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What do you shoot and why...

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
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How sad that wild animals roaming free is such a problem for modern Britain.

For anyone who is naively under the impression that cross-bows or bows are a quick and humane way to dispatch a large animal, I'm afraid you are sorely mistaken.
 
Broseidon said:
How sad that wild animals roaming free is such a problem for modern Britain.

For anyone who is naively under the impression that cross-bows or bows are a quick and humane way to dispatch a large animal, I'm afraid you are sorely mistaken.
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True... but also a good way to avoid the moral dilemma of the question. I asked the same question to my best mate last night who is a life long political veggie/pescetarian and after giving the same initial response as yours Broseidon he eventually conceded that it was no different than eating the Bass I caught last summer whilst camping together?
Having killed a sheep when on survival training in the forces I have never wanted to kill another mammal... mainly because I really didn't enjoy the experience... whereas like others on this thread I find I have no such sympathies with killing fish... which I find impossible to explain or justify? I suppose you can't stroke a fish can you... and yet I love their natural living beauty just as much as any mammals?
I'm not sure I can see much of a difference between a cross bow/bow and a speargun regarding humane dispatch. Your respect, gratitude and love for the animal which you are dispatching is demonstrated/expressed by the manner/technique in which you kill either the fish or mammal rather than how you actually catch it/bring it down (ballistics aside)?
Its a tough question but only slightly different to the original one from Padaxes?
 
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artiz said:
I'm not sure I can see much of a difference between a cross bow/bow and a speargun regarding humane dispatch.
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They are worlds apart. When you shoot a fish with your speargun, it's attached to spear and can't escape, meaning you can dispatch it quickly and efficiently.

With a bow, the arrow hits the animal and it runs - it doesn't just curl up and die. If you are exceptionally lucky an hit the heart or a big blood vessel in the lungs, the animal may expire within 100 meters. If not, as is most often the case, it will take a lot longer. You have no guarantee that you will find the animal, it may take hours if not days for it to die.

You can't compare the humane dispatch of a 3lb bass attached to a spear with a 150lb deer that is wounded and running for its life.
 
Also I think the spear is about the best way to kill fish due to its relative power associated with mass in relation to the size of the fish.
Outside of the water its a lot easier to deliver higher power using velocity instead of mass (as there is less friction) so a rifle is a much better choice.
To make the speargun analogy with deer you would probably need a 3m long 3cm dia metal spear. If you had a gun big enough to shoot it then ya... perhaps that would be comparable to underwater spearing.
 


These distinctions/points are side-stepping the issue though? People who are anti-hunting wouldn't see any difference? Besides there's plenty of hideous video on Youtube of even a 10 year old girl bringing down a Deer quickly with a crossbow which contradicts both your points? I just avoided the issue of gun licenses for the sake of clarity?
The point of interest is what ethical or moral difference is there between shooting a Bass and shooting a Rabbit or a Deer for food... they're all meat on a plate?
It's not a trick question... more about wondering why I wouldn't kill either a Rabbit or a Deer myself and not really fully understanding why not?

I also wouldn't kill an Octopus, Cuttlefish or John Dory either so been thinking I was going soft in my old age... until I read this thread?
 
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artiz said:
Besides there's plenty of hideous video on Youtube of even a 10 year old girl bringing down a Deer quickly with a crossbow which contradicts both your points
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Show me a video where the deer does not instantly run off or one where there is a quick, humane dispatch.

I'm not vastly anti-hunting, I can just see quite clearly that bow hunting is not the most humane way of taking down large animals. If people wanted to be humane, they'd use a rifle - people use a bow because they enjoy it.
 
Please dont start posting videos of bow shot animals!

Over the years I have been a member of this forum there have been 4 or 5 discussions about hunting or killing warm blooded creatures & every time the thread has been closed!
Join a shooting forum if you want to post videos on this subject.
 
jks said:
I would be out bow hunting in a flash if could
BOWHUNTING, THE ALTERNATIVE CALIBRE
WWW.BRITISHBOWHUNTERS.ORG.UK
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I agree. I love a bit of proper wild venison and eat it as often as I can get it!!!
I agree that a rifle is more likely to produce an instant kill but here in Ireland you have to jump through a lot of hoops to get a cert for a large calibre rifle and that, combined with the absence of wolves, is IMHO why deer are becoming a problem.
BUT... a deer hit with an arrow in a vital spot will bleed out and die fairly quickly. I genuinly believe that they don't suffer huge pain due to adrenaline and shock. I know that in my kickboxing days I rarely felt much pain 'til the next day and likewise when I've cut myself badly with stanley knife and also opinel knife that were very sharp.
As for wounding shots, well surely they are as bad with a rifle as they are with an arrow?
 

Worry not... no chance of that from me!

Padaxes originally asked us what do you shoot and why?
I take pretty much only Bass, Mullet, Brown Crab, Lobster and the occasional Pollock. Usually with an average of around 3-4lb. If they are in a 'tight' or close pair I tend to leave them alone for sentimental reasons.
I now leave the bigger animals alone too of course... they've made it thus far so let them breed on as far as I'm concerned.
I have some marks where I have been going for more than 20 years and occasionally seeing the same old gargantuan Wrasse or Conger is a genuine pleasure and definitely not on the menu.
The problem being of course that most other spearo's, potters and fisherman who 'invade' my marks do not seem to have the same ethics, morals or principles?
 
Broseidon said:
Maybe I'm doing it wrong... Seriously, how often do fish die when you spear them? That's what the knife is for..!
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Fair point, hunt is what I meant not kill. Underwater a gun doesnt really work due to low mass so a spear is better, out of the water a gun is better than a spear or bow.

Right, I agree. There is no difference. When you kill any animal you just gotta make sure its a sustainable and ethical decision. Rabbit, deer, bass, all similiar in that regard. Except fish is maybe cleaner as it doesnt leave a bog pool of blood, so perhaps it has the appearance of being more 'nicer'??
 
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