Why do we stalk?

[Overlay]

It’s a good job you’re not the spokesperson for all stalkers, I don’t stalk because I like to kill because I don’t. I reload and I like to develop my loads to be as good and accurate as possible, I like to reload and the relaxation I get from it. I like to shoot targets in order to complete the development of the reloading and get the buzz from achieving that perfect load. I then like to walk out with my rifle and home loads either on my own or in the company of a fellow stalker with a common interest in the expectation that I might get to use them for the purpose they were made. When walking out I get the relaxation and enlightenment and fulfilment from being in the outdoors in various locations and seeing the wildlife and nature that we are fortunate to have. If I see deer I feel fortunate that my effort in stalking them has proved my skills to be at least competent and count myself lucky to be in a position to see an animal of such beauty and if I’m fortunate enough to make a shot I feel pride and satisfaction only when I know that shot is clean and the animal has been despatched in the most humane way possible and fulfilled the expectation of the land owner in controlling the deer numbers. I then get to turn my quarry into food, this evening I ate Roebuck steak, baked potato, portobello mushroom and peppercorn sauce. This is why I stalk and I count myself lucky that out of all the stalkers I know non of them likes to kill. I’ve been doing this probably a lot longer than most on this forum, I’ve shot a lot of deer in that time, and my regrets in that time are the shots I made that weren’t as good as they should have been and I’ve never enjoyed killing anything.
The answer I give when I’m asked why I shoot deer is “it’s because I don’t like my meat killed on mass on a conveyor belt, why do you?”

Nice reply Sako
I’m in my 70th year and wielded a catapult since 9 years old swiftly moving on through all normal calibres providing food and during the whole time try not to waste anything and gathering food for my family and my own family and still do, apart from liking all game fish, sea food, game,wildfowl and venison I prefer to gather my own and I do a swap for domestic meats such as chicken, Lamb , Beef etc.
I get asked a lot about it, and I always respond “ it’s a bigger sin to kill a food source animal if you intend not eating it” and I leave it at that finishing off with I suppose you go tescos shopping and exit

 

[Bo Diddley]

it’s a bigger sin to kill a food source animal if you intend not eating it”

Agreed 100%.
My biggest bugbear is when I see folks leave meat on a plate and the excuse is so lame as to be something like "it's not cooked properly" Something has had to die for that to be on their plate, the least you can do is eat it and not waste it.

 

[enfieldspares]

Q. Why do I stalk? Or shoot game?
A. For "the shot". An angler would call it "the take".

 

[Confidis]

I like guns .
The adrenaline.

 

[User00047]

It’s a good job you’re not the spokesperson for all stalkers, I don’t stalk because I like to kill because I don’t. I reload and I like to develop my loads to be as good and accurate as possible, I like to reload and the relaxation I get from it. I like to shoot targets in order to complete the development of the reloading and get the buzz from achieving that perfect load. I then like to walk out with my rifle and home loads either on my own or in the company of a fellow stalker with a common interest in the expectation that I might get to use them for the purpose they were made. When walking out I get the relaxation and enlightenment and fulfilment from being in the outdoors in various locations and seeing the wildlife and nature that we are fortunate to have. If I see deer I feel fortunate that my effort in stalking them has proved my skills to be at least competent and count myself lucky to be in a position to see an animal of such beauty and if I’m fortunate enough to make a shot I feel pride and satisfaction only when I know that shot is clean and the animal has been despatched in the most humane way possible and fulfilled the expectation of the land owner in controlling the deer numbers. I then get to turn my quarry into food, this evening I ate Roebuck steak, baked potato, portobello mushroom and peppercorn sauce. This is why I stalk and I count myself lucky that out of all the stalkers I know non of them likes to kill. I’ve been doing this probably a lot longer than most on this forum, I’ve shot a lot of deer in that time, and my regrets in that time are the shots I made that weren’t as good as they should have been and I’ve never enjoyed killing anything.
The answer I give when I’m asked why I shoot deer is “it’s because I don’t like my meat killed on mass on a conveyor belt, why do you?”

You are in denial.
If you wish for others to accept you for what you are, you must first accept yourself for what you are.
If you just want venison, simply buy it very cheaply from a deerstalker and let them have all the fun.
But no…..you wish to kill it yourself.

 

[devon deer stalker]

I don't 'like' to kill, but at the end of the day it's what we do, we hunt, and then kill, for an end product.
What is getting to me of late is the Americanism of 'we harvest the deer' that some UK hunters are using, maybe that's just me, I am getting grumpy in my old age.....apparently!

 

[Selous]

I can’t recall the source of this quote but it resonates with me. I do not hunt in order to kill but I kill in order to have hunted. Essentially the kill is a necessary part of the hunt for it to have any purpose or meaning. Killing without purpose is not what I do, in fact killing by accident bothers me.

 

[Stalker62]

I can’t recall the source of this quote but it resonates with me…

One does not hunt in order to kill; on the contrary, one kills in order to have hunted...If one were to present the sportsman with the death of the animal as a gift he would refuse it. What he is after is having to win it, to conquer the surly brute through his own effort and skill with all the extras that this carries with it: the immersion in the countryside, the healthfulness of the exercise, the distraction from his job.

Jose Ortega y Gasset, Meditations on Hunting
Spanish philosopher & politician (1883 - 1955)

 

[Stalker62]

José Ortega y Gasset

 

[User00047]

Yes very good Josweortegoybasset…
What he says is exactly right. Killing is a vital part of hunting which you cannot deny.
Nobody wishes to be unsuccessful every time he hunts does he?
For example:
Who wants to pay money to walk around on the hill looking for stags all week and then is delighted when they didn’t get to shoot any?

