Pre-Kill Hesitation

[KurtistheTurtle]

I'm interested in trapping and I really want to be able to legitimately develop my proficiency at it. Fish aside, I'm completely green to killing and cleaning animals. In fact, I wonder that if I find an animal snared in a trap I set if I can kill it or not.

I had this same problem with fish at first and I guess to compensate I was really bad to them, even the ones I wouldn't ever need to use. Once I started cleaning & eating them my respect for them went up. I used less and less harmful fishing methods and now I immediately release anything I know I'm not going to use and religiously obey requirements to keep a fish. Dunno, kind of grounded me. I don't accept disrespect to fish from myself and anybody around me period and I enjoy fishing and cleaning a lot more now, and I feel like I should cross this hurdle with wildlife. Except I'll have a head start; I already respect em

I read a thread kind of about this a couple pages back, and one of the things said there was "The only thing that matters is that you can look in the mirror and be happy with yourself." Completely agree.

So, when the moment comes, I'll have to face the music and I might have a bad guilty feeling in my stomach for a while for taking something's life. But I'll get over it. Now I know this is an intensely personal thing so I'm not asking for direct advice but I'm wondering if any of you have had similar feelings or situations before.

[Rick]

You might try using the Search feature. You can probably find the answer to your question since there is probably a post already made on just about any question you can ask. If you don't find anything, ask away.

Here's a thread on that very subject:

http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...elings+killing

[Pict]

I think if anyone gets to the point that they enjoy killing an animal that it's time to step back and take up golf. Killing for its own sake, killing for a trophy, killing more than you need are all things I have no respect for. I have no problem with a hunter mounting a trophy as long as the animal was packed out and consumed by someone. I have no problem with predator or pest control either where someone is trying to make a living off the land by herd or crop.

I look at it this way. We are humans, we eat meat and depend on agriculture for OUR survival. I also think it is rude to eat an animal before killing it. You are committing to killing an animal when you set a trap, not when you catch an animal. The only animals I have ever felt bad over were the ones I killed or wounded without any real reason. I also feel bad for animals that I don't hit well. It makes you feel bad enough that you don't continue the practice either hold your fire or hit them hard.

I have had the opportunity to see many people kill their first dinner. I often take live quail out to the bush when I am training first timers. Every once in a while someone will hesitantly attempt to cut a birds head off, as if they can do it gently. It's a total mental disconnect, lightly sawing away at the neck so as not to hurt the bird. I have learned to spot that kind of hesitation and now stop them before they get going. One powerful, quick stroke. Mac

[your_comforting_company]

I agree 200% with what's been said.

When you set a trap you are committed. IF you catch something, you MUST have the competency to dispatch the animal (if the trap didn't do so already), skin and prepare it, or store it. In my way of thinking, The animals have more right to be out in the woods than any single one of us "civilized mammals" do.
The fact-of-the-matter is that we are animals too. What drives us to keep going? What gives us our will-to-live? I treat animals with more respect than I treat most people. The woodland critters don't get air conditioning or trips to the grocery store. Their lives are 100x harder than our luxurious ones, and for that alone, they deserve life.

All that being said, There is a great skinning tutorial already on here. http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...ead.php?t=9162

When I take an animals life, I say a prayer thanking the animal for all it provides, thanking the good lord for his blessing, and asking forgiveness for taking the animals life. I don't know about others, but it makes me feel better about taking the life of an animal. To answer the direct question: Yes. I've been hunting and fishing and such for a long time, and (with the exception of fish) I feel bad every time I kill an animal, from the lowliest squirrel or rabbit, to the great big trophy buck (that always gets away.. I'm not a trophy hunter, I hunt for food only)

[Sarge47]

Well, I haven't killed any game in a long time; why? Because I'm not in need of food presently. Should that change I will go a-hunting! I don't trap because of the trapping laws here. I would use my .22 and try & make a clean kill. If I only wound them I'm quick to finish the job in order to eliminate the animal's suffering.

[preachtheWORD]

You said it better than I could, Mac. Wish I could rep you up, but I've gotta spread some love around first.

