Your Views !!

[ava]

The 2007 WT 12/1 Questions From Readers and the 1990 WT 5/15 Questions From Readers have some very well balanced articles for Witnesses and Hunting if anyone is interested.

[ava]

A question. For people who are squeamish about hunting yet still eat meat, where do you think meat comes from? The grocery store is not a valid answer!

Are people who disapprove of hunting just as disapproving over fishing? I personally don't see that much difference.

Moreso than just meat, animals raised for slaughter are used also for leather products, furs, etc... I worked with a woman who tried raising chinchillas to sell for profit.

I couldn't do it myself. I love, love, LOVE meat but there isn't any way I could take an animal's life. There is no way I could hunt. Likewise I couldn't work in a slaughterhouse. But I gotta get my meat from somewhere, so I appreciate people who can do those kinds of services.

In fact, hunting may be more humane than how they slaughter beef.

I personally do not approve of hunting myself. Now I realize that there are some who may have no other option to hunt and I understand that. Here in the US though, for the majority, hunting is probably not necessary.

The difference about purchasing meat in the store vs hunting is that the meat in the store comes from farms that breed cows for the sole purpose of selling at the grocery store. There is no danger of cows being endangered, at least in the US. Hunting wild animals though that are already struggling for survival due to human population and hunting is what bothers me. Humans have done enough damage to the earth and to the wildlife, and I don't want to add to that.

I eat meat, love it, but I have no desire to shoot an animal like a deer or something that is barely surviving in this world already. I personally do not want to contribute towards any wildlife becoming endangered. Purchasing beef from the store from a cow farm where there is no possibility of the cows becoming endangered is something I am ok with. I also do not want to have a gun in my home and have an accident where someone is killed or seriously hurt, I would hate to have that on my conscious. What about hunting accidents? They do happen. The former Vice Pres of the US hurt his friend while hunting, it was unintentional and the man survived, but still, things happen. So owning a gun is not something that appeals to me.

In the end though, hunting is a conscious matter. We may not agree with it, but there is nothing in the bible saying we can't do it.

I posted some links in my above post with some well balanced articles about hunting from the WT Lib CD.

[retroHelen]

We have farmer's markets here that sell rabbit; wild boar; deer/venison ready to cook - how I like it. I prefer to let others do the hunting and butchering, I know where it comes from. I've seen chickens electrically stunned and bled for eating, not pleasant but at least they didn't suffer. I always ask if the meat was slaughtered and bled as rabbit often isn't - seen hanging fur and all in butchers. Bleeding the meat in Bible times was a good way of preventing the idiotic over shooting and hunting of game animals, as it has to be done immediately or the blood congeals. I despise the way people bag game-birds in their hundreds in the shooting season (Oct-Feb).

36 million pheasants are specially bred here for shooting parties. They are bred in sheds until they are old enough to run and then let go in the fields. They have not been shown how to survive in the wild by older birds, so wander around helplessly getting into traffic accidents and into towns where dogs and cats get them. They are so helpless that they aren't difficult targets. People round here are paid as beaters to go through fields ahead of the shooting parties and bash hedges and long grass to get them to fly up to be shot. They may as well do clay pidgeonshooting, as it's more skillful as clays fly up faster!Then retriever dogs or large spaniels are sent in to pick up the shot birds and the rich lazy businessmen just stand shooting and waiting for their catch to be fetched. Then they all go home with their unbled birds to hang then eat and the remaining birds wander aimlessly round until they are all killed off by the above accidents, foxes, or other injuries. No way to treat a beautiful ex-Indian jungle bird!Roll on Jehovah's new system!

Should you be presented with ready jointed (& bled) rabbit, it takes ages to cook unless you like jerky/dog-chews:

My favourite TV Chefs (Dave grew up near my home on my favourite childhood haunt Roa Island) The 2 Hairy Biker Chefs did an old fashioned Rabbit Stew based on a recipe from Wartime when meat was scarce:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b017mxr4

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/old_fashioned_rabbit_74225

[Brother_Bliss]

Hunting wild animals though that are already struggling for survival due to human population and hunting is what bothers me. Humans have done enough damage to the earth and to the wildlife, and I don't want to add to that.

I can totally get what you are saying.

