Thread: Is Hunting for me?

I'm a pretty keen fisherman, but I've never hunted before. I was thinking about going on a guided one day wild pig hunt (dogs with knife) as opposed to with a rifle.

However, something in me feels a bit different killing a pig as opposed to a fish. I don't ever think twice about eating pork but something in me feels un-easy about pig hunting even though I've always been interested and want to try it. No one in my family or any of my friends have ever hunted before so can't get their advice on it.

Does this sound similar to anyone?

Pig hunting can be a bit hard on the pigs...and the dogs for that matter but its one of the oldest hunting methods still used today and Im sure if you gave the pig the choice of roaming free for its lifetime or be raised in a pen it would choose the wild every time.

Maybe try watching some youtube vids or something?

I know when I was a young fulla before I started hunting I was chomping at the bit to get out so the fact that your doubting it maybe stick to fishing an and leave the pigs for the keen buggers

Just my 2c

You will be fine, you know your not a complete psycho if you
have a small twang of regret at the coup de grace of an animal. Respect the animal and use what you can off it and it wont niggle at you.

Pig hunting with dogs certainly is different than hunting with a rifle. I was in a similar situation to you - keen to get into hunting and get amoungst it. Started pig hunting with a few locals for about a year and it was an eye opener to my otherwise sheltered life! I much prefer rifle hunting as hearing a squealing pig for prolonged periods of times is not very pleasant, and I realise that its is the best way to get pigs but it is quite a barbaric sport.

Give it a crack though as it is as ground roots as hunting can get. I'll never forget my first kill with a knife. The thrill of hearing the dogs go, the chase, the quickest and best way to get there, the adrenaline rush is higher than rifle shooting i believe. Theres only one way to find out if its for you or not

Best to take some of the advice above - watch some videos, research, and even go out with a few guys (find a hunting club or some farmers that you know hunt in your area) and see if you enjoy it, then give it a go yourself.

To be honest I have never had any interest in hunting with a knife and dog, mainly because I have never been in a place where it was actually a practiced method of hunting until moving to NZ. I don't do much rifle hunting nowadays either, but I love hunting with my bow, takes a great deal of strategy for spotting and stalking versus the rifle and is also a sport of accuracy because you only get 1 chance with the bow since animal is well out of range for a follow up if you miss the first shot.

If you are at all questioning it, maybe you should try with a rifle first to see if you are capable, and ok with killing an animal from a distance (and usually quickly) before you try to pick one up and stab it - lots of good guided hunts in NZ that will help you along the way before you go it alone.

No one is the same , some people have no compunction about killing ,others are more thoughtful , ask yourself this question ,If you have shot a deer and it needs its throat cut ,and when the blood starts gushing and draining away ,and you can feel the deers life ebbing away as it struggles one last time until it is there lying limp with glazed eyes where once they were sparkling and alive .and when you have to cut up the deer and you see the terrific damage the hunting bullet has done , with the warm blood an guts on you hands . ask yourself , do want do be a hunter , if the answer is hell yeah , then you SHOULDN'T take up the sport

By that argument, there is alot of people in nz that should never be allowed near a rifle, bow or knife

Originally Posted by kidmac42

By that argument, there is alot of people in nz that should never be allowed near a rifle, bow or knife

I know plenty of people who are hunters that should never have been allowed a firearm....

Dont give up Frosty you are dead right, maybe Im getting soft with age . like I said no one is the same and have no worries taking out an animal ect, hey I'm one of them .I just wanted to ask ENP the question as he is the one thinking about taking up the hunt , He just might be a sensitive soul and may be sickened by the whole thing, I have been a slaughter man for 35yrs ,I should be pretty well immune to killing but I still have a pang in my gut when an animal is wounded and needs to be finished off .

Originally Posted by hokonui

No one is the same , some people have no compunction about killing ,others are more thoughtful , ask yourself this question ,If you have shot a deer and it needs its throat cut ,and when the blood starts gushing and draining away ,and you can feel the deers life ebbing away as it struggles one last time until it is there lying limp with glazed eyes where once they were sparkling and alive .and when you have to cut up the deer and you see the terrific damage the hunting bullet has done , with the warm blood an guts on you hands . ask yourself , do want do be a hunter , if the answer is hell yeah , then you SHOULDN'T take up the sport

Isnt this a description of what hunting entails only written in an emotive way? I may have to give up hunting now

Ill re word it for the OP, Ask yourself this question, If you spend the day crawling around the bush and come across a deer which you shoot. Then get to it as quick as you can so you can cut its throat to ensure there is no unnecessary suffering and after its bleed out you carry out that task of preparing the meat for the walk out. Finally get home a process the meat whilst reliving the hunt over and over in your head with a sense of satisfaction and achievement.Then pass said meat on to family and friends sharing the memories of how you got it. And seeing the appreciation. Ask yourself. do you want to be a hunter? If the answer is hell yeh, then you should take up the sport.

Originally Posted by Frosty

Isnt this a description of what hunting entails only written in an emotive way? I may have to give up hunting now

I think you missed the point

Originally Posted by res

I think you missed the point

What was the point you took from it?


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pig hunting with a knife is abit different to hunting, if your ok watching dogs ripping at a pigs ears, nose, balls and hearing a pig squelling in pain, then give it a go.
my thoughts - the thought of it isnt very nice
but when ive done it ive loved it and the pig hasnt suffered very long

id go normal hunting first and make sure your happy with pulling the trigger on a animal, guided meat hunts arnt to expensive

What a load of bollocks , are YOU serious , please think about what YOU just said , not what the TV tells you to think .

Really , fishing has to be one of the cruelist ways of killing game , first you hook it up in the corner of its mouth , them you use a low strenght breaking line , way under the weight of the targteted fish , and you slowly real it in , over 10 -30 mins , absolutely exhausting the fish to the point of death , then you gaff it etc .
The ONLY thing worse is the absloute tossers , that fish , and then pretend they are such fantastic blokes that they release IT , really WHY , because mate its not going to live , as its exhausted , its just a slow snack for a bigger fish !!

Most hunters do their level best to kill the game with one well placed shoot , and the animal is in alot of cases dead before he hits the ground , & its sudden and out of the blue , not 10-30 mins of bloodly torture .

I am not against fishing , BUt please , donot try to say its better/more humane than shooting , BECAUSE its NOT , not even remotely close .

IF you donot beleive what I have said , YOU will no doubt have no problems with be putting a little sharp hook in hte corner of your mouth & a say 20kg line , and I will be happy to lead you around a paddock untill you collapse from exhaustion ;

Me , I see Humans at the top of the food chain , and have no problems harvesting any tasty creature for my belly , as long as its sustainable , as I want to live more than a year or two , nothing against fishermen , BUT donot claim its a more human way of killing .

I have seen a guy , hold a chicken upside down , stroke its neck so its absolutley claim , then pluck a few feathers from around its neck , then make a small nick in its neck with a knife and the bird did not even move , and with his other hand catch all the blood in a cup so he could cook that as well and eat it , NICE , he did not put a hook in it and drag it around the yard for 30 mins .

Shit , i just realise , I have wasted 15mins of my life on a obvious troll .