I want to hunt, but I believe I'm unable to do it

[DragonStryk72]

Question. Those of you who hunt. How do you feel when you're killing an animal?

I was sad for killing the deer, but I was more shocked than anything that my shot actually hit and took it down on one pull. There is an adrenaline rush to it, but then I get an adrenaline rush when I play Bingo. There was a certain satisfaction with being able to feed all of my friends at once with my kill, though. It's a lot more complicated than most people truthfully understand.

[logroller]

I was sad for killing the deer, but I was more shocked than anything that my shot actually hit and took it down on one pull. There is an adrenaline rush to it, but then I get an adrenaline rush when I play Bingo. There was a certain satisfaction with being able to feed all of my friends at once with my kill, though. It's a lot more complicated than most people truthfully understand.

It is complicated; especially that split second before you release-- I always question my intention at that moment. That's cool you do it with a bow. I've took down rabbits with a bow; never large game. I just have a recurve though; not sure how confident I'd be with something large.

[DragonStryk72]

It is complicated; especially that split second before you release-- I always question my intention at that moment. That's cool you do it with a bow. I've took down rabbits with a bow; never large game. I just have a recurve though; not sure how confident I'd be with something large.

It's difficult, but I was uncomfortable with using one of the rifles they had with the 1000 yd. scopes. It felt like the deer wouldn't even have any chance, so I figure a bow is at least giving them a sporting chance. Sure, I have to be closer to the deer to take the shot, but I feel better that there's at least chance of them walking away even if I hit. I was firing a compound bow with hunting heads on it. There's technically a sight, but I never use the thing.

[logroller]

It's difficult, but I was uncomfortable with using one of the rifles they had with the 1000 yd. scopes. It felt like the deer wouldn't even have any chance, so I figure a bow is at least giving them a sporting chance. Sure, I have to be closer to the deer to take the shot, but I feel better that there's at least chance of them walking away even if I hit. I was firing a compound bow with hunting heads on it. There's technically a sight, but I never use the thing.

At what range was the deer you took?

[DragonStryk72]

At what range was the deer you took?

A little over fifty feet, and it was about 630 am, with the wind coming my direction. The deer just wandered into the area.

[Wind Song]

I was sad for killing the deer, but I was more shocked than anything that my shot actually hit and took it down on one pull. There is an adrenaline rush to it, but then I get an adrenaline rush when I play Bingo. There was a certain satisfaction with being able to feed all of my friends at once with my kill, though. It's a lot more complicated than most people truthfully understand.

I'm only thinking about this in terms of karma. I won't comment any further on karma. There is less karma accumulated if you regret killing. Don't worry about it, though. It's only Buddhists who care about karma.

[logroller]

I'm only thinking about this in terms of karma. I won't comment any further on karma. There is less karma accumulated if you regret killing. Don't worry about it, though. It's only Buddhists who care about karma.

Its only Buddhists that call it karma, but having a conscience is not the exclusive domain of Buddhists. I believe we all have goodness and badness within us. At times those things exists together, the proverbial gray area, and its a challenge for us to make sense of those actions. I mean clearly, if your family is starving, easy decision in my book; but doing so for sport does introduce a dilemma. I did it because I wanted to know how, in case I needed to at some point. I did so; now I know. that's all it was for me; and I remain at peace. Were I never to have done it; I couldn't know that peace.

[Wind Song]

Its only Buddhists that call it karma, but having a conscience is not the exclusive domain of Buddhists. I believe we all have goodness and badness within us. At times those things exists together, the proverbial gray area, and its a challenge for us to make sense of those actions. I mean clearly, if your family is starving, easy decision in my book; but doing so for sport does introduce a dilemma. I did it because I wanted to know how, in case I needed to at some point. I did so; now I know. that's all it was for me; and I remain at peace. Were I never to have done it; I couldn't know that peace.

Of course, we all have a conscience, unless you're a sociopath. Buddhists are concerned with karma. I agree we all have good and bad qualities within us. Tibetan Buddhists eat meat. If they didn't, they would have never survived living in the Himalyas, because growing food there is very difficult.

Even the Dalai Lama, who holds monk vows, (monks and nuns are vegetarian), has to eat meat a couple of times a week. That means he breaks his vows and must do purification practices every time he eats meat.

The more consciousness we can all put into the food chain the better for all beings, don't you think?

[DragonStryk72]

I'm only thinking about this in terms of karma. I won't comment any further on karma. There is less karma accumulated if you regret killing. Don't worry about it, though. It's only Buddhists who care about karma.

