My outlook: Poseidon, I think most of us have some of the same feelings. When I see any type of wildlife, I pause and watch. If I ever walk up to a deer that I have shot without a twinge of regret, I'll quit hunting.
That said, I consider myself a carnivorous predator and the top of the food chain. I hunt a lot but seldom shoot anything. At 64 yoa I'm a trophy hunter who rarely sees what he is looking for and more interested in passing on my enjoyment of the land and wildlife to my Grandsons. It's something like the fish in the pond. I'm really interested in growing the herd and hoping it stays healthy. Over the Christmas holidays, I intend to teach my Grandson how to backtrail a deer to find where it stays during the day and why it stays there. Admittedly, once we invade his home, he will move but I will have accomplished my goal. One of my greatest thrills is in seeing the results of my game camera.
Like others, I have, in the 60's, seen starving herds of deer. It was on Possum Kingdom Wildlife Refuge during an extended drought. Seeing dead and dying deer gave me my first understanding of resource management and a concern about artificial vs PROPER resource management. They were too weak to even run away. I don't mind shooting excess deer, selling off cows, neutering cats or reducing predators in the pond. It is also why I don't fertilize my water holes or use tilapia. I just don't believe in pushing the environmental envelope. Through resource management and help from most of the neighbors, I think we now have a balanced deer herd with a buck/doe ratio of about 1 to 1. Next year, we will absolutely have to take out some cull bucks. Wish I could be as proud of my drought ridden ponds.
BTW, my 8 year old Grandson/Pardner has, in the last month, taken a hog and a cull buck. He's pretty happy but didn't tell his friends about it. He feels like other kids might not understand. Prior to the hunts, we had the talks about the finality of it all and it's not like a video game. We also had the talks about blister packed meat from the grocery store and having somebody else do your killing for you. My 10 year old Grandson will never hunt because he doesn't believe in harming animals in any way. Though young, they respect each others feelings and are very close. I wish my Granddaughters enjoyed the country life. Oh well, they have chosen to be Princesses.
Poseidon, I'm glad you provide a refuge for wildlife. They do need a haven that they won't get on my land.
Sorry, this got longer than I thought it would.
