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I've heard many times that hunting in Europe was primarily associated with the bourgeois or nobility, and mainly for sport rather than food. Therefore less people in most EU countries hunt, and many or most find it repulsive that some people take pleasure in killing animals, which they evidently think hunting is all about.
errr..... if it is not about geting someting to eat or perhaps animal population control then it is about liking to kill animals.
I've heard many times that hunting in Europe was primarily associated with the bourgeois or nobility, and mainly for sport rather than food. Therefore less people in most EU countries hunt, and many or most find it repulsive that some people take pleasure in killing animals, which they evidently think hunting is all about.
Hunting in England is primarily associated with the upper classes because hunting is still very expensive. A day's shoot in the Cotswolds can cost a fewthousand dollars and you usually don't get to keep the spoils either. It seems to be done as a sport. Farmers do shoot but few seem to do it to eat their kills, it seems to be mostly a pest control type of thing. It never ceases to amaze me how rare it is to see rabbit, hare, game birds and venison on menus apart from the "posher" restaurants. Because most of the land is owned by big landowners access to hunting to the public is severely limited.
In Scotland it is more common but you still get those large estates organising corporate shoots for a huge sum.
I have been in the UK for over two decades now and cannot comprehend why anyone would pay thousands to hunt and not bring home the kill to eat. I have actually seen piles of pheasants rotting on the edge of woods in the Cotswolds when it is such good eating and is expensive to buy. Makes no sense to me whatsoever. To kill an animal for fun and not to bother eating it is anathema to me. I find it disrespectful and stupid. Like trophy hunting , it should be banned.
Same with fishing. People in the UK go fishing and then out the fish back in the water. What is the bloody point of that ? It just seems pretty cruel to me.
In France, Spain and Italy hunting is extremely popular with the rural working classes and is a leisure activity but mostly it is done for the eating. In rural France it is still quite common to have wild boar, pheasant, venison, rabbit, hare etc... You just buy a hunting permit and are allocated a quota and go and bag your animal, bring it home and eat it.
I used to go hunting and fishing with my Grand-Father and Great-Uncle as a kid and we always brought home the deer, wild boar, game birds, hare etc.... then my Great Aunt would make wonderful terrines and pates out of it and freeze the rest for cooking. Same with fishing.
I have no problem with hunting but I have a huge problem with waste.
Last edited by Mooseketeer; 07-06-2012 at 05:56 AM..
There is hunting and then there is shooting, big difference.
To be set up in a blind and shoot when told is not hunting.
Hunting is a lifestyle to many of us and not a sport.
Hunting supports learning about the prey animals world from, geology, plants, birds to associate animals and insects to weather to moon phases. Hunting lifestyle enlightens one to the cascade of life and its interdependence. It promotes respect for the environment and all life and maintainance of a continued harvest for generations to come.
We can use archery gear to hunt in the US not so in most of Europe. Hunters heading to Africa have had their arrowheads confiscated in amsterdam.
Canada also harbors a very strong hunting culture as do areas in South America.
Hunting in England is primarily associated with the upper classes because hunting is still very expensive. A day's shoot in the Cotswolds can cost a fewthousand dollars and you usually don't get to keep the spoils either. It seems to be done as a sport. Farmers do shoot but few seem to do it to eat their kills, it seems to be mostly a pest control type of thing. It never ceases to amaze me how rare it is to see rabbit, hare, game birds and venison on menus apart from the "posher" restaurants. Because most of the land is owned by big landowners access to hunting to the public is severely limited.
In Scotland it is more common but you still get those large estates organising corporate shoots for a huge sum.
I have been in the UK for over two decades now and cannot comprehend why anyone would pay thousands to hunt and not bring home the kill to eat. I have actually seen piles of pheasants rotting on the edge of woods in the Cotswolds when it is such good eating and is expensive to buy. Makes no sense to me whatsoever. To kill an animal for fun and not to bother eating it is anathema to me. I find it disrespectful and stupid. Like trophy hunting , it should be banned.
Same with fishing. People in the UK go fishing and then out the fish back in the water. What is the bloody point of that ? It just seems pretty cruel to me.
In France, Spain and Italy hunting is extremely popular with the rural working classes and is a leisure activity but mostly it is done for the eating. In rural France it is still quite common to have wild boar, pheasant, venison, rabbit, hare etc... You just buy a hunting permit and are allocated a quota and go and bag your animal, bring it home and eat it.
I used to go hunting and fishing with my Grand-Father and Great-Uncle as a kid and we always brought home the deer, wild boar, game birds, hare etc.... then my Great Aunt would make wonderful terrines and pates out of it and freeze the rest for cooking. Same with fishing.
I have no problem with hunting but I have a huge problem with waste.
We never hunted for trophies but rather for the meat, it is quite common in my county and these are your ordinary working class people and farmers. It isn´t only the rich that hunt. However population control is essential especially with the explosive deer population and so on.
Same goes with Spain, I know a lot of people who hunt but very few "trophy hunters".
I dislike the whole approach when people associate hunting for the antlers etc, It is not real hunting and completely agree with your views.
We never hunted for trophies but rather for the meat, it is quite common in my county and these are your ordinary working class people and farmers. It isn´t only the rich that hunt. However population control is essential especially with the explosive deer population and so on.
Same goes with Spain, I know a lot of people who hunt but very few "trophy hunters".
I dislike the whole approach when people associate hunting for the antlers etc, It is not real hunting and completely agree with your views.
I know hunting is far more common in Scotland as I stated but you do still get a hell of a lot of those huge estates corporate shootings. As for population control culls I have no problem with that but you can still eat the proceeds of the hunt.
