Jimbo,that is a true statement(hunting is quite humane)Non-hunters sometimes don't realize that.If you are a meat eater,you have no reason to put down hunting...Do I feel remorse? No. Awe is more like it...With that said,I passed on SEVERAL deer this season and did more looking than hunting,in fact yet to kill a deer. My son shot a 10 pt at our place and a doe at a neighbors place, brother shot a spike and 2 hogs so we're good on meat. I have an MLD hunt scheduled in a week or so. We shall see.

No remorse here, I do feel bad about a wounded animal, especially if it's not found. But otherwise,animals die everyday so we can eat what difference does it make if I kill them or the slaughter house does...

^^^ I like the way HnF said this.

I felt true remorse the first time I shot a sparrow with my brand spankin' new daisy BB gun some 40 years ago. After hundreds of shots at targets that day I finaly got the drop on that sparrow. Before it hit the ground it struck me, "what a waste".

Since then I have killed a bunch a birds and animals, but that was my intention. Sometimes for the dinner table, sometimes for removal. Not much remorse nowdays, but I do pause on occasion to think of "...where it's been..."

I feel bad if something is wounded and doesn't go down quickly, or if I see animals being wasted, but I don't have any remorse for taking game animals. I respect the animals and enjoy being part of the natural food chain. We are predators and I believe that many of us still have a primal instinct to hunt and gather. It brings us closer to our food and nature in a way that many people will never understand.

Not a whole lot bothers me, I night give one I've watch a few years a cpl extra pats, but never been remorseful for pulling the trigger on anything, domestic or feral.

As said prior, not so much remorse. But I always thank God for the harvest. I always try to eat what i kill with very few exceptions.

Remorse? No, I feel a little humbled... If it’s legal to hunt I want to go after it, but in saying that I’m not going to kill what I can’t use or give for others to enjoy.. Most of us on here are hunters, but at the moment of truth we morph from hunter to Killer that’s just a fact. We owe it to our prey to be sufficient in doing the job well. I don’t like seeing animals crippled and I certainly don’t want to hear a deer bawl out(experience that once and didn’t like it). This is a good thread, and I’m thrilled to see everyone’s on the same page.. Now, it’s time to chicken fry some backstrap….

No remorse for me. I kill for a reason. Either meat for my table or someone else's. Other times I kill because something needs to be rid of such as an over ambitious armadillo that digs my yard up nightly or a skunk that comes around so often he becomes a nuisance or an occasional coon that robs my wife's bird feeder nightly. Coyotes on occasion when they become so thick they hunt even in daylight hours. Poisonous snakes when they present me the opportunity. When I kill I feel I have served a purpose for myself and others therefore no remorse at all.

+1... except for varmints that need kiling... can't eat them but a buzzard will get a meal.

I dont feel remorse or sadness. I try not to make things suffer for no reason, I will never be one of the shoot the hogs in the guts so they run off people, I would prefer to cleanly kill and eat them and if they stink or I dont need them give them away or lets the varmits eat, if I keep the coyotes fed with a steady diet of dead hogs maybe they will leave my fawns alont

Not remorse but empathy. One moment that big ol' buck was the stud of these woods and then he died at my hands and by my doing. I have a profound respect for the animals I hunt.

With that said, I'm a trophy hunter. I only want the biggest, oldest bucks I can find. However, I eat every bit of the meat from the deer I kill. I am not hunting because I need the meat. I can get beef, pork, or chicken a whole lot cheaper and with a lot less effort. Hunting fulfills a primal urge that many of us share.

Felt really sad when I lost a buck that I knew been fatally hit. What a waste. I blamed myself for not being as prepared to successfully take him in as quick a kill as possible. Remedy, practice and patience. That was the only time I had remorse for pulling the trigger.

When I was younger, no. Now I feel a little on every kill. I don't feel bad about it, just a little remorse. I feel it more if i wound a duck or something and have to finish it off. I would feel it worse if I had to walk up and finish a deer. Haven't had to do that yet.

We are by nature predators. I don't feel remorse for killing the animals I eat myself. For one, we have usually killed off all of the other predators in the area so the prey animals NEED to be killed or they will starve to death. Starvation is a much worse death than a bullet or an arrow. For two, game meat is the leanest, and in my opinion most delicious meat you can eat. For third, and in my opinion the most important, I'd rather kill an animal and get my hands dirty cleaning and processing it myself than get something at a grocery store. This is most important to me because I'm a city girl and being surrounded by people that can't comprehend "steak is beef is steer is an animal" really bothered me a lot. I will be sure my kids and nieces understand we eat meat and this is where it comes from. Almost everyone I knew went through a serious shock, and some were even traumatized, when they "discovered" such an obvious thing as "an animal died so that I can eat this".

