitations of his gun and carefully selects which shots to take. The exact same principle applies to our beloved air rifles. We all know how effective a well placed shot from any mid power airgun can be on small game such as squirrels.But all veteran airgunners acknowledge the limitations that are inherent in a low energy projectile. We know we have to be pretty much perfect with our shot or things can get messy. In hunting situations with low energy air rifles, our personal discipline in shot selection is CRUCIAL if we are to maintain our dignity and perhaps our sanity as hunters. I guess what I'm trying to say is shake it off and learn something positive and not something negative from this bad experience. Low energy air rifles and we all love them I know, are wonderful for target shooting and even hunting but all veteran airgunners should encourage newcomers to this sport to complete a proper hunter safety course and get educated and confident before taking any shots at live targets.We can see what happens when babes are thrown to the wolves and none of us want to see that happen. Whenever we airgunners consider shots at live targets we should be mindful of the moral and ethical implications of taking life.We need a good reason to pull that trigger or we can't really call ourselves Sportsman. Don't feel badly though for very long. Dust yourself off and get back in the race. The best hunters I've ever known were wise stewards of their resource and were likewise very knowledgeable about the natural world they tromped around in.They understood the circle of life and the role they played in it. They were people you would admire if you could spend a little time with. They had an advantage in that they came from rural areas and had been raised in semi-agricultural wooded areas where hunting was as natural as growing up.Hard to get that kind of background if you live in the city I suppose. It is my sincere hope that you won't be so traumatized by this potential life changing event that you become an anti-hunter but rather instead blossom into a woods wise expert on all things hunting. Here's a good tip. If you haven't already, join (TODAY), The National Rifle Association.You'll be glad you did.
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I have hunted most of my life. I gave it up. If is a hunter thats fine I suport hunting and hunters rigts. It just not for me any more. I'll stick to the target.
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Maybe Ill stew on this a bit.
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Stew on it for a while then shoot targets again. No shame in being a bad a$$ target shooter. There's planty of them here too.
Welcome to the forum!
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well said, Ed i agree...
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PLEASE do. Shadow said it best.