Australia's fav feral

[trev27]

I picked foxes, not sure if a critter with a bell and a coller is considered a feral :D

[Flame]

I picked foxes, not sure if a critter with a bell and a coller is considered a feral :D

Watch it Trev 8)

[trev27]

dont have a cat man :P

[Flame]

dont have a cat man :P

No wonder :D

[trev27]

:rofl: :lol: :lol: :lol: oo...my sides hurt he he he.

[dad]

yep igo for the cat as well their hard to get on to and you definatly dont get a second go at the barstards miss and they are out of there big time.
Had one lined up last night in arubbish pile near work damb but i hate coils of old wire arrow cliped some on the way in turned right for aclean miss of at least 18 inches !!!
aw well next time Ill just hook up the 240 volt lead fry the bugger!!!

[Flame]

cat 1
dad 0

:D

[Marcus]

yep igo for the cat as well their hard to get on to and you definatly dont get a second go at the barstards miss and they are out of there big time.
Had one lined up last night in arubbish pile near work damb but i hate coils of old wire arrow cliped some on the way in turned right for aclean miss of at least 18 inches !!!
aw well next time Ill just hook up the 240 volt lead fry the bugger!!!
and dad is cooking breakfast at the DVA 3DAAA shoot. Enjoy! :D

[Flame]

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

I'll be there after lunch :D

[Luke]

Why aren't deer listed in the poll? :cry:

[trev27]

In my books for something to be deemed feral it first has to be domesticated then eather escape or be released.I know a few peaple that farm deer and there deer especialy the stags get violent even if you go near there padock. So i reckon they arnt domesticated like cattle but mierly captive hence making our magestic wild game deer an exotic spicies and not feral.
Sorry but i couldent in good mind put them on the list, maybe start a poll of fav deer spicies :)

[enseth]

So i reckon they arnt domesticated like cattle but mierly captive hence making our magestic wild game deer an exotic spicies and not feral.

Talk to the farmers around these parts and try and tell them their not feral. Especially after they have flattend huge areas of crop.

In my books for something to be deemed feral it first has to be domesticated then eather escape or be released.
Also Trev, under this definition foxes would not be classed as feral. since they were never domesticated and were brought to Australia for hunting purposes.

[trev27]

One of my dads mates has to shoot samber every winter because they come down off mountain and maul his cattle, but its only the offending stags that see the pointy end of a 30-06 . On the grand scale of things they have not caused the distruction of inviroment that pigs, buff, dogs and cats have caused.I do relise that they can be a problem, but a noctious spieces like carp and foxs that have caused untold damage to our ecosystems. Be nice to our deer :wink:

[Luke]

I do relise that they can be a problem, but a noctious spieces like carp and foxs that have caused untold damage to our ecosystems
This raises the interesting question of exactly how do we measure the 'impact or damage' that different 'non native/introduce/feral' species cause.

Is it simply an assumption that deer are generally regarded as causing less damage simply because it is less publicised? Is this because the 'press and public' see them as cute and cuddly and so don't believe they would do as much damage as the 'ugly' old pig? As Enseth pointed out, I'm sure the farmers would tell you differently after they've had their crops flattened, fences broken, feed eaten and cattle injured and diseased from deer.

The true defintion of feral is "(of animals which were previously domesticated) gone wild" (The Macquaire Dictionary). So to say deer are feral is not exactly correct....however...it is my contention that it could be said, and is often generalized that a specie that is not native to an area/country is regarded as/said to be feral.

The original reason for release of deer into Australia (red deer) I believe was for hunting purposes. A gift from the royalty of Great Britain to the people of Queensland/Australia. In this instance we could not label deer as feral. However when we do consider the likes of tourist parks (Forest Glenn Deer Sanctuary (Sunshine Coast, Qld)) these deer are most certainly domesticated and as such highlight the 'feralness' of the deer that live in the wild.

Just my two bobs worth,

Luke

[trev27]

One of my hunting buddys tamed a fox but had to let it go cause the bloody thing started to stink , that thing was tame, used to ride in the back of his ute. So after he let it go are all foxes deamed feral.I will put the Rabid Fallow of your erea on the list . But moreover would like to state that most exotic spieces have a feral element, and as Luke said the turm "feral" has been coined for every introduced spieces .
But i'll have to agree to disagree because all the deer i've seen in the wild are the most magnifisant cretures i have ever seen and dont for one minute look out of place. The non feral Samber of the Snowy Mountains. Q. who here has hunted or even seen non feral deer?
Luke i'd say is one.
Oops it wont let me add fallow to the list .

