Gs wants his daddy to take him hunting, tomorrow morning, but DS doesn't want to get up at 2 am to go to their hunting club.

Hi Melanie,

Maybe you could shoot a coyote ...

... if you manage to see one ...

... as they're quite elusive.

They're not considered an endangered species, are they?

Haven't the hunters in your gang learned that the secret to staying warm is layering ...

... layering ...

... layering!

And if they know anything about females, they should know that many of them tend to feel the cold more than guys, so need more layering.

ole joyful

I was layered.. I had many sweaters on the first time.. I guess i didnt do it right. Second time I was good.. They guys tease me about being cold cause I am Canadian.. I tell them I am southernized now lol

Good luck on your hunting...I am envious! Very much so!

Ed- we have a vacation home in the Pocono mountain area of Northeastern Pennsylvania- it's open season year round on coyotes.

Melanie you really need your own gun that fits you- I think it would improve your aim considerably and give you more confidence in your skill. My DH's shotguns are just a tad too long for me to feel comfortable shooting. But I really enjoy target shooting with my S&W 357- it has a small grip so I can easily hold it.

I'm probably going to get slapped down for this (but I'll be getting right back up) But how do you cook Coyotes? I thought, obviously wrong, one hunted for food to eat. Maybe it is the thrill of the kill, after all. Dottie

Dottie, yes, some people get a thrill out of killing; of course, people, unless incredibly poor, don't need to kill to eat these days, so that's not it. Personally, I can't imagine waking up and thinking "oh, I'm in the mood to go take a life today; that will be exciting", nor can I understand, although I've listened and tried, the person that gets a thrill out of stalking and killing. However, some people do and explain that it's really about outsmarting the animal or that it needs to be done or they'll starve, or something such. It doesn't work for everyone.

Mcmann, I didn't know you were a target shooter--and with a .357 yet! My DH had a .357 magnum. That makes a big boom.......hope you wear ear protection. I used to be into target shooting; in fact, in pre-terrorist days I would take my rifle with me when I flew down to Florida to visit my parents. My dad and I would target shoot together.

I'm definitely not into shooting animals, though. I tell the deer to spread the word that my 30 acres is a safe haven.

I'm glad you lowered your gun. What's the thrill of a hunt when you sit in a tree or blind and wait for a deer to stroll by. I think hunting is barbaric. JMHO.

My Dad took me hunting when I was 7 (I'm a girl). We walked and walked in the snow. He had his rifle but we didn't see any game. Dad used to bring home a lot of pheasants in those days, and Grandma knew how to clean and cook them. He never shot a deer, which was his Big Wish. I miss my Dad, he's been gone since 1998.

DS and my GS are headed to hunting club right now. Wished them GOOD HUNTING!

no wonder people don't share much on here anymore.....
I hope everyone that is so against hunting are vegetarians.Have you ever seen how you get your beef,chicken,pork and especially veal?At least with the deer and other widlife it's normally one quick shot and it's over.Personally I love wild meat..deer,turkey,quail,pheasant ,not so much rabbit and squirrel.My dad's family were big time hunters and I've also hunted when I was younger.
What I wouldn't give for a nice big venison steak right now!As for coyotes,they are predators,farmers need to keep them at bay.
Keep hunting Melanie and enjoy the time with your bf!

I have never hunted before until I met my boyfriend. He is a country boy and his dad and him have hunted for most of there life..
I do not get offended at the people that say hunting is barbaric, they have their opinion just like I have mine and I also was the same way. couple years ago you would never catch me out there...

I go hunting because I find I like sitting out there and its sometime I can do with my BF that we enjoy together.. They are very very proud of their club and I support him going.. I would never tell him no.. The family DOES eat the meat..

Part of me wants to see if i can do it, another part wants to make him more prouder of me..they are proud and happy I am out there doing "man" stuff already, even though there are times I am a girly girl..

As far as the Coyote, you do have to get rid of them to a point, they ruin out deer population, the ones that were hollering and screaming last nite were chasing a deer.

FIl and BF have both got a couple does, and the meat is in our freezer, they won't shoot no doe's now, they are watching for the huge buck we know is in there.. Me on the other hand I am allowed to shoot what I want since I have never shot anything yet.. When I do, we will get the meat and I will get the head mounted. It is a thrill, and I do understand how some people don't want to hunt, but if you didn't have hunters there would be to many deer on the roads which cause alot more accidents..

This is it for me this year though, so I won't be going back out.. I will go out for turkey season when it starts.. That I will eat....

But my main point of my posts, really is my conquering my fear of the woods..

