I started hunting in high school in large part because I was fascinated by whether I was capable of killing and cleaning the meat I ate. The fact that this was something I could do in my own environment was also part of the appeal (I didn't know I cared about being a locavore yet, but I guess the inclination was there). I didn't even live in a rural area. I was in suburban DC - inside the beltway. Which brings me to my main point: start with dove.

I think dove hunting is a great intro because:
1) Shotguns are cheap and simple to shoot
2) You don't need special gear - wear jeans and a tshirt
3) you don't need a dog like for many other birds
4) you're not faced with tracking/hauling/cleaning hundreds of pounds of animal

We live in the suburbs. So you meet total urbanites and people from the more rural areas. Growing up my uncle always passed us a share of his deer jerky and venison. It was always soo delicious, but there is no way I could ever actually kill the animal myself for that meat.
I had a couple friends from highschool whose fathers and brothers hunted. Arriving at their houses to hang out on the weekend and being greeted by a dead deer, hanging from the garage ceiling, draining, was not exactly appetizing. Nope, I couldn't do it.

I'm vegan, so I would never hunt. I went to a book reading by Jonathan Safran Foer last night for his new book "Eating Animals". One question was about how he viewed hunting as compared to factory farming. I liked that he said that most people hunt because they want to kill something. I grew up around plenty of hunters, and that rings true from my perspective.

If someone is going to eat flesh, it seems only fair that they are willing to kill to get it. However, I don't think that is something that needs any encouragement.

I've never hunted, but I know plenty who go shooting, mainly birds. Unlike Erica, I haven't found that most people shoot because they want to kill something (UK perspective)-they seem to do it because you get lovely food at the end of it, and the pride one gets from doing anything well, including an accurate shot. Everyone who I know who's shot a deer felt a bit of sadness at killing such a beautiful animal (they need killing to protect the forests though as we have made all their natural predators excinct, in fact I have a vegan cousin who works for the forestry commission and assists in deer culling). There seems to be little bloodthirstyness about shooting at least, I think there is perhaps more of that from fox-hunters, or at least there was. I'm not that impressed with the sort of high-tech shooting for fun we heard about Sarah Palin doing, seems pointless to me. But then there's not a tradition of that sort of hunting (or the bears) in the UK.

I think that I might give it a go one day if I get the chance, though it's not something I'm desperate to try. I'm also a vet student, and I much prefer the lifestyle most game birds have before getting shot than the life of the average factory-farmed chicken before being electrically stunned. I think being able to control the length and condition of the hanging would be beneficial too, you could do it to your own tastes then.

There are hunters who just like to kill (and I know some) and there are others like my two sons who are very respectful. That means you obey the laws and you never take a young animal or a mother with young. They love the outdoors and one of them takes his camera and often all he comes home with are pictures or videos of scenery or animals. I could never hunt myself but having just repaired a car hit by a deer for the second time in four years, I also realize that there are too many deer out there and they are a danger to drivers.

I have never been a hunter. No one in my family did it, so neither did I. two years ago I became a vegetarian because it occurred to me how devastating it was to our environment. It also occurred to me a short time later, that getting meat by hunting didn't have the same harmful effects. I still don't hunt, but I am going to take hunter's safety this year and try to get some meat for my family (Bow and Arrow style if possible).

I still wouldn't eat the same portion sizes that I used to. Because I realize that if everyone took my view and hunted and then ate the same amount of meat they are eating now, we'd lose deer in a hurry.

I definitely believe that wild game is preferable to factory-farmed meat, but I've never hunted myself and don't think I could do it. My dad hunted for a while, mostly wild boar. He believed in only hunting with a bow, and only once he was really, really good at hitting a small target. Also, in boar hunting there is considerable danger to the hunter. And it's delicious.

I also believe that hunting and eating deer is far better than culling them and bulldozing the carcasses into pits.

Because this seems to be aimed specifically at urbanites/ suburbanites who probably do not own land on which to hunt, I have to comment.

The main problem I have with hunting is the utter disrespect that hunters in my area have had for my family's posted land. We know a few hunters and grant them permission each season to hunt (they have to ask every year and check in at the house when they arrive and leave), but there are always plenty of others who seem to feel that as long as they have a gun they have a right to hunt where ever they please. Calling the police has done nothing to solve the issue and frankly we seldom see the same car on our access road twice; I think it's mostly people who are not from the area and basically assume that rural non-farmland= public land.

The nuisance of having these hunters shoot up our signs and leave their trash behind (including parts of the animals they've illegally killed) year after year is nothing compared to meeting up with armed strangers when you're on a walk in your own woods. Please, anyone who hunts or wants to try hunting: respect posted land! If the sign says no hunting, don't hunt there.

My husband's family hunts. In the past they've provided us with moose meat, which came in handy when we were cash-strapped university students. I have no problem at all with hunting for food - it makes a lot of sense from a number of perspectives. However, I do not agree with hunting for sport and really dislike trophies and mounts.

I'm not into hunting, but have nothing against anything sustainable hunting/gathering, especially when hunting to control animal populations, why not use the animal instead of discarding it?

I think that the hunters who tell you they hunt because they want to kill something are putting on a front. As a lifelong rural person, I suspect that the real joy in deer hunting (for most males, anyway) is hanging out with the guys in the woods, drinking absurd quantities of beer, and peeing wherever you want. They get to be big bad dangerous killers for a couple of days, then come home and watch ESPN with the space heater on while their wives or mothers make them hot cocoa. Maybe for solitary hunters it's a little different. :) In any case, they do rural drivers a service by reducing the out of control deer populations (I counted 15 in a cornfield by an interstate three weeks ago), they tend to be very generous with the meat (through "Share the Harvest" programs and just plain sharing), the deer live more fulfilling lives than the average cow, and the hunters have some fun in the process. Win-win-win.

I don't hunt, but I live in Maine, and know plenty of hunters. None of them do it for the enjoyment of killing, at most, there's pride in providing your own food and the skill involved. It's also the love of being outdoors. I'm a meat-eater, and hunting is more compassionate than feedlots. The only tolerable sport-only hunting is when deer have to be harvested because the population has outgrown the territory. This has happened on some islands.

I have no tolerance for the fools who drink and hunt. Hunting safety is critical.

I'm vegan and obviously would never hunt, but my father does. He and my mother have a great deal of land in the country and he has friends who come out and hunt with him. While I'd rather my parents not eat meat at all, I am at least glad that 90% of what they do eat, they kill and dress themselves.

I don't understand people who eat meat but are either a) opposed to hunting or b) couldn't do it themselves. If you eat meat, you should be able to stomach all aspects of it or you just shouldn't eat it (my preference would be that people not eat it, but I'm tired of their hypocrisy either way). I'm also tired of people who hunt or sympathize with it that try to make excuses regarding controlling population (when sterilization works just as well if not better for population control) or the fact that the cars they CHOOSE to drive, which are environmentally destructive in the first place, traverse paths that are ancient travelways for animals. If you hit a deer, do not blame the deer. It's your fault for being a human that has taken up their habitat with your houses and roadways. I drive and I obviously live in a shelter, but I try to be conscientious of both (never taking up new land for my domicile) and would never, ever, blame an animal for my lifestyle choices.