[Axilla]

Camal?

Is this a singer in a caftan?

If their numbers are increasing in the wild, feral control measures are certainly needed.

[Brad]

Can i vote for all of them???

There all fun in different ways.....................oop's shouldn't have said fun in front of Luke.

[Luke]

So am I wrong for thinking a more suitable word than "fun" could/should be used to describe what we do or the feelings we have when we take an animals life?

Brad, we are taking the life of another living being. WE decide where, when and how an animal dies at the point we loose an arrow. It's your loss if you choose to cheapen it by calling it 'fun', because it's so much more than 'fun'...if you can't see that I'm sorry.

Luke

[Brad]

Gotcha!

[Luke]

Brad, you're burning more bridges than you realize...

Look outside the box mate.

[Bruce]

I think that everybody that posts in this hunting section of the forum , needs to think carefully about what is posted here . Many things can be taken out of context and we all know that there are many lurking in the back ground just waiting to store away information for future campaigns to control the use of bow and arrow for bouth hunting and target archery .

Please everybody think before you post here , we don't need any more threads here relating the harvesting of none feral species or the like .


remember , be safe , have your broadheads shaft and practice hard to ensure a quick , clean kill


Bruce

GVB controller

[Mike13]

Excuse my ignorance as I am not a hunter but what is wrong with calling hunting fun?
As a pastime or sport I don't see why you would participate if you didn't feel it was "fun".

[Luke]

Spot on Bruce...spot on!

Luke

[Flame]

Your a naughty boy Brad

You are breathing too much pentland air :D

[Luke]

Mike,
I do not mean to offend when I say... because you are not a hunter, you will not understand.

Mate, the effect that bowhunting has on me and many other hunters I know, is something that is indescribable but I will try.

As a hunter, I feel I form some sort of connection with the animals I hunt. Call me crazy, others do :lol: . but when you get so close to an animal that you can hear them breathing, see their nostrils flare when they are sniffing or even hear their guts rumble, you can't help it.

Most hunters spend many many hours in the bush studying, learning and getting to know the animals they hunt. You have to do this to be successful as a bowhunter. Devoting this much time to an animal/s also causes you to have a much different view on what you are undertaking.

If you do not respect the animals you hunt then you really should look at why you bowhunt and the ethics and morals you uphold and adhere to as a hunter. IMO the taking of an animals' life is a serious matter. We should not do it simply for the hell of it or because it is "fun".

Hunting is so much more than the harvest. I know many bowhunters who practise stalking animals, draw on the animal and then let down, knowing that they had the choice to take that shot, to end the animals life. Why do they choose not to shoot? Because they don't have to. They know it is their choice to make. They know that they can end it right there, all they have to do is release. They know that the harvest is not the culmination of a successful hunt, it's merely a piece of the puzzle, a part of the overall experience and one that is sometimes not necessary for the hunter to feel that they have been successful.

Basically bowhunting, to many of us who do it, is a pasttime of reverence. It is honourable, respectful, knowledgable, noble, ethical and esteemed. To me, it is far above "fun". To use such a cheap word, to describe such an enriching experience falls well short of doing it justice.

"Fun" conjurs up the wrong sort of impression, it sends the wrong image to people. It simply paints the wrong picture of what we do as hunters and what hunting means to so many of us.

Another slant on the argument is that it lends weight to the anti hunting lobbies that we are nothing but blood thirsty, murdering pyschos who enjoying killing animals for "fun". That's not me nor is it any other bowhunter I have ever met.

All I can say Mike, is, go hunting mate, put in the effort and if you do, you'll understand.

I hope that makes sense to some.