Ah, but which is worse karmically, to hunt the deer down, and make the most use of the kill, or to allow them to overpopulate, and destroy the entire ecosystem, killing off not only themselves, but also the wildlife of the area, who cannot eat because the deer eat it all?

[Wind Song]

Ah, but which is worse karmically, to hunt the deer down, and make the most use of the kill, or to allow them to overpopulate, and destroy the entire ecosystem, killing off not only themselves, but also the wildlife of the area, who cannot eat because the deer eat it all?

Which is worse karmically? It depends on the motivation. If your motivation is pride and you kill an animal in order to hang a trophy and you waste the meat and the hide, then it's worse karmically. The motivation for the killing is completely selfish. If you kill an animal to eat, and you have no other food, it's still a selfish motivation, but you are also a sentient being that deserves compassion.

Then you have the broad view, that it's ok to hunt deer because we have hunted the deer's natural predators out of existence. It's a mixed motivation and mixed karma. It may be a kindness to kill an animal before it starves to death, or it may be karma mixed with the greed that went into the killing of predator animals, like wolves and cougars.

That's what I mean when I say that Buddhists are NOT moral absolutist. Every time I ask a Lama a question about ethics, we hear, "It depends on the motivation."

Most human motivation is mixed with virtue and non-virtue.

[Dilloduck]

I'll have my motivation on the rocks, thank you very much.

[DragonStryk72]

Which is worse karmically? It depends on the motivation. If your motivation is pride and you kill an animal in order to hang a trophy and you waste the meat and the hide, then it's worse karmically. The motivation for the killing is completely selfish. If you kill an animal to eat, and you have no other food, it's still a selfish motivation, but you are also a sentient being that deserves compassion.

Then you have the broad view, that it's ok to hunt deer because we have hunted the deer's natural predators out of existence. It's a mixed motivation and mixed karma. It may be a kindness to kill an animal before it starves to death, or it may be karma mixed with the greed that went into the killing of predator animals, like wolves and cougars.

That's what I mean when I say that Buddhists are NOT moral absolutist. Every time I ask a Lama a question about ethics, we hear, "It depends on the motivation."

Most human motivation is mixed with virtue and non-virtue.

So which is worse karmically, removing side points?

[Wind Song]

So which is worse karmically, removing side points?

What do you mean "removing side points"?

[darin]

Most human motivation is mixed with virtue and non-virtue.

I disagree. Most human motivation revolves around 'self'. Nearly every feeling we enjoy or hate is the direct result of ego.

[ConHog]

While mowing last night, near our garden bed, I was watching my mowing line when movement up ahead caught my eye. I looked up and saw a large Doe about 40 feet from me (estimate - I was half-way along our 60' garden - she was just beyond the far edge of the plot)standing perpendicular to my travel, but head and eyes watching me. She was beautiful. Her coat was nearly the colour of my dog. Beyond her another 20 feet was a young buck, his ~8" antlers just sprouted. Both stood and watched me. I shut the mower down and stared back. After a few seconds, they gracefully walked across our driveway and towards our pond. I started the mower and followed some - they went up to the apple trees in the back of the house, then around to the far side of our pond, and snacked on a couple nibbles of weeping willow. On foot, I approached my side of the pond as the young lovers pranced down between my willows, and out to our tall grass and evergreens.


I was thinking - I cannot fathom putting a 12 gauge slug into either of their chests. I wanted to pet them, not kill them. Yet, I want to have the skill to harvest the deer. However, being around my dog - a real emotion/instinct-driven creature with a heart and lungs and whatever...man...I'm not sure I could do it.

Is all life too precious? Would probably be easier to take down a feral pig or something not as pretty as a deer, maybe...
'

I don't hunt. Plenty of wildlife around here, and I DO let a few people hunt on my property b/c a fact of life is that if people didn't hunt the deer around here they would over populate and end up dying of illness and such; but I am picky about who I allow to do, it has to be people who I KNOW are using the animal as a food source. Myself, I don't care enough for deer meat to hunt them; but to those who do I say enjoy. To those who trophy hunt I agree with you. Disgusting. Join the military and shoot at someone/thing that can shoot back.


I don't fish either, for much the same reason. Don't care enough about the fish to do so, and I can afford to buy my meat, but again, we have a river that runs through the back of property and I DO let a select few use my property while fishing (I don't own the river so anyone can use that)