Anyone here hunt?

[LBR]

Do you hunt any of your own food? As in animals? Either bows and arrows, firearms or???

I'm new to shooting, and have discovered that many, many people in this area really love to hunt.

I grew up fishing and fileting fish, but not hunting.

[Rod in Japan]

I don't, but I'd like to. But the obstacles include:

- Getting a gun here is a big hassle. Bow hunting isn't done as far as I know
- Joining a group of hunters is a social investment that requires time that I don't really have
- Wifely looking askance at guns, groups of men, and lumps of bloody meat in plastic bags

People sometimes give us boar meat, and I really like it. It's interesting to see the patronage system that exists around the divvying up of a boar carcase. There's something primeval about the bestowing of game.

Last autumn, some duck hunters were paddling around on the lake just down from our house. When they fired their shotguns, it sounded as though the shot was hitting our windows!

[cruixman]

i stay in scotland. most of the hunting in my local area is. shooting or trapping rabbits hares,there is wild deer too. hard to find them. i used to hunt. but i have not had a gun for a while. i mostly fish now. but im going to get a gun again. because my eldest daughter has a keen interest in all things wild. i used to also get rabbits. with my polecat and nets. i stay in a small village. that has loads of appropriate ground for shooting/ mostly free. with the farmers permission. so good luck too you

jim

[Mainer in Exile]

I used to hunt a lot, back home in Maine. We hunted everything from hare, ducks, and grouse to deer.

Here in Germany, the bureaucracy is more than I want to attempt to get a permit to hunt. And, from what I understand, hunting itself is so expensive most hunters sell their game to pay for the hunting privileges.

The system is self-defeating in that farmers are having problems with wild animals destroying crops. Those that have the rights to hunt try to maintain a huntable population, instead of controlling the populations to protect the agriculture, as it was meant to be.

I do miss hunting. There is no meat like meat from an animal living naturally, free, and grown on all natural feed. I try to give my rabbits and chickens as good a life as I can, but am limited by time and room.

[LBR]

Mainer, I used to wonder about that when I lived in Munich. There were lots of Rod and Gun clubs, and the Zimmer Schuetzen, but I didn't hear much of hunting like I do here in the South. The hunting laws here, as far as I know, ensure the growth of the game, and keep predators down.

I'm really enjoying learning to shoot and looking forward to being able to do something useful with it.

Rod, what if you took your wife with you? I got started because I certain gentlemen asked me. I started with an air rifle and learned then learned to shoot .22 shorts and the powder-free .22 longs on the youth Winchester my father learned on. It's quite a thrill to be able to hold up a small rifle and be accurate right away! I think a lot of women are wary of the whole "thing" with men and guns because they feel so left out, or kept out. I was a bit wary, and slowly realized that this certain someone was seriously interested in shooting and gun collecting. I didn't want to feel daunted, so I started doing some research on the gun forums on the web, took a class, and found I really enjoy shooting. I can now shoot well enough to plink around, and it's rewarding to see progress all along the way!

Cruixman, what a lovely thing to share with your daughter. I learned a lot going fishing with my father. He never hunted, but once or twice for rabbits. All those years of going camping as a child taught me a great deal. People are often surprised that my sister and I can filet fish.

[cruixman]

heres me and my eldest daughter. we were fishing yesterday. this is one of the brown trout we caught. there wild and bread in the river calder. this ones about average a half pounder. but they can hit 3 pounds in this small river, this one was lucky it went back. im going fishing tomorrow to roughrigg loch. theres big ones there. so its baby perch alive for bait. hi to all....jim

[cruixman]

heres a picture of the one of the brown trout we caught

[LBR]

Cruixman, that's a nice trout. Did you fry it?

[MikeM]

yup, I hunt. Use an air rifle to bag bunnies, woodies, squizzers for the pot (plus the odd pheasant and the like). Tis good fun, and a great way to provide meet for the freezer. I'd like to fish, but live too far from the coast and taking fish from inland waterways is frowned upon in England.

[Rod in Japan]

Rod, what if you took your wife with you?

I'm not quite sure where to begin explaining how inconceivable that is. My wife and I have very few interests in common, but we enjoy sharing the things we both like.

The real obstacle is not the missus, it's the difficulty of getting a gun. Just an air rifle would be nice. Maybe I should look into that again...

Has anybody eaten crows? There are some interesting recipes online, and we have millions of crows around. They ate most of my watermelons...

[Ellendra]

I hunt, although I haven't had much chance to go out hunting. I've gotten squirrels, lots of squirrels!

I like deer hunting, but my dad keeps inviting himself along whenever I ask him for my gun (he keeps it hidden in a locked cabinet that only he has the key to, grrrrrrrrrr, I can't wait until my house is built!)

Unfortunately, my dad walks like an elephant, and I vanish with no warning, so hunting with him is both dangerous and unproductive. Hopefully I can get some solo hunting time now that I have my own land.

I also like bowhunting. My shoulder keeps giving out for the last 3 years, but I'd bet I could still pin an ace at 30 yards :p

Trapping might be worth considering as well. There are a number of traps available depending on what you want done. Some only one type of animal, some will catch many types. There are lethal and live. Rod, if Japan would let you make your own, there are designs for bird traps available online that may work for crows.

Crow meat is very strongly flavored, like duck x 20. That's unfortunately as much as I know, I've never gotten any while hunting.

[confused]

Hi, i do a wee bit mooching, air rifle, catty, snare, net,the odd pigeon,bunny,or a bonus pheasant! i enjoy a wee bit fishing ,i used to tickle a lot of trout (called guddling in these parts) anything makes a pleasant change from a tin of ! in short i just love the country , and all things that go with it , it's not unusual to go out for a bunny and come home with a load of berrys /mushrooms ,but if it makes a meal ??? it cant be bad .

[Rod in Japan]

I once did a survival course where we trapped rabbits. Psychologically, I'm not well adapted to trapping. I'm not sure which is worse, finding that I've trapped something, or finding that I haven't.

[KellyB]

I used to work for a family that used to go on shoot to shoot pheasants & grouse......well you wouldn't believe what she would come back with these aren't your ish people the people that used to go were very rich and after the shoot the birds would be buried UNLESS she was there she used to bring the lot back in a van the gardener would hang them and pluck them she would then cook them all making everything from pies to pate and give it away to the locals ....she hated waste

[LBR]

Kelly, interesting story. Nice to hear of someone being resourceful like that.