Page 4 | New man but he shoots as a hobby ...

jumpinjax · 2023-08-07T09:27:46+00:00

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?

UnfunnyJester · 07/08/2023 11:08

To me, there's a difference in killing animals for food and killing animal purely because you get a thrill for taking a life.

Original poster

jumpinjax · 07/08/2023 11:08

It was not a wind up but a genuine post as again, I am absolutely ignorant when it comes to this.
I know who shoot ducks and pheasants but that's the extent of my experience .

OP posts:

Saschka · 07/08/2023 11:09

Middlelanehogger · 07/08/2023 10:37

If you grew up in the countryside you have a different attitude to this. It's not about laughing as you slaughter a defenceless helpless being. It's closer to a feeling of being part of nature / part of the circle of life somehow. There are painful deaths in nature without humans. It's hard to explain.

I would talk to him a bit more and ask him what it means to him, how he feels when he's shooting, what is meaningful to him about it.

I grew up in a hunting family (although my father doesn't shoot for ethical reasons) so I get the perspective, although I also have met very annoying city types who rock up and want to bag as many species as possible and just seem to fundamentally miss the point, so I'd advise trying to figure out where he's coming from before making a judgment.

I grew up in the countryside, down the road from an abattoir, and no I don’t have a different attitude to this. Or fox hunting.

I am a vegetarian though, probably as a direct result of living near an abattoir and seeing the trucks going in.

LakeTiticaca · 07/08/2023 11:09

No thanks. I would not be comfortable with somebody who shoots animals as a hobby. I am a vegetarian but I felt the same when I was a meat eater.
I don't like guns either so that is another reason

Hoppinggreen · 07/08/2023 11:09

LunaNorth · 07/08/2023 10:49

I can’t get my head round someone seeing an elephant and saying anything other than, ‘Wow!’

I mean, who looks an elephant in the eye and wants to kill it?

Fuck that.

Someone who feels very insecure or is a psychopath
Or both

user1492757084 · 07/08/2023 11:11

I would question whether shooting an elephant or big cats is ever legal. Are your sure about that?
Shooting regular game that is eaten and hunted to keep the numbers down to keep the population healthy and sustainable is completely different.

Hoppinggreen · 07/08/2023 11:11

jumpinjax · 07/08/2023 10:49

I asked because I have no idea about this type of thing.
I suppose to me, so many animals are shot for a past time and it's legal and there are clubs for this sort of thing. It's a learning experience for me.

Lots of things are legal, morally repugnant though.
If you aren’t repulsed by someone who does this then perhaps you are compatible

tara66 · 07/08/2023 11:11

No one goes big game hunting any more. It's just not done! Also very very expensive. I knew someone who had a few weeks big game hunting trip in South Africa several years ago and it was £100,000s (apparently).

isthismylifenow · 07/08/2023 11:11

SparkleFromWithin · 07/08/2023 10:52

People actually shoot big cats and elephants as a hobby ?

But why ? 🥺

Makes them look like the big guy, show off, has lots of money to do 'dangerous' things.

Are you in USA OP? Is is a very American thing to come here, pay a fuck load of money and shoot an animal that has no way of escaping. Its not like a proper hunt for buck for eg, where they are just roaming free.

There was an American woman on TikTok recently who was showing off her kill (a giraffe iirc), she got absolutely slaughtered for it, by the local people. Then she went on to say how she was being abused and we are the most inhospitable people not welcoming her to our country.

My disgust goes to the companies who arrange these hunts too, so its not exclusively directed to the participants.

BanditsOnTheHorizon · 07/08/2023 11:12

Clay pigeon shooting - no issues
Vermin - I could just about deal with it
Shooting live animal for fun - no this would be a huge no for me

Pinkitydrinkity · 07/08/2023 11:12

”Big game” would be 100% no for me.

Birds would be fine with me. Deer would also be fine if it’s needed - in the highlands we have to and there are actually cull quotas.

I eat meat so I think it would be hypocritical of me to say otherwise.

Rosiem2808 · 07/08/2023 11:13

It would be a deal breaker for me OP. Guns of any kind are a weapon to hurt and maim other living things. It's that simple and I would bin him. In fact I would have already binned him before having to come on here and ask the question

AuntMarch · 07/08/2023 11:14

Cazzovuoi · 07/08/2023 10:34

It depends.

Licensed hunting to control population i.e deer or antelope etc. would be ok for me if they butcher and eat the catch afterwards.

Hunting big game for fun like giraffe, elephants, lions and rhinos? Absolutely not.

Saved me typing it!