I do respect the animals I harvest and give thanks when I harvest one.

I have not yet had to manage predators, although if the drought stays on we will probably have to start in on the coyotes. I predict that I will feel regret if we need to take out some coyotes, I already don't like the thought of shooting something and leaving it.

I understand the necessity in some cases though. I mean, what are you going to do with 12 dead pigs in one night? I imagine you need a lot of friends to take care of all of that meat. And if it is only yourself butchering then that is some labor intensive work right there. And they all need to be iced after butchering too, so your buddies need to show up asap or you need to have a walk in cooler to hang them up in. Hunters for the Hungry won't accept wild pig, so you have to find a processor that knows of a charity that will accept wild pig and still you usually have to pay some kind of fee. It is an unfortunate situation all around.

I took a buck this year that let out what you might call a death bleat just before expiring. That kind of thing can quickly grab your attention.

One thing is certain. We can talk all we want about how killing an animal sometimes gets to us. But there's no question it's nothing compared to what men must face in times of war and combat.

I've never known a man to come back from combat who made the first effort to talk about such things.

I shot a buck many years ago in Sutton County..while waiting to let him die..a small button buck was bleeting and nudging the big buck with his head as if to say "come on dad"..lost my will
to kill deer after that for many years..really bothered me..

No, if I teared up after I got some meat for the freezer I would quit hunting and just go cry in the meat section at the grocery store.

Remorse?!?!?! I'm usually celebrating after I kill a deer or pig or whatever else I'm hunting. IF I felt sorry for the animal I wouldn't have been after it in the first place. I'm at the top of the food chain and life is good.

No remorse here. Respect yes , remorse no. Now pigs are a whole other story. I feel kinda of bad about killing and not eating em but they cause way to much damage to not be killed. I kill as many as I can and most of them go to waste unless I have some one that wants them.

When I kill something, it is for the purpose of being eaten. I will not shoot an animal just for the fun of it unless I deem it to be a threat.

I believe that humans were given dominion over animals and they are here to provide us nourishment.

No remorse here, I am too busy thinking about sausage and backstgraps.

I do have some remorse after killing an animal. I also say a prayer thanking the Lord for the food he has provided us. The only time that I didn't have remorse was one morning while I was going to my stand I saw a pitbull dog about 50 yards away, when I tried to shoo him away he started walking towards me growling. He didn't make it much closer before he took a dirt nap. No remorse there.

I feel remorse when I kill an animal. I feel sorry that it had to die in order for me to eat it. As a hunter I respect the animals that I hunt whether it be a dove, duck or deer, they are all living creatures and when I kill them, I feel sorry for them briefly. I hit a doe in the stomach with my bow years ago, tracked her for a mile, hit her again in the neck and finished her with my knife. I felt especially sorry for making her suffer. When I started field dressing her though, I did not feel sorry that I had killed her, she was going to feed my family and friends.

I think as a human I feel some sorrow in taking a life, but the reality is, I am not a veggie and don't plan to become one, and I would rather dispatch and eat an animal than eat something that someone else has killed and butchered for me.

To me every animal I kill is a gift from God, and it is good to thank him for that blessing.

I kill a lot of animals I don't eat, mainly coyotes and pigs. We like deer and its essentially all out war against them. No remorse, no hard feelings.

On deer, especially a deer that I've hunted for a while I do feel a little sad. Watching trail camera photos, watching them get bigger every year, watching them out of range,.. then after the shot, that's all she wrote.

The OP was wrong about God breathing life into all creatures. He breathed life only into Adam and Eve. All of the other animals were just created. No remorse but there is a respect, a gratitude or an acknowledging of the power, and responsibility, that we have as the ones given dominion over the animals and fishes.

When it comes to killing ducks I don't feel much remorse because I've always been into the shooting but now since I'm getting older I find myself watching them more than shooting. Still no remorse on ducks though. I do not eat ducks but there are many happy friends and family that enjoy them. I've learned what my dad always tried teaching me which is respecting the animals you take and I don't shoot anything that is going to wasted. When it comes to deer I felt something I never felt before the other day when I shot a buck and walked up on him while he was passing away. Kinda tugged at the heart strings but I knew he was going to be eaten and taken care of after he was gone. I think it all takes time. I started hunting at 8 and didn't know anything other than what my dad taught me but now at 27 I'm starting to learn things about myself and all of the things that he was trying to teach me are coming together. Don't think it's remorse but I definitely respect what I shoot.