I don't have anything against hunting. I did when we first moved out here from California. I just didn't understand it...and I guess, admittedly, I am still struggling to understand it. But I'm doing my best to come to terms with it since we've moved here. See in California deer are like magical animals. You hardly ever see them in the concrete laden jungle of So Cal. As a matter of fact, I'm struggling to recall one time I ever DID see a deer...even camping I don't think I did (Todd has many times). They always seemed pretty and graceful to me...and like I said, rather elusive.
Flash forward to last year when we moved to Kentucky. I'm not kidding you when I say that I pretty much cried anytime I drove almost anywhere. This wasn't due to hunting - this was due to the roadkill. Dead animals everywhere! I couldn't drive anywhere without seeing at least one dead deer on the side of the road. Raccoons, skunks, squirrels, opossum and groundhogs were pretty common to see dead also. In the first weeks I was here, I was on my way to Starbucks on the other side of town...this stupidly adorable chipmunk was panicking in the middle of a four lane road - running back and forth under cars trying to get across. I slammed my brakes on and he successfully managed to clear my car...only to run right under the tires of the car next to me. He got smooshed. I saw the whole thing and got pretty hysterical. Of course I was dealing with having just moved across the country - away from all my friends and family to a place very different from home, so I'm sure that contributed to the emotions. Well, the people at Starbucks felt so bad for me (when I say I was hysterical, I mean I could barely breathe I was crying so hard) that they gave me my entire order free...and a couple of coupons for free drinks. I just have a very, very soft spot in my heart and soul for animals (and evidentally Starbucks has a soft spot in their corporate heart for me).
So, maybe you can kind of see how hunting affected me. We have some avid hunters in our family out here also. And one of my best friend's, Mel, swears by deer meat. I've never had anything more than a tiny bite of deer meat (I was kind of tricked into eating that)...I've managed to successfully avoid having to eat it, even though the majority of our family out here does. I think the family understands that I'm a bleeding heart hippie, and while they make jokes they no longer pressure me. I still express my thoughts about it though (in a diplomatic way). In my opinion, if I have to listen to how you hunt deer, then you can listen to me about how I don't hunt deer. And oh boy - everyone talks about hunting out here. That's what they do. They hunt. For many reasons. One is to cull the deer population. Another is they just like the taste of deer meat. I'm sure some are just stone cold killers. Some people eat nothing but the meat from their deer kill most of the year. So while I don't necessarily agree with it, like I said before, I'm coming to terms with it. And after being here for just over a year I can drive by the dead deer (saw three on the way to the park yesterday) without crying. I do notice them though- I always notice them. I wish I didn't. For some reason, I'm like a damn dead deer detector.
There are deer everywhere out here. Every-freaking-where. Herds of them on the side of the road. So I understand we're not going to run out of them anytime soon. Anytime I/we see them, it's a stop the damn car and let me take a picture moment... So here are a few of the pics (most blurry because I'm in the car).
I hope no one took offense to this post or my last one. And I do want to make it very clear that I am not a vegetarian. I eat prepackaged, store bought hamburger, chicken and pork... This seems like a total hypocritical post now that I've said that, I'm sure. But for some reason it seems okay to me to do that. That is how I was raised, and it's already dead. Do you see my conflict here? My views aren't perfect and don't always make sense...but I'm working on them. And I don't look down on anyone who hunts. Let me say that again - I do not look down on anyone that hunts. I'm just working to come to terms with it in my own screwed up head. Truth be told though, I prefer hunting to roadkill. At least with hunting the animal is being used for a purpose, whereas roadkill is just the waste of a beautiful animal - left to rot on the road. Not that anyone chooses to wreck their car or body by running into a damn deer.
Wow - if you made it through this rambling, disjointed post, I commend you. As always, please feel free to express your opinion here - I take no offense to anyone disagreeing with me. Just please be respectful while expressing it :)
'til next time my friends...♥
It's Bambi. They will always be Bambi. How anyone can kill a living animal is beyond me. I don't care how damn good it tastes. Yes, we are carnivores, but we are no longer cave dwellers. We can choose what we eat, and do it in a humanly way, as hypocritical as that may sound.
ReplyDeleteI once hit a squirrel and cried hysterically over it. Pulled over and took him out of the road. Covered in a napkin, I had to tell a passing vehicle, "Yes, I killed it." They laughed at me, but I was devastated. Now I know to hit up a starbucks, lol!
That haunting picture of Bambi's legs thrown away with cigarette butts makes me sick. I agree, all you can do is make your own peace with other people's ways, as hard as it may be. I'm on the side of the animals, from ant to elephant, and everything in between.
I am waiting for the aliens to come, because, we'll make good pets.
<3
Sparkleflo
Oh lovely lady! This is YOUR blog. You have every right to post YOUR feelings and YOUR beliefs. If someone doesn't like that, tough cookies to them!
ReplyDelete*hug*
I like this post better than the last one, but only because the other one made me sad. I eat meat also but can't bring myself to eat deer. My husband has taken up hunting in the past few years and lucky for me and the deer, he isn't a successful one. I too think deer are magical, they are beautiful and I think if the tables were turned they are too nice and would not hunt and eat us people.
ReplyDeleteI've only been tricked into eating deer too (why do people DO that??) I was told it was ground turkey in my spaghetti sauce. Um, no. was not. I don't even know why my dad though that trick would work. And this was during a time when I was a mostly vegetarian and had been for about 3 years (because I saw a dead deer in my garage!!) I only ate turkey or chicken about 2-3 times a month.
ReplyDeleteI don't have anything against hunters (hey I'm related to some that take some pretty huge trips just to kill deer) except I wish people would realize that not all of us want to see that deer strapped on top of your car or in the bed of your pickup. Use a tarp or something. Not sure about KY - in some states you need to cover your game or have them in an enclosed space, like a pickup with a cover over the bed. Others you can just strap them to the top of your car and be on your merry way.
I do eat some game (I actually kinda like boar) but something about deer is different - I think it's because their eyes remind me of dog eyes, and they hold their heads in that same alert puppy dog fashion. They are gentle creatures basically. (Now, a wild boar has treed a member of my family; they are not so kind and gentle. But said family member probably wouldn't have been in that situation had they chosen to pick up some pork chops from the grocery store, right?)