[kyratshooter]

I have found that most of the time my snares produce live game, restrained and waiting for the kill. I have often released snared animals that I did not need.

Ethically, I abide by one primary rule. If you kill it you eat it.

That alone staves off any guilt or justification problems.

[DOGMAN]

Killing is something that I struggle with, and honestly, the more you hunt, and trap the more your going to have to come to terms with it. A hard part of these pursuits...if you do them extensively is there will be times you don't do them well, and animals suffer- even though you tried your best. Conditions, timing, equipment malfunctions etc...will all eventually plague you and cause a hard death, in those situations many people than quit afterwards because they feel "traumatized". But, that is not the time to give up. You have to just accept the situation, treat the animal with great respect, and go on about your business and strive to better next time.

[KurtistheTurtle]

When you set a trap you are committed.

This is how I should have been thinking the whole time. No backing out. I have a period of silence for a fish when I clean it, I'll do the same for animals.

[red lake]

When you need to you will have to, but in order to get to the point where you are able to hunt/trap for sustenance you need to practice and learn how.

I had the same thoughts first time I shot a grouse. But overcame it quickly. My first snared rabbit wasn't dead when we checked the trap, but I didn't hesitate to dispatch it.

I never waste any meat I harvest weather it be grouse rabbit or fish. It is good karma.

[kyratshooter]

I think this "problem" exists due to our removal from the source of our food in modern urban society.

Not too many years back every meal you ate ment someone got bloody during the preperation. I remember killing chickens by the dozen, slauthering rabbits in mass and killing 15 hogs in one morning. That was just for family use.

Sunday dinner ment something died.

No romance, no hesitation. We said our prayer to the Lord, the critter was simply SOL.

[Ole WV Coot]

I think this "problem" exists due to our removal from the source of our food in modern urban society.

Not too many years back every meal you ate ment someone got bloody during the preperation. I remember killing chickens by the dozen, slauthering rabbits in mass and killing 15 hogs in one morning. That was just for family use.

Sunday dinner ment something died.

No romance, no hesitation. We said our prayer to the Lord, the critter was simply SOL.

Exactly the way it was. If we were old enough to toddle around we knew where our food came from. I never gave it any though, just eat what I kill and never killed any game just to be killing. I could care less about a trophy buck, give me a nice tender doe anytime.

[rwc1969]

.... You are committing to killing an animal when you set a trap, not when you catch an animal.... I also feel bad for animals that I don't hit well... It makes you feel bad enough that you don't continue the practice either hold your fire or hit them hard.... I often take live quail out to the bush when I am training first timers. Every once in a while someone will hesitantly attempt to cut a birds head off, as if they can do it gently....lightly sawing away at the neck so as not to hurt the bird. I have learned to spot that kind of hesitation and now stop them before they get going. One powerful, quick stroke. Mac

Yep, if you're gonna do it, do it and don't think about the poor critter you are putting down. Hesitation and lack of precision just add to the suffering. Save the thinking for afterwards.


I feel bad and good about every animal I kill, but that's just the way it goes. The ones that haunt me are the ones that got away injured or suffered needlessly.

I've let many a magnificent buck walk on by because I didn't feel right about the shot. I've also taken some poor shots and that is why I now let em walk.

[Alaskan Survivalist]

What about potatoes? There are still alive when you pull them up by thier roots, keep them in a cold dark place for months, skin them, cut them up and even still alive when you throw them in the frying pan. It's just to cruel to think about.

[Rick]

Taters are dumb, though. They grow in the garden. They should know what's coming.

[crashdive123]

You'd think with so many eyes, they would have seen you coming.

[your_comforting_company]

You'd think with so many eyes, they would have seen you coming.

that right there is funny!

[kyratshooter]

Perhaps I should change my name to "Tater Killer". I wonder if PITA would object to that?

[rwc1969]

I never knew why I felt so bad about cuttin the lawn 'till now. Poor little grasses.

[10mm_Bob]

My dad taught us how to field dress and butcher before we were allowed to hunt. I only kill for two reasons: to eat, or defend myself. Defending yourself also includes protecting your farm from pests and your livestock from predators, or defending your country/land. If you kill for any other reason, you're in the wrong in my book.