Diddykong · 07/08/2023 11:14

When I was on safari on holiday we overheard other people in the lodge restaurant talking about their shooting trips. It seemed madness to me that we were there to marvel at nature while they were there to destroy it.

skilpadde · 07/08/2023 11:15

I live in rural Scotland. I accept that deer numbers have to be managed to sustain the environment, and that there are shooting estates which breed pheasants for shooting. It's not my cup of tea (I'm a vegetarian with pet chickens) but I accept it.

On the other hand, people who travel to Africa to shoot wild animals like elephants, giraffes, lions? They are scum of the earth and they can get in the bin.

mindutopia · 07/08/2023 11:16

Big game hunt - it would be a no from me.

I don't have an issue with target/clay pigeon shooting and I don't have an issue with hunting for food. I was a vegetarian for 20 years when I met dh who had guns and hunted. I have no more issue with hunting for food as I do with being a meat eater. If I was open to dating people who ate meat (and I was), realistically, eating wild game is more ethical in my opinion than commercial meat production.

But no, I'm not comfortable with shooting animals simply for the macho thrill and social media photos, which is what big game hunting is. And I wouldn't be okay with someone who thought that was alright.

isthismylifenow · 07/08/2023 11:16

tara66 · 07/08/2023 11:11

No one goes big game hunting any more. It's just not done! Also very very expensive. I knew someone who had a few weeks big game hunting trip in South Africa several years ago and it was £100,000s (apparently).

Sadly it is still done.

ArcticSkewer · 07/08/2023 11:16

Smartiepants79 · 07/08/2023 10:33

Everyone saying “no way” - I’m
interested to know if you eat meat or not…….?

I don't eat elephant or rhino or giraffe. I also don't eat fox

Mookie81 · 07/08/2023 11:17

jumpinjax · 07/08/2023 10:42

A controlled shoot of elephants and big cats I think in a reserve . I need to learn more .
And deer also. Again, controlled.

Seriously, you need to learn more and aren't sure if this is bad and makes him a cunt?!
Yes it does and have some standards for god's sake.

HundredMilesAnHour · 07/08/2023 11:17

Immediate dealbreaker. Killing animals for pleasure. Absolutely not.

wednesdaynamesep · 07/08/2023 11:18

jumpinjax · 07/08/2023 10:42

A controlled shoot of elephants and big cats I think in a reserve . I need to learn more .
And deer also. Again, controlled.

Horrific. Canned hunting. Absolutely grotesque. I absolutely DESPISE the people who participate in these.

The reason why professional hunters have to be present with tourist hunters generally is because most are crap shots (even if they like to think otherwise). The pros job is to save the life of the stupid tourist from the suffering animal, and dispatch the animal from its misery.

I am vegetarian but even if I wasn't I'd object to shooting animals as a pastime. I seriously question the moral fibre of someone who derives pleasure from killing.

Your bloke is the worst of the bunch. Wild animals being corralled to make it easier to kill. Revolting.

And my family works in tourism in Africa so we really really know all the bullshittery that goes on to support what is a grotesque money-making blood sport out of innocent animals.

cruffinsmuffin · 07/08/2023 11:18

Elephants and big cats - absolutely not, hunting just for trophies is horrendous!

English game (grouse, pheasant etc) for food, absolutely fine.

Popworld · 07/08/2023 11:20

If hes shooting to eat it, fine no issues.

If hes shooting for fun I wouldnt like it.

Ylvamoon · 07/08/2023 11:21

isthismylifenow · 07/08/2023 11:11

Makes them look like the big guy, show off, has lots of money to do 'dangerous' things.

Are you in USA OP? Is is a very American thing to come here, pay a fuck load of money and shoot an animal that has no way of escaping. Its not like a proper hunt for buck for eg, where they are just roaming free.

There was an American woman on TikTok recently who was showing off her kill (a giraffe iirc), she got absolutely slaughtered for it, by the local people. Then she went on to say how she was being abused and we are the most inhospitable people not welcoming her to our country.

My disgust goes to the companies who arrange these hunts too, so its not exclusively directed to the participants.

Show quote history

That's terrible. With all the conservation work that is being done, it's sad to think there are actually companies offering big game shooting for fun.
Do they breed the animals and relise them for shooting? Either way it's disgusting!

Middlelanehogger · 07/08/2023 11:21

Big game hunting is not exactly my cup of tea (attracts very annoying kinds of people) but as a factual point, it is often legal aside from very endangered species such as rhino.

In some parts of the world elephants are too numerous for the area they inhabit and encroach on villages, so even elephants are sometimes hunted as part of population control activities. Licences from foreigners with too much money pay for other conservation activities. Like anything in Africa it is subject to corruption, of course.