Just my opinion,

Luke

[Mike13]

You must be right about not hunting because I really don't understand.
To me the taking of somethings life seems to be a fairly poor manifestation of respect for it.
Now that there is no longer a need to hunt for the survival of our species then it must be motivated by enjoyment of the activity - hence fun. When I see a picture of a hunter displaying his trophy with a smile on his face I see a guy having fun.
I am not anti hunting, I don't have a problem with guys who like to hunt however the seeming need to place it above normal activity with talk of respect for the animal etc drives me crazy. I take all my sport very seriously but that doesn't mean I can't describe it as fun.
Maybe the greenies are to blame for making you guys too defensive but it all seems like unnecessary justification to me - why can't people just admit that they have fun hunting?
I am yet to hear an explanation that convinced me but maybe my hunting virginity is, as I tend to hear, the cause of this.

Cheers

[robbo]

I think it is people's perception of fun, that is in question.

If you say say it's fun to a non hunter, then they visualise some gungho yobo runing around the bush killing everything in sight, and not giving a second thought to to the animals they are killing.


I am not a hunter now, I was a long time ago, with a rifle, and living in a rural area I killed all my own meat for a long time.


I enjoyed hunting/shooting but I would never describe killing an animal as fun.

[Flame]

Camal?

Is this a singer in a caftan?

.

Some people can be so unkind :D

[matt]

well said robbo..

[Brad]

Good work Mike. You're spot on.

If it's not fun why do it?

[Brad]

Hey Luke,

Nice job banning me from the bowhunters group. Good to see you support such open discussion and appreciate other people's views.

[Flame]

You are safe here Brad unless Marcus doesn't like you. :D

But then even that doesn't matter as we are still here (for the moment) :D

[trev27]

Hey flame like i said this was spost to be a bit of fun but shes gone sideways and south some, at least the kittys are polling well, thats some consilation i guess :D

[Luke]

Not sure what you're on about there Brad :( (I thought you had no interest in it anymore anyways and that's why you ran off from all the 'political crap') but as I have said in the past, we welcome all input so long as it is appropriate.

Robbo, for me that is certainly a major consideration of why I prefer not to use the word "fun" to describe bowhunting. You have put it well mate.

The fact is we as bowhunters in this country (Australia) are a minority and one that is not viewed well by all of society. So we must ensure that our intentions and actions are seen to be ethical and knoble. Besides this, we owe it to ourselves and the animals we hunt to ensure that our intentions and actions ARE ethical and knoble. At all times we must assume that a non/anti hunter is looking over our shoulder. We owe this to ourselves and to our mates in bowhunting.

Not all people think the way you do, or I do or.... When we say things on this forum we must sit back and re read them to try to imagine the worst possible way they might be interpreted. If this results in a bad outcome, we must re type, edit or even not post what we were going to say.

This forum is viewable to all peoples around the world. It is therefore our moral responsibility to ensure that EVERY POST is in good taste, abides by good hunting ethics and presents hunting in only good light. So the interpretation of the word "fun" when used to describe bowhunting must be viewed with caution because of it's ambiguity, it's open-ness to incorrect interpretation.

When I see a picture of a hunter displaying his trophy with a smile on his face I see a guy having fun.
I look at the same picture and see a bloke who has accomplished what he set out to do. He has acheived a goal, met a challenge, he has tested his hunting skills against the animals' and passed the test. It is a top acheivment to harvest any animal successfully. He has a sense of pride about having done that and he is revealing this to us in his smile.

I have been on a few hunts now, where I could say that on certain parts of the trip, I have certainly NOT been having "fun". For example, hunting in 42 degree heat on new years day. Sure, I go hunting and enjoy what I'm doing and some of it is "fun" but the whole of it is so much more.

My main issue is that there are so many other words out there that more accurately describe how numerous bowhunters feel about hunting and that do the past time so much more justice than a cheap word like "fun". It's like saying that a Ferrari F50 is a "nice" car...we can do far better than that.

Just my opinion.

Luke

[Flame]

Hey flame like i said this was spost to be a bit of fun but shes gone sideways and south some, at least the kittys are polling well, thats some consilation i guess :D

Doesn't anybody like the buff / scrubber

I've seen a few in my time :D

[Mike13]

It is interesting to me that your argument seems to be a quibble over the use of the word fun and it's apparent ambiguity The words you prefer also might not sound so sweet eg I am proud of killing this or I take enjoyment from killing this. I'm not trying to saay this is how you would feel but to point out that many words can be twisted by those that seek to cause problems - the Devil may quote scripture etc etc.
I don't see how fun is a cheap word unless you choose to perceive it as such and as I said above any word can be misconstrued deliberately or otherwise. To me fun is the simple joy taken from an activity or occaison.
What if a hunter does hunt for fun? Should he hold back his opinions or imbue them with a "deeper" philosophy that he does not feel?
Most of the guys I talk to that hunt seem to think it is fun.