Wake up this morning and ask yourself:
“Do you like to hunt and kill animals?”
Yes or No????
It’s as simple as that.

 

[Stalker62]

Who wants to pay money to walk around on the hill looking for stags all week and then is delighted when they didn’t get to shoot any?

Well if avoids me having to drag this off the shagging hill, then me, I would be delighted...

 

[StephenToast]

Pest control mostly. There is an added bonus of venison but if deer were inedible I'd still be shooting them.

 

[VSS]

I stalk primarily in order to sell meat from animals that I've killed and butchered myself.
There are other reasons - such as enjoyment, or taking a break from my own farm for a day or two - but venison production is the main one.
I've been shooting in one form or another for as long as I can remember, but deer didn't really come onto my radar until about 13 years ago.
I've always been uncomfortable with some aspects of fieldsports (ie, commercial driven game shooting and fox hunting with hounds), but when I was introduced to stalking (by a member of this site) I realised that it ticked so many boxes with regards to ethics, sustainability, conservation etc etc and I embraced my new-found activity with enthusiasm.
When I subsequently discovered that I could process and sell the carcasses myself that really was the icing on the cake for me. The biggest box tick yet! Ever since I was in my early teens I'd wanted to be able to supply meat from animals that I'd killed and butchered myself, not because I'm particularly interested in making money, but because it felt like the right thing to do. It has been a major frustration of my career that I've never been legally allowed to do this with my sheep and cattle, despite being perfectly capable of doing a good job, and despite having explored every conceivable loophole and grey area.
Deer have enabled me to do this, not just through stalking in the wild but also by establishing my own park herd.
I get an amazing satisfaction from developing the relationship between myself, the animal and the customer, which is only possible because I've got all the links of the chain in my own hands.

 

[.222roebuck]

It’s a job of work for me

 

[Andrewslater]

I don't 'like' to kill, but at the end of the day it's what we do, we hunt, and then kill, for an end product.
What is getting to me of late is the Americanism of 'we harvest the deer' that some UK hunters are using, maybe that's just me, I am getting grumpy in my old age.....apparently!

The methodlogy behind a lot of these softer words being used is social media driven. The algorithm does not like words like KILLED or SHOT so they use softer words in there place.

Brave new world!

 

[Heym SR20]

For enjoyment, recreation, immense satisfaction in managing a part of the countryside and to keep me in touch with the land.

I don’t enjoy taking an animal’s life, and it is always twinged with regret. But if I am going to eat meat I would far rather eat meat that comes from an animal or bird that has had a natural free life and a quick death.

I am uncomfortable with large intensive farming and then transporting animals and birds a long distance to industrial abattoirs.

 

[Mungo]

Anyone who does it recreationally and claims not to gain some form of satisfaction or pleasure from the actual act of killing is lying to themselves or to others.

If it was just about the stalk, you’d be a photographer - it’s far harder to get a good photo than it is to shoot something with a rifle. If it was just about being in nature, connecting with the landscape, finding solitude etc, then you’d be a bird watcher or a painter or a photographer or a bug collector or whatever. If it was just about the physical and mental challenge, you’d be a climber, or a kayaker or a mountain biker or whatever. If it was just about the food, you’d buy venison from a stalker and forage the rest. If it was just about shooting in and of itself, you’d be a target shooter.

There is something about the process of actually killing that we are drawn to and motivated by, and it’s disingenuous to deny this.

 

[Nickb]

Anyone who does it recreationally and claims not to gain some form of satisfaction or pleasure from the actual act of killing is lying to themselves or to others.

If it was just about the stalk, you’d be a photographer - it’s far harder to get a good photo than it is to shoot something with a rifle. If it was just about being in nature, connecting with the landscape, finding solitude etc, then you’d be a bird watcher or a painter or a photographer or a bug collector or whatever. If it was just about the physical and mental challenge, you’d be a climber, or a kayaker or a mountain biker or whatever. If it was just about the food, you’d buy venison from a stalker and forage the rest. If it was just about shooting in and of itself, you’d be a target shooter.

There is something about the process of actually killing that we are drawn to and motivated by, and it’s disingenuous to deny this.

Good honest post, exactly this

 

[Wilkesy]

I've always been uncomfortable with some aspects of fieldsports (ie, commercial driven game shooting and fox hunting with hounds), but when I was introduced to stalking (by a member of this site) I realised that it ticked so many boxes with regards to ethics, sustainability, conservation etc etc and I embraced my new-found activity with enthusiasm.

I couldn’t agree more! I find a few of the ‘typical’ field sports to be unethical especially when the animals being targeted have been bred to become purely a score or bragging rights, rather than a living being that you have hunted for food.

I know of many people who go on driven bird shoots for example that have never eaten one of the birds they’ve shot! The whole concept just seems backwards to me!

 

[TopDown]

Interesting debate so far.

There are loads of reasons I go stalking. A lot of them (reducing numbers, selling etc) came after I started so that wasn't the motivation. I fell into it really having started target shooting with an air rifle and finding out that it didn't hold my interest.

To cut a long story short there is satisfaction in having had a walk through some land which has no-one else on it, carefully observing the variety of wildlife on the way and then finding a suitable animal which is killed shortly afterwards and processed for something excellent to eat.

I'm not totally convinced that alternative pastimes or sources of venison necessarily mean that you enjoy killing. Provenance is important and stalking combines many of the things that we find pleasurable. As far as killing is concerned I would describe my feeling as satisfaction when it goes well, not euphoria or joy. There is certainly excitement in the stalk - that gives way to satisfaction as described before.