Around here though, the deer are having no struggles to survive at all. In fact, we have quite an overpopulation problem. They eat EVERYTHING, and came through and mowed down half my garden and fruit trees twice this last year. I have 1 acre. A sister lives behind me and has 25 acres, and the dear did more damage there because her husband has cancer, she broke her arm, and they are short-handed.

The city will only let you hunt if you have 20 acres or more. The sister and her husband let 2 people on their property to hunt this year, because we are all sick of the deer. If he had let me, I would have definitely taken my first stab at hunting. Maybe next year.

We have a goodly number of hunters in our congregation.

[sianrose]

I would have definitely taken my first stab at hunting. Maybe next year.

[Brother_Bliss]

I would have definitely taken my first stab at hunting. Maybe next year.

Yeeeeeeeee haaaaaw!

[GrumpysWife]

Hunting wild animals though that are already struggling for survival due to human population and hunting is what bothers me.

There are no survival problems here either. There are deer running into auto's daily and actually some people being killed by the overabundance of them. And yes, as Bob said, they eat the garden and trample everything. I'm not pro or against hunting but I can't see anything wrong with someone who wants to have venison for a meal. Why let the vultures get all the good stuff. The hunters here are allowed 4 or 5 deer per day and they are still prolific. No shortage here.

Personally I don't eat venison, in fact I don't eat much meat at all, but not because I have anything against it, but my stomach can only handle so much.

[trottigy]

I would have definitely taken my first stab at hunting. Maybe next year.

Yeeeeeeeee haaaaaw!

Bob - you could have said, "I would have definitely taken my first stab shot at hunting." It is way too hard to sneak up and stab them. They always hear and smell you coming

At Patterson - I always remember them spreading the hair from our haircuts (not much of mine however ;) ) around the fruit trees. It kept the deer away.

[GrumpysWife]

At Patterson - I always remember them spreading the hair from our haircuts (not much of mine however ) around the fruit trees. It kept the deer away.

And it is also rich in nitrogen. They don't waste anything at Bethel.

[retroHelen]

Try some Deer repellent suggestions here:

http://usagardener.com/disease_pests_and_weeds/keep_deer_out_of_the_garden.php

http://www.ehow.com/how_155976_make-deer-repellant.html

http://www.ecolife.com/garden/natural-pest/deer-repellent.html

Try the local hairdresser/barber for waste hair - it's the human smell they don't like. Some of the other disgusting gooey suggestions depends on whether you have other pets that use the garden. Might be worth spraying a few choice flowerbuds above a dog's height, but not a deer's, to save them though.

Motion sprayer/squirter seems a good idea if you don't have summer water restrictions on hoses. Suddeness of the water squirt could chase them. However, it's been my experience that eventually some animals can get used to or even like getting sprayed. Never forget the ten foot flames of a brush fire on the cliffs at the end of the field behind our house one summer. The firemen couldn't get to it with their hoses because everywhere they pointed their hoses, the herd of cows in the field ran so they could get showered, they loved it. Then one cheeky cow realised that standing on the hose stopped the water and had to be chased regularly off plonking her hooves on the hose. In the end the firemen split into 2 teams, one lot dealing uninterrrupted with the fire and the other lot keeping the cows amused - wish I'd had a video camera for all that - would have made a fortune on Youtube!

[AlexMichaels]

I have my own views on this but I am interested to see how you view it... here goes !!

A witness family in my neighbouring congregation, father elder... etc are very much into self sufficient living etc...

One of their new ideas was to breed rabbits for meat and to sell, they bred lots of rabbits... huge white ones with pretty little black noses... anywhoo they found that they couldn't sell any, last week their 13 year old daughter.. who is very naiave, and not a worldly little girl... asked her parents if they could kill one for the dinner, her parents answered her firmly no...

She goes outside takes the rabbit from its house knocks it on the head and then cuts its throat and presents it for dinner...

There was blood everywhere... as you could imagine, I know this to be absolutely true as her parents are good friends of mine, they are very firmly in the truth..

I know what my first reaction was !! but then I stopped and thought about it ??

My first reaction was as well.. I personally couldn't do it, but if they had raised them for meat and for pets what can they expect? had they done it before? To me it's very sad,but is it really any different than raising other animals to use them as food? I would be horrified if one of my children did this, but then again we have never raised anything to be sold as a food either. She was wrong in disobeying her parents, but the act itself just really depends on the purpose of doing so.