Sorry Trev - I'll take my rambling philosophical queries elsewhere. :wink:
Maybe then this thread can get back on track - I can't even vote due to a lack of experience. :P

[Brad]

Thanks for your support flame.

Luke I don't remember saying that killing the game was fun, I said that they are all fun to hunt. I too have passed up on game. 2 weeks ago I watched a fallow doe and her fawn for 10 mins. Did shoot either. Still class that as a fun hunt.

You need to get off your high horse and realise that not everyone will see things the way you do.

And as for banning me from the bowhunters group that's your call. But isn't that just preventing me freedom of speech!! (would hate to think that things like that could be taken away from us, bit like bowhunting)

[Flame]

Sorry Trev - I'll take my rambling philosophical queries elsewhere. :wink:
Maybe then this thread can get back on track - I can't even vote due to a lack of experience. :P

Maybe here

Webmaster/Manager: The Bowhunters Group of Australia
Executive Director:ASAT Australia

:D

[trev27]

I still want to have fun, so here's a new poll : Who's said "fun" the most times at this thred on bowhunting.
Luke........14
Mike13.....10
Brad.........2
Robbo.......2
Trev27......2
Flame........0
Dad..........0
Marcus......0

Are we having fun yet :D

[Flame]

I'm having

FUN

[Mike13]

Damn it, I'm obviously not trying hard enough. :(

Curse that Luke and his deft use of the word "fun".

Maybe here

Webmaster/Manager: The Bowhunters Group of Australia
Executive Director:ASAT Australia


Flame, you're a **** stirrer. :wink:

[Marcus]

But isn't that just preventing me freedom of speech!! (would hate to think that things like that could be taken away from us, bit like bowhunting)
What freedom of speech? Doesn't exist anywhere in the world. Only Freedom of intelligent speech does.
I agree with Bruce. This forum is read by more people than you can imagine, so it is wise to choose words carefully.

[Brad]

Trev,

fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun

will that get me top of the list????

[trev27]

fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun

no :D

grow up!!! ....its my poll.

[Luke]

The words you prefer also might not sound so sweet eg I am proud of killing this or I take enjoyment from killing this.
Mike you have just illustrated my point of ambiguity clearly. You have read my post as saying that the hunter was proud of killingthis and that I take enjoyment from killing.
I know that you were using the possible ambiguity of my words as an example, but you went on to substitute "hunting" for "killing" and this is exactly the perception/assumption that a large number of non-hunters have of us and our past time. That we KILL for "fun". Using "fun" just doesn't sit right with me because it leads people down that path and I prefer to describe it in other terms.

One of my mates wrote:
[quote]I have no problem at all in calling hunting fun but between hunters only. There

[rinaldo]

I only started hunting last March so from a newbees perspective I wouldn't refer to it as fun, its a lot more than that. Its hard to put into words. I have had good mentors in Jacob Goodwin and Bob Hart, they have drummed into me the responsibilty that comes with hunting. Therefore refering to it as fun seems disrespectful and frivilous, going on the big dipper is fun.

I kill to hunt ,I don't hunt to kill.

[mbomike]

Oh, and feel free to come over to TBGA and ramble...that's what we're about...rambling, raving and ranting...isn't that what bowhunters do?

Luke :silly:

And I thought Bowhunting was a quiet "fun" sport :-?

[Luke]

Oh no Mike...don't start me on the word "sport" or you'll not stop reading this thread for a month :wink: .

And I thought Bowhunting was a quiet "fun" sport...yeah but deep down we're all raving mad lunatics...didn't you know that? The only time we shut our mouths is A) when we're typing on the net, or B) when we're stalking an animal :D

You have to be to hunt in the middle of the day in 42 degree heat...or is that just me? :oops: :lol:

Luke

[mbomike]

You have to be to hunt in the middle of the day in 42 degree heat...or is that just me? :oops: :lol:

Luke

Been there, done that.
We bush walk during the cooler months now :D