Keep on going out, Melanie. Someday you'll just BE out there and wonder why you were ever afraid. Maybe you don't need to stay out long enough to FREEZE though!

O.J. -- Women come with 'layering'. We have an extra layer of fat that guys don't have. (Well, that guys aren't *supposed* to have. LOL)

I will just say this...a coyote has as much right to eat a deer as you do. Not against hunting, but just the mentality that some animals are not worth allowing to live and fun to kill.

I remember my father stopping by a road one time to kill a snake. I was very small and I cried, and he told me it ate baby rabbits. I wondered then, as I do now, why was it okay for him to kill and eat a rabbit, and not okay for a snake to do it?

I have a hunting question. Seriously! If you manage to bag a deer, how the heck to you get that big thing out of the woods?

Is someone hunts to eat that is one thing, but if it's just for the thrill of the chase and to be outdoors, why not take a camera instead?? That magnificent buck can be captured on film and displayed in a photo, instead of hanging a creepy dead animal head on the wall.
As for coyotes, they have to eat too, and unlike humans, they cull the weak from the herd instead of trying to kill the biggest, healthiest deer so they can brag to all their hunting buddies.

Patti. Well we wait 30 mins after we shoot to see where the deer has gone if it runs. Then we text each other and get the four wheeler and load the deer on the back of that, then we take it straight to the processing plant. We have not seen the Buck yet, but we know they are out there, our land is very very thick with hard woods and pine thickets, but there are alot of scraps and rubs around so the bucks are out some where.

The one deer came up behind us yesterday and it must have saw me move to look at what was charging behind me, it took off in the woods and hollered and snorted, warning others to stay away, that was kind of neat since I have never heard one holler or snort before.. There are also turkeys out there, we haven't seen them but they were loud yesterday morning

those that are opposed, thats ok..we all have our own opinions and your opinion to me has just has much worth as my opinion does. I can't get offended because I am doing something that someone else doesn't understand or like. All I can do is tell my side and agree to disagree. I do have a heart and I think thats part of the reason I couldn't shoot that doe,but i want to try it and see if I can do it. We do process all the meat and either we take it or give it to family memebers that don't have much money, its never gone to waste and its not just a trophy, We do want the heads of some big bucks and I will mount my first kill, but the meat will be eaten.

I'm pretty sure that Melanie didn't post this to start a pro/con hunting debate.

Melanie, I'm glad you are still working on getting over your fears of being alone in the woods, and maybe another time you can be by yourself again for a little while.

Good that you got some better clothes for the cold. I agree that your own gun would be best. Do you ever go target shooting? That's fun too.

I could never shoot an animal (I have a hard time even killing spiders), but DH has been hunting the past few years and we eat the meat. He won't ever hang a mounted head in our house if I have anything to do with it though... that makes it about the sport and not about the meat. JMHO. The deer population does need to be thinned out and the meat is free of antibiotics. I agree that the cows, pigs, ect. we eat are treated way more barbarically than any deer is.

Marilyn C, I agree with you 100%.

No, I'm not a vegetarian but that is so often thrown back at those who don't enjoy hunting. You're missing the point. Yes, I know how the food we eat is killed. My point is that I don't enjoy the thrill of the kill, and I don't understand how people can find a thrill in hunting an animal down and killing it.

That thrill of the kill and whether or not someone is a vegetarian is apples and oranges, but a common comment of hunting fans.

For hunters who say they enjoy being out there and waiting for animals to come by, then why take a gun? Just go sit out there and wait. If you want to "outsmart" the animal, just yell boo and see if you startle them. Perhaps that'd be as much fun as ending their life?

To each their own. For me, I don't enjoy killing anything, even spiders which I hate hate hate. For those that do enjoy killing things, go ahead, but please just fess up to the real reason you do it.

Not intended to start controversy.
Just making an observation.

Every year our local paper is filled with pictures of children (both boy and girl) with the caption KILLED FIRST DEER. Some are as young as 4 years old.

For some resason that bothers me, but do not know exactly why.

Again, as stated, this person was only posting a thread re: her experience hunting.

Nothing about pros and cons of hunting.

As chubby rat stated: no wonder people don't share much on here anymore.....

Some people like to twist and turn threads just to GET SOMETHING STARTED

boooooooooo!

Same as the one I posted on bluberry SALAD!

Just making a statement on how good it was and then BOOM!

When is the last time that anyone sat around the kitchen table with other people and had the conversation stay completely on the topic one person started, with nobody giving their opinions? And just because there are differing opinions doesn't mean that anyone is trying to start something. Conversations are where people start with a person saying something and then it takes all kinds of twists and turns from there, with opinions.

