I personally think that if you're taking out destructive pests or hunting food I can't see why anyone would have a problem with it. However, what I can't get is why people would randomly shoot birds or other critters that aren't doing any damage and aren't introduced exotics. Killing things just to kill them is wasteful and makes all the legitimate hunters look bad. And getting off on the suffering of another creature is mental illness.
I don't have real issues with hunting done responsibly. I don't know if many of you have seen the conditions on factory-farms, but it's really horrible and damaging all around (a lot of "super bugs" start out because the animals are continually dosed with anti-biotics, plus the concentration of animals in one place is very environmentally harmful). All of this makes hunting a MUCH more reasonable way of putting food on the table in my own humble opinion. Do you want critters that have been raised in overcrowded, disease ridden conditions and dosed with who-knows-what? Or would you prefer to have an animal that's had an active life and raised "organic" by Mother Nature herself as dinner? I personally think that factory farms are an abomination (seriously, have any of y'all been to one of these?) and a health hazard. I'd rather eat cloned meat than anything that came from a factory farm!
And hey, not everyone who believes in treating animals humanely is a "nut". I support the Humane Society and ASPCA. I also have this thing called "common sense". The thing is that there's a place where common sense ends when you're talking about humane treatment for animals. As an example of what is not common sense to me, PETA wants people to give up all house pets and domesticated animals, (WTF?). A world without the dogs, cats, and other domesticated animals most of us grew up with would be a sterile and miserable place. You can be humane when hunting, or you can be a vicious dweeb. The best way to keep hunting legal is to do it in a responsible and (as much as possible) humane way. Use sense, don't just blow away birds "cuz I can" when they're not a pest or food, and be an adult about this hobby, and the grief that the more extreme animal rights groups can give the airgun community as a whole will be a lot less. Do folks on here REALLY think that everyone that's against animal abuse is a nut? That's as wrong as people who say that everyone that owns an airgun is a sadist who'll shoot any defenseless critter they can find. We all know that both of those statements are not only untrue, but asinine.
I know that some of us live in places where airguns are restricted, or even outright banned. I think that a BIG part of that is a perception some people hold that airgun users are irresponsible kids who shoot stray cats and song birds for sadistic pleasure, and vandalize property. I also don't think that description would fit most of the airgun community. But because we know that people can get that impression, it makes sense to make a good impression in the pursuit of our hobby. As airgun owners we are GREATLY outnumbered by those who don't share our hobby and appearances DO count.
On a different subject, what's a grackle and why do people shoot 'em? I know that European starlings are an introduced pest we're supposed to nail, and that crows can cause a lot of other damage, etc., I just don't know what a grackle is. (Not trying to hassle anyone for shooting pest birds)
