New man but he shoots as a hobby ...

[jumpinjax]

He seems lovely but he's told me from the outset that he shoots as a hobby.
I don't have any major feelings about shooting one way or another , because I know so little about it but now told me that he's going on a big game shoot in Autumn and I don't know what I feel ... except maybe pity for the animals.
Would you get rid straight away?

Living in the countryside and seeing how 'normal' pheasant shooting is here - no, it wouldn't be a deal breaker to me. Then again we're the ones who go and pick up all the free pheasants at the end of a shoot (and occasionally deer), and that keeps us in meat all year, so you can see how I'm biased. However... Do you know how much it costs? I was amazed to find out recently it can be several hundred pounds per bird - is he rich or does he splurge on this? I would be more worried about the financial aspect personally.

Oh but a hard no on trophy hunting! Big cats, elephants etc absolutely not. Pheasants and deer yes if they'll be eaten but even then my preference would be not on organised hunts anyway.

I'm a bit mystified why OP is repeating over and over that she doesn't "know" about hunting. If you know this man is excited about the idea of killing elephants and big cats, what kind of additional expertise do you need?

Are you suggesting I am a troll?
Because I am pretty sure that would break Talk Guidelines.
You do know that disagreeing and Trolling are 2 different things don’t you?
Bit like shooting pheasants to eat and shooting lions for fun

Sometimes I think people just post things on here just to get a reaction out of people. I can't comprehend someone that does not drink milk or eat meat for ethical purposes is questioning whether its OK to be in the company of someone that shoots these endangered and amazing animals for fun? Bizarre.

It's amazes me the amount hypocrisy in this website!
I agree with you! People need to educate themselves on how the animals being treated before they end up on the shelf of the shops.
And yet people stuff they face with meat three times a day; come here and pretend they care about animals!

I am a vegetarian for many reasons and one of them is the animal cruelty in slaughterhouses.
Someone who hunts is less off putting for me than someone who buys chicken in Tesco and pretend they love animals.

You would prefer someone who shoots lions and giraffes for fun to someone who buys chicken from the supermarket to eat?

Hopping I think the point that Tina was making was about game/venison. Shooting them is a less cruel way to kill them than the conditions in slaughterhouses that sheep, pigs, cows, poultry experience. If someone is shooting something to provide their family with food, rather than buying from a slaughterhouse (via a shop), they can view that as more acceptable.

We wouldn't have issues with pheasants and deer if wealthy people hadn't selected and bred them for shooting/decoration, with lax attitudes toward population and containment.
Equally had they not, we wouldn't have moorlands and parklands.

I don't think Tina was agreeing with shooting big game, that wasn't part of the response. That's inexcusable.

Nope...that would be huge red flag, my personal opinion anyone who travels to shoot endangered wild animals that have been held in a reserve purely for that purpose has problems. Its all about power controll and feeling like the "big man"

Shooting targets for sport fine. Pheasant and grouse in UK, not my cup of tea but acceptable.
Shooting deer for either meat or control/culling again I would be fine with....even bears if there was a legitimate need to cull.

But organised Big Game where they take photos next to the huge animals they bravely shot from a safe distance with a rifle.....its probably one of the easier hunts while being entirely vanity based

Not for me, at all. I'd not feel comfortable with guns in my house, period, so there'd be no future.

By "big game" I assume he means lions, Rhino etc. This would be an absolute no from me. I'd kick him into a slime filled ditch and stamp on him on my way out. Utterly vile.

I have a friend whose DH shoots in the UK - pheasants, ducks etc on an organised shoot, where the birds are raised specifically for this purpose. I have a bit of an issue with this too as it constitutes killing animals for fun, but at least the birds then do get eaten (not by me, however). Your man OP is not going to eat his lion steaks. Get rid ........

(For ref - not a veggie and eat humanely killed farm animals.)

Have a nice day

I completely agree.
However, it is somewhat frustrating when so many people are talking about pheasants and rabbits being killed for food when that is not what this awful man is doing.

A big fat get out of this relationship!!!

Absolutely, hopping.
Unfortunately big game reserves with controlled shoots are money spinners in countries with poverty issues. Tourists pay big bucks for a guaranteed kill. Abhorrent.

There is a total lack of reading the thread here. I agree with you @Hoppinggreen, the constant drawing back to pheasants, rabbits and deer misses the point entirely that this man is going to shoot the big five.

It’s utterly unforgivable and does give a huge red flag into the type of person he is. Nasty, selfish and entitled. Grim!

For me, it would depend what type of big game shooting. Endangered species would be a big no.
Having said that, I am from a different country and cultural background. All my family hunt, but we follow the rules as to what and when we are allowed to and eat what we kill. I also come from a very rural area and some killing is necessary to keep certain animal populations down and protect crops.
Would you feel the same if he fished instead of hunted?

This would be my stance too I think.

Sorry, saw your update after I posted. Hard no for me. It would worry me that his pleasure hobby is literally ending something's life for no reason other than to feel big and powerful. (Because that's totally what it is. Population control, my arse).

Shooting endangered species in a reserve says a great deal about his rotten ethics and inadequacies. Shooting deer for meat is one thing, grouse etc slightly different in my view (yes I am vegetarian but don't have an issue with people eating meat they have killed themselves) but this is completely inexcusable. Does he think he would stand a chance against a big cat without a gun and a controlled setting? No? Then what is he achieving? There is very little skill involved here just a lot of destruction. This is a weak man.

In my opinion;
Domestic, sustainable sustanence hunting = acceptable.
Big game hunting/trophy hunting = absolutely not. Vile. There is no way I could be with someone who thought that was acceptable.

We're on safari at the minute and I asked our guide about this. He works on a reserve that is conservation based and if it needs money they auction the animals to other reserves.

The places where these hunts happen tend to be farms that rear the animals specifically for this purpose. They are raised in cages. They are fed in their cage - they never hunt or live properly. The farmers use a dead animal's paw to lay false tracks or they lure the animal to a specific spot with food.

This is all done to feed the 'hunter's' ego. What sad, weak, insecure people they much be.

Nix32

I’ve been on safari many years ago. It was one of the most beautiful and interesting holidays I had ever been on. What you describe is utterly horrific and unfortunately typical of what some humans are capable of with no respect for another animals life at all.

I am tired of reading about it’s ok to shoot rabbits etc etc and making a huge differentiation between the types of animals it’s ok to kill. This just serves to help make people feel better for eating animals. And just before someone leaps about, I am not totally against eating meat, but the WAY in which many animals are ‘farmed’ and killed is abhorrent. .

And anyone who derives pleasure, a ‘hobby’, in killing any animal is the kind of human being I don’t want to be in a relationship with.
if you discussed this with him and he thought about it and changed his mind about shooting then he might well be a decent man.

To kill a living creature is to cut off from the reality of what you are actually doing. But human beings are good at that. Compartmentalising.
.

A relative married one of these. Not sure if it's peculiar to him or applies to ALL male big game hunters, but he's a chauvinistic boring knob.
I find the thought of shooting a drugged up (in some cases) lion/tiger/elephant etc just to have your photo taken repulsive.
My guess is its an ego thing.