Bought my first Gun

[Witis]

No, you started off asking about the motivation of the hunter, then turned it into an ethical question about whether I thought it was acceptable.

Although I found it difficult to believe that a large number of deer were killed by arrow instead of easier methods, I think it was very clear that I wanted to know just what your ethical view was in relation to the killing of deer for human consumption.

For one thing, I have already stated that I don't hunt, so even talking about the motivation of a bow hunter is entirely secondhand.

I didn't ask you to speculate about the motivation of the bow hunter, I asked you if "it is acceptable to kill a deer as long as there is more skill involved e.g bow and arrow, blowpipes, or spear?"

When you start talking about what is acceptable, then you get into the realm of fair chase law, an area I have little opinion on.

I think it was clearly an ethical rather than legal question although I don't believe anyone would have minded if you contrasted your views with the state's legal position.

So, if we are talking about how people harvest deer, I have a little second hand information about that.

That was an interesting component of the discussion which I recall adding several elements to myself.

If we are talking about why people harvest deer, I have talked to a variety of people about that and know that there are a wide rande of motivations.

I don't recall having ever asked you to speculate about why anybody else chooses to kill deer.

But, if we are talking about the ethics of hunting deer, I'm not even going to answer, because I don't feel very strongly about it.

Yes, that is what I asked about.

What have I said that indicated whether I thought it was either acceptable or unacceptable to kill a deer by any means?

You have stated that you eat beef and venison although you prefer the taste of elk and mousse which indicates that you believe it is ethical to kill all of those herbivorous animals and then consume them. I was interested to see if you drew the line somewhere, for example, only if the prey is given a fighting chance to get away; or indeed if you had changed your mind altogether mid way through the discussion as I previously explicated.

I would certainly say that it takes more skill, and generally greater effort, to kill a deer with a bow than it does with a rifle.

No argument from me on that point.

A blowpipe without curare would be inhumane and would not fall under fair chase laws, while I would expect that a blowpipe with curare would be illegal in most of this country.

I didn't read anything that stopped blowpipes (with or without curare) being used even by children to kill deer in most U.S states.

Spear hunting is legal for some types of game, but not for others.

I read it is legal to hunt deer and pig is some U.S states e.g Alabama.

Running deer by humans is illegal in this state (it would fall under harrasing wildlife, cause you'd never convince a game officer that you were actually hunting).

I haven't checked although I suspect that you are correct, you would have to travel to say Africa if you wanted to pit yourself in a test of endurance against your target game animal.

Running deer by dogs may be legal in parts of the southeast (hound hunting for various things is more widely used in the some states down there), but the dogs may be shot on sight by law enforcement in other states.

It must have come from Britain and Ireland where "deer hunting" was historically a 'sporting pursuit of deer with scent-seeking hounds ("stag hounds"), with unarmed followers typically on horseback.' which has been illegal since the Hunting Act of 2004 - Wiki.

So, you'd have to check the laws in whichever state you felt like chasing deer around. It may even be encouraged in some areas, since deer will move into towns where they can't be hunted, and they have been known to attack people and domestic animals.

Even if such attacks occur irregularly, somehow I don't quite see Hollywood making it into a full featured horror!

You'd have to check with the state. We have 50 different sets of laws on the subject. Have fun with your research.

Ah, no need to look that far, ye olde blowpipe should do the trick in most U.S states.

I'd certainly consider elk, moose, or bison if I was at a place that had it on the menu. I've certainly had bison, and I think I've had elk, or at least seen it on a menu. Both of those tend to be VERY lean compared to beef, with no marbling to speak of, so they have to be cooked in certain ways or else they are really dry. I had some BBQ Buffalo burgers (American Bison aren't technically Buffalo, but that name is used a lot more than Bison) that were really good.

Sounds like you have quite an appetite.