Could an anti-hunter live comfortably in Bozeman? (food, dog)

[AQHA]

Originally Posted by Blake2502

I am not trying to change anyone's culture -- I was very clear about the fact that I am not an activist. I simply don't like seeing heads of dead animals mounted on walls. I was wondering whether Montana has plenty of people on both sides of the issue, or whether I would be dramatically outnumbered. This is supposed to be a forum where a person can ask questions without getting criticized simply for asking the question.

I would suggest you look at places outside of Montana. We take our hunting pretty seriously here. Its part of our culture, its part of who we are. Animal mounts are all over the place here.

[Rickers]

Hunting is a natural means of controlling deer population while providing food for People.
Your title of your post says it all you are an "anti hunter" that tells me that you are an activist. Please don't come to Montana for your own sake, you won't feel very comfortable here or in any other western mountain state for that matter !

[truckingbronco]

Originally Posted by rickers

Hunting is a natural means of controlling deer population while providing food for People.
Your title of your post says it all you are an "anti hunter" that tells me that you are an activist. Please don't come to Montana for your own sake, you won't feel very comfortable here or in any other western mountain state for that matter !

Great point! There is a huge difference between someone who chooses not to hunt for whatever reasons and somebody who describes themselves as an anti-hunter.

The fact is that you will be exposed to hunting and the hunting culture on a consistent basis. You will see dead animals in the back of trucks and hanging in garages, co-workers and residents talking about hunting or their kill, media stories with pictures, and all the taxidermy you can imagine.

For most people it's not a big deal, if you hunt it's great, if you don't hunt then you are probably indifferent to it and barely notice it. However, if you're anti-hunting, MT might not be the place for you. Only you can decide.

[little peg]

Originally Posted by Blake2502

I am not an activist, but seeing deer heads above fireplaces when I look at real estate listings is very troubling to me. Without getting into a debate over hunting, I'm just wondering how much hunting pervades the culture in Bozeman. Does almost everyone hunt?

this is why us non native to montana do not advertise it

[Blake2502]

This is all very interesting. I understand the issue of controlling population, and feeding your family. I think the part that makes me feel "anti-hunter" is the taxidermy, and the desire to hang the head of the animal you have killed in your house. I don't get that at all. With all due respect, for those of us not from a culture in which hunting is common, it seems disgusting to hang heads in your home. It also seems that the justifications for hunting itself -- population control and providing food -- do not apply to hanging the heads. That part just seems cruel.

[little peg]

I think you are on the losing end of the conversation here. Please if you come to Montana do lots of research. I grew up next to trappers and hunters in Oregon, fat chance of finding that there now. These are independant, self reliant people, you might need that deer meat if gas prices go up any more and your meat is not packaged and ready for you at the grocery store. Animals starve when they are overpopulated. Not enough natural predators, they bring diease to the range cattle, it is more humane to cull their numbers. Elk are starving all over Oregon because the hunting is overregulated. Sorry but you got to know what you are talking about.

[AQHA]

I don't have any mounts in my home as my wife doesn't like them (although she loves elk hunting).

Why do people around here like mounts? Well there are still a lot of us who love the outdoors and hunting and just being out in the mountains. One of the beauties of the mountains are the animals. A deer head mount that shows the detail of the animal, or even better an elk head mount that shows the size and magnificence of this animal is really a thing of beauty. I had a friend growing up who's dad was a great hunter, he had dozens of mounts on the walls in their basement family room. Every mount was beautiful in its own way and they were all mounted to perfection. There's nothing cruel about it, its done to show respect for these awesome creatures.

[jimj]

Originally Posted by Blake2502

This is all very interesting. I understand the issue of controlling population, and feeding your family. I think the part that makes me feel "anti-hunter" is the taxidermy, and the desire to hang the head of the animal you have killed in your house. I don't get that at all. With all due respect, for those of us not from a culture in which hunting is common, it seems disgusting to hang heads in your home. It also seems that the justifications for hunting itself -- population control and providing food -- do not apply to hanging the heads. That part just seems cruel.

It's not cruel really, the animal is already dead.... I'm not making fun, just stating a fact. I'm not one to have a mount on my wall but I understand my friends who do. It's a matter of pride. I hope I can explain this, think about it this way, you get up at O'dark 30 and load up the truck, drive for awhile out to the general area you're going to hunt. When you get their you load your pack on your back and your rifle and start hiking, a hike that may be for miles in cold mostly damp or snowy conditions. You then find and area and you may sit for a few hours waiting quietly. Then you see what you've been spending hours to find, a perfect Buck... You raise your rifle and the darn thing hears something and runs..DARN!!! So now you hike around some more and run into another so-so deer but your tired and figure "ok, this will work" and you shoot it.
Now you have to find out where it fell because it ran a little (about a 1/2 mile) and you have to string it up and clean and gut it. Now that's done you get to pack it out to where your truck is and it weighs a couple of hundred pounds. You get it to your truck, heft it in and then you take it home and after it hangs for a while you get to cut it up and freeze it and all of this while runing the risk of you being another animals food (bear or cat).

So, after all this work and struggle I can understand people being a little proud of the hunt not to mention everytime they or their friends look at the mount it brings back the memories of the struggle and fight to get it home.

I hope this explains the heads on the wall thing....

[Blake2502]

Okay, both of those last two posts have provided a different perspective, and I honestly appreciate your trying to explain this to me. But AQHA, can you explain this -- if the beauty of the outdoors is partly these magnificent creatures, then doesn't it seem counter-productive to kill them? In other words, if you appreciate their existence in nature, then why take them out of the very setting where you appreciate seeing them? Or are you saying they need to be killed for food, population control, etc., and the way to show respect (in part) is to mount them after their death?

[mark6052]

blake, before my head explodes, let me try state afew things. (and not get kicked off) hunters do more good for wild animals, birds, fish than ANY or ALL of you non-hunters have ever done. none of your money goes into feeding and caring for them. hunting is a major part of MT culture. kinda like if you dont like cowboy hats dont come here. without hunters there would be large numbers dying from sickness, starvation, overpopulation. true conservationists are hunters. my blood pressure is up so I'll stop. please rethink coming here. careful folks, its people like this that are trying to stop hunting all together.