When someone calls foul just because a conversation is happening and there are opinions being voiced that they don't share is the reason that *I* don't spend a lot of time posting here.

Susan- my revolver is a 357 magnum and you're correct about the noise protection. We always wear both eye goggles and hearing protection when we shoot.

As for hunting- I don't. It just doesn't interest me but I do enjoy target shooting with my husband. We do regular targets and sporting clay. I do allow my brother and one other friend to hunt deer on my property. Both men have permits for 2 doe a year and they do eat all the meat or donate it to the local group who distributes it to the needy.

I personally couldn't shoot a deer but I don't have a problem with my brother hunting for deer or turkey. We have 135 acres in the PA mountains and my forest has been decimated by the overbrowsing of deer. The only way to restore our woods is to drastically reduce the number of deer. It's not unusual to look out the window and see 10 to 15 deer browsing. The only oak trees we have left are the mature ones, there are no young oaks growing because the deer eat all the acorns and the young trees. We are enrolled in the PA Forest Stewardship Program and the goal is to protect and enhance our property for the betterment of all species of flora and fauna. Here's the recommendation from the 2 foresters and 1 naturalist from the Yale School of Forestry:

......"The recommended deer density to allow for adequate tree regeneration is 20 deer per forested square mile (one deer per 32 acres). However, to perpetuate a healthy native forest with a diversity of native shrubs and wildflowers, the recommended deer density is 10 deer per forested square mile (one deer per 64 acres). The habitat value of forests is greatest where there is an extensive unbroken canopy of mature trees with a diversity of native understory species that includes shrubs and herbaceous plants. Given that there are about 138 acres of forest on the property, the recommended number of deer that should be using this property to sustain a healthy forest is two."........

It's a serious problem.

Melanie I think it's a real accomplishment whenever we're able to overcome a fear. Congrats!

I agree with Suzieque, what's wrong with conversation veering off? That's just normal interaction. And Melanie, as the OP, stated she was fine with dissenting opinions. I thought Melanie was very gracious, and secure enough in her opinion to allow room for other people's opinions. Very refreshing.

I really have no problem with the topic veering off. I know everyone has their own opinions and as long as they are not attacking me personally and being horrible about it I am cool.
There are actually alot of reasons I am out there and do want to try and shoot a deer and whether right or wrong.. they are my feelings and I can't change them to please someone else. So for this I do understand others having opposing opinions. I am actually a huge animal lover. I love my puppies like they are my children and would harm anyone who harmed them. To me though its different with the deer, I can't explain it.
Part of it is growing up. When I was married I was so sheltered from alot of things(control) and since I have been seperated (over a year) and met My boyfriend(jan will be a year) I have learned many new things. He is a country boy, raised country hunting, fishing etc. I was never raised country..I am learning to be in the woods, learning to experience hunting and if it is not something I want to do I don't have to. I am learning for the first time in 11 years(marriage) that I am my own person, I make my own choices and I am free. I have never had that and I am wanting to experience alot of things. My boyfriend thinks I am perfect and loves me more then he loves anyone, He would do anything for me, always puts me before himself and he is always proud of me, but I know how proud he would be if he could say "look at the buck my baby got" Yes part of its an ego thing, part of it is curiosity and I guess there are many more reasons.. I am proud of myself for making myself go out in the woods and I am proud of myself for doing this.. I am not a casual animal killer. Its very hard for me to explain why the deer are different, I guess I know its food and I know it does help thin the population out. Thanks for the encouragements and thanks for expressing your own opinions..

I am not trying to start anything..just giving another view point that someone else might not stop and think about. I truly respect the different opinions and if we all agreed about everything wouldn't the world but a dull and boring place. At least we can all discuss this without name calling and hatefulness...because there is no right or wrong side..no matter which side you are on..

To those that are against killing deer...May I ask where yall live??? I am in West Tn and around here especially this time of the year, the deer population is horrible. They need to be thinned out...I can sit here and name 8 people that have had car wrecks because of the deer running out in the road. My daughter drives these roads at night and my constant fear is that as a new driver a deer hitting her car will cause her to be seriously injured or worse. My neighbor came home Sat night and a deer had crashed into the door of his truck..broken glass from the drivers side window, door caved in..and it was a small deer that did that damage..a button buck. I almost wrecked my school bus full of children when one jumped out in front of me on a hill back in Oct..I had slowed down for about 4 to cross in front of me about 5 minutes earlier..I knew they were moving..

My DS age 13 hunts..he got his first of the year(almost a 4 point about 150#) Sat and to be honest I hope his last. I don't believe in killing just to kill, so the meat will be eaten and that is money saved off of my grocery bill.