When you see that you have to pay £20 in a decent restaurant for a venison fillet surely it makes sense to sell it to butchers, restaurants etc.... I have seen a lot more venison on menus in Scotland but it is hardly that popular a meat still. A big cull should produce a hell of a lot of meat and presumably should also bring the price down.
A lot of braying corporate people do hunt purely to say they have bagged xxxx pheasants, partridges, deers, etc... Which to me is trophy hunting. If it is not a cull and you are not eating it then it is basically trophy chasing, ticking a box on your social calendar.
Spain does not really have that culture but the UK IMO still have a very strange way to look at hunting. For a start I cannot believe how many people in the UK think hunting is a terrible crime. Most people don't even understandthe concept and I am constantly given terrible looks for daring to say I love rabbit or deer. Nobody would bat an eyelid in France, even urban France. Most British people are quite happy to eat factory farming meat but hunting is seen as cruel which I find utterly bizarre.
Scotland is very different but it is still considered by many an upmarket sport IMO. Because of those huge estates which tend to organise large hunts and of the public perception that hunting is for the rich and also wrong somehow.
Yeah it is true, for outsiders hunting in Scotland is predominantly associated with the high class which is true. But I just wanted to show people the other side too. I was raised with hunting and fishing and I will never forget it, I still enjoy it here in Spain
I would rather hunt for my own food (venison etc) rather than pay over the odds at a fancy restaurant when I can prepare and cook it myself. I am still doing my bit for conservation too but keeping the numbers down.
The UK in general is anti hunting and I´ve had some abuse in my time. People forget the meat that you buy in the supermarkets doesn´t suddenly appear in that wrapping...it all comes down to ignorance and denial. Some people are tuned to think that way, hunting is not as popular as it used to be.
Yeah it is true, for outsiders hunting in Scotland is predominantly associated with the high class which is true. But I just wanted to show people the other side too. I was raised with hunting and fishing and I will never forget it, I still enjoy it here in Spain
I would rather hunt for my own food (venison etc) rather than pay over the odds at a fancy restaurant when I can prepare and cook it myself. I am still doing my bit for conservation too but keeping the numbers down.
The UK in general is anti hunting and I´ve had some abuse in my time. People forget the meat that you buy in the supermarkets doesn´t suddenly appear in that wrapping...it all comes down to ignorance and denial. Some people are tuned to think that way, hunting is not as popular as it used to be.
It is rather bizarre how people who chomp on fast food burgers, factory chicken and other kind of crap seem to find what is a natural and far more humane, organic process so distasteful isn't it ? A neighbour of mine will not eat anything which has bones in it ( like chicken thigh) because it reminds her it was an animal once ! I mean who are those morons ??? I just wish ALL kids were exposed to hunting and also taken around farms and factory farms to learn about the source of their foods. It would make you think a little more when you are at the supermarket pining for some reconstructed chicken shapes full of additives...
Hunting to me is ideally how we should all obtain our meat but good animal husbandry and taking responsibilty as a consumer would be a good start. I eat a lot less meat than most people I know but I am quite fussy about where it comes from. I can no longer hunt as I am disabled but am lucky to have good local butchers ( you can occasionally buy game from them as well) and a great supermarket , Waitrose which is all about provenance and sustainability too. I would rather eat less meat, pay more and get more decent stuff.
We are far too divorced from our food nowadays and kids especially are so ignorant it makes me sad.
I do miss eating game though, as it is still a bit of a treat in the UK. I absolutely adore Venison, Wild Boar etc... and Hare is simply fabulous. I am told numbers are pretty low and yet I see tons of them roaming the Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire countryside.
Eating rabbit when I grew up was what chicken is for most people, pretty common. I love it.
Hunting makes for great healthy eating and healthy walks in lovely countryside, what is the downside ?!
It is rather bizarre how people who chomp on fast food burgers, factory chicken and other kind of crap seem to find what is a natural and far more humane, organic process so distasteful isn't it ? A neighbour of mine will not eat anything which has bones in it ( like chicken thigh) because it reminds her it was an animal once ! I mean who are those morons ??? I just wish ALL kids were exposed to hunting and also taken around farms and factory farms to learn about the source of their foods. It would make you think a little more when you are at the supermarket pining for some reconstructed chicken shapes full of additives...
I have tried and tried to explain and enlighten these people but they will never change. I´ll never understand their mindset.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mooseketeer
Hunting to me is ideally how we should all obtain our meat but good animal husbandry and taking responsibilty as a consumer would be a good start. I eat a lot less meat than most people I know but I am quite fussy about where it comes from. I can no longer hunt as I am disabled but am lucky to have good local butchers ( you can occasionally buy game from them as well) and a great supermarket , Waitrose which is all about provenance and sustainability too. I would rather eat less meat, pay more and get more decent stuff.
I tend to eat more game than beef, It is much healthier (you will know this) for example venison, it has far less fat. I have seen quite a lot of roe deer, rabbits and hare where I live in AxarquÃa, AndalucÃa. The butchers in Spain are great too they sell whole rabbit
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mooseketeer
Eating rabbit when I grew up was what chicken is for most people, pretty common. I love it.
Hunting makes for great healthy eating and healthy walks in lovely countryside, what is the downside ?!
As a child I ate a lot of pheasant, rabbit, wood pigeon and venison. I miss the wood pigeon living in Spain. I´m like you, i´ll never change my views on hunting (I call it healthy and humane conservation). You get to eat healthy fresh food and help the countryside at the same time
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To kill an animal for fun and not to bother eating it is anathema to me. I find it disrespectful and stupid. Like trophy hunting , it should be banned. 
People forget the meat that you buy in the supermarkets doesn´t suddenly appear in that wrapping...it all comes down to ignorance and denial. Some people are tuned to think that way, hunting is not as popular as it used to be.
