Speaking only for myself, I admit to being somewhat of a hypocrite in this matter. I could not kill a critter myself, but I do eat meat (I draw the line at veal), knowing full well that the animal had to be killed. Out of site, out of mind.

I can happily go to a restaurant and have a steak, but I know that if they led the animal out and slaughterd it at my table, I'd be less inclined. It's probably one of the main reasons why I'm not a lobster eater. I hear how great lobster is, but having to actually choose which one will die leaves me out. By the time I looked at them all in the tank, I'd probably have given them all names and bonded with them.

>Hunting is one of primary means of controlling the deer population.
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>I am curious though - I do understand people's views on the idea of hunting as a 'sport.' I also see how people cannot understand how anyone could hunt their own food when you can buy meat at any grocery store. I will not go into the reasons - for every hunter it is different. I do know MANY families who live on meat all year that they acquired during hunting season though. What I do not understand is when the 'humane' comes into play. Having spent time at a few locations where cattle are processed (there are a few different methods), hunting is much more humane.
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>>>>>Now I can shoot a deer and feel a primary sense of joy and excitment instead of guilt. Sure if it is a poor shot and it suffers, I feel bad. But the feeling of a clean shot and quick kill of a deer is definitely one of the top 5 joys in my life.
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>>>>And that you feel that way doesn't bother you? If you were living in frontier times and killing that deer meant your family would eat for a week instead of going hungry, I can understand the feeling. But in the modern world, how can killing an innocent creature give you joy?
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>>>>Tamar
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>>>It's easy to paint deer as innocent little creatures, but they are a pest here. People die from car accidents with deer,
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>>Er, isn't it that deer die from people running into them? It's not as if the deer flatten the cars.
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>>>and even if they don't die they can become injured and have their vehicles damaged. Deer eat farmer's crops, and destroy property. They're not something that you have to trek into the wilderness to see.
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>>And how do you know that the deer you shoot has eaten crops or caused an accident, or will do in future?
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>>>We also eat the deer we kill. We don't shoot for the joy of killing and let them lay to rot, as often hunters are depicted.
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>>>No, it doesn't bother me that I feel that way.