[LeslieDean]

My dad was raised during the Depression and had 8 brothers and sisters ---his father was an alcholic. His mother got up and left her kids with a drunk. She ran off with another man. My grandfather could not (or would not) take care of the kids and left them to defend for theirselves. The young kids (grade school and jr high ages) all lived on the river bank and forgered for their own food. Some of the neighboring farmers took them in allowing them to stay in their barns and later allowing them to come into their small and meager homes and raised these kids. My Mom siad after they were married --at the ages of 17--that my father would wake up in the middle of the night crying and would go to the kitchen and look for food. We would eat till he "had no more want" so to speak. My Dad hunted and fished all his life. After retirment he bought 450 acres and lived on it in an old mobile home. He raised cows and to them to the the sale twice a year. He bought rabbits to raise for food. Shortly after buying the rabbits he put an add in the paper to give them away along with all the hutches. He said after raisng them he could not bring himslef to slaughter something he had know to love. Same with ALL of his cows. He had names for everyone! Around 150-200 cows and he claimed he knew them all by name. He thought he would butcher one for personal use and sell the rest but again--no can do! He bought his meat at the store. So he could eat the meat if there was no attachment. I think maybe that's what it is about.

[retroHelen]

During the war meat was rationed in Britain. People were encouraged to keep rabbits and chickens even in town houses with only small brick yards. My Dad was only small but raised 50 rabbits in multi-story hutches. He couldn't face killing them, but they had to to eat. He picked out the ones to go and saw a friend who knew a butcher. The butcher took them and did the necessary, but the butcher had an arrangement with other families doing the same and promised he would never return a rabbit, ready to eat, that they had raised. It was the only way they could cope with the idea, or they went hungry during the bombing. The bombing got so bad at Barrow, because of the shipyard, that Dad and one of his brothers weres evacuated to Ely, c.250 milesaway and his rabbits all had to go to the butchers then.

[Áine]

My grandad was a poacher... complete with the long coat with hidden pockets !!

[ReadYourBible]

I don't know why, but the fact she asked if she could kill it and when told no, she killed it anyhow bothers me. Just something in the whole scenario.

[Holly]

I have mixed views. Growing up with hunters in my family and relatives it the hills of WV, I have seen many an animal killed and skinned, the grossest to me, a squirrel. But, all of my relatives, including those related by marriage, have all hunted. Girls, boys, moms, dads, etc.... I have seen deer gutted, skinned and hung and I have seen both girls and boys, as young as 10, do the hunting. If she is a tom-boy type, it would not disturb me. If she is Not a tom-boy type, then it would. I don't know her.... hopefully it is not something darker..... I was a tom-boy, but I have always viewed animals as pets, not food.... I bet, if push came to shove, and I HAD to do it, I could and I would. I just don't ever want to find out! lol!

[AlexMichaels]

I don't know why, but the fact she asked if she could kill it and when told no, she killed it anyhow bothers me. Just something in the whole scenario.

You know after I replied earlier.. I started thinking about the psychological thinking behind stuff like that.. it is quite disturbing that a 13 year old girl could even to that and not think twice about it. Especially if there was a personal attachment to these as pets. That is just not normal..

[ReadYourBible]

I don't know why, but the fact she asked if she could kill it and when told no, she killed it anyhow bothers me. Just something in the whole scenario.

You know after I replied earlier.. I started thinking about the psychological thinking behind stuff like that.. it is quite disturbing that a 13 year old girl could even to that and not think twice about it. Especially if there was a personal attachment to these as pets. That is just not normal..

Agreed. Whether you're a hunter or not, she wanted to kill that animal and did, despite her parents direction. I work in a youth jail though, so things like this just jump out at me you know?

[rocket]

I don't know why, but the fact she asked if she could kill it and when told no, she killed it anyhow bothers me. Just something in the whole scenario.

You know after I replied earlier.. I started thinking about the psychological thinking behind stuff like that.. it is quite disturbing that a 13 year old girl could even to that and not think twice about it. Especially if there was a personal attachment to these as pets. That is just not normal..

Agreed. Whether you're a hunter or not, she wanted to kill that animal and did, despite her parents direction. I work in a youth jail though, so things like this just jump out at me you know?

Makes you wonder if it's not another Lizzy Borden in the making.