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Sport Hunting


Duc_In_Altum

Is hunting for sport a sin? Just wondering what you guys think.  

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Just wondering what yall think. I personally dont go hunting but know a lot of folks that do. I know hunting is really a pinnacle part of some people's families so let's try to be respectful here people.

...by the way, Morton is what i named this big light-up, plastic, red bow-tied penguin that my sister got me for my b-day last month. I finally went across the street and got it from her dorm room this week. Morton has a big green sticker on him too that says "electrified" and he aint playin games! The darn thing shocked me big-time the other night when i tried to plug him in. Just ask Fiat. I think it was just a bad first impression though. We get along great now.



God Bless,

-Joe

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Hehe, asking this during deer season! :D

No, I don't believe that hunting is a sin if you do it legally (proper tags, during the season) and with common sense and safety in mind. Besides serving as a way to get large quantities of tasty meat, hunting is necessary to control the population of animals that don't have natural predators anymore. If deer hunting were banned, the population of deer during winter would be huge. They'd either end up starving to death or being killed on the highway by cars.

It kind of goes along the same lines as fishing. Jesus didn't tell his disciples that casting nets into the river was sinful.

Of course, if one takes hunting to an extreme, where everything else is secondary, it could be a major sin (skipping Mass, ignoring family, sniping other hunters with an assault rifle from a treestand...)

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Kilroy the Ninja

[quote name='Dreamweaver' date='Nov 22 2004, 11:17 PM'] Hehe, asking this during deer season! :D

No, I don't believe that hunting is a sin if you do it legally (proper tags, during the season) and with common sense and safety in mind. Besides serving as a way to get large quantities of tasty meat, hunting is necessary to control the population of animals that don't have natural predators anymore. If deer hunting were banned, the population of deer during winter would be huge. They'd either end up starving to death or being killed on the highway by cars.

It kind of goes along the same lines as fishing. Jesus didn't tell his disciples that casting nets into the river was sinful.

Of course, if one takes hunting to an extreme, where everything else is secondary, it could be a major sin (skipping Mass, ignoring family, sniping other hunters with an assault rifle from a treestand...) [/quote]
ditto

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I love vinison. Actually, I love meat in general. And guns. And wine with my meat. Or beer.................................................

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I have about 80lbs of deer meat in my freezer right now, just from last week. Good luck DonJohn.

Edited by popestpiusx
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Sport hunting might be a sin - It might not be a sin.

The reason determines if it's a sin or not. If it's for the reasons in the Q&A below, then it's not a sin. If it is to kill something to be able to kill... then it is a sin.


[b]2418 [/b]
It is contrary to human dignity to cause animals to suffer or die needlessly. It is likewise unworthy to spend money on them that should as a priority go to the relief of human misery. One can love animals; one should not direct to them the affection due only to persons.




[b]Q: Is there anything morally wrong with hunting deer for sport as opposed to hunting out of necessity for food?[/b]

[b]A:[/b] As on so many issues, there is no specific Church teaching on this subject. Still, one can apply basic moral principles (coupled with basic factual information about deer hunting and related issues) to derive an accurate conclusion. While some folks may not like it, the basic answer is that deer hunting for sport is not morally problematic.

As the Catechism of the Catholic Church indicates, it is wrong to cause animals to suffer needlessly (cf. CCC 2418). This is not because it is a violation of the animal’s rights—animals do not have rights. Instead, the immorality lies in the fact that torturing any living thing fosters a delight in suffering and is thus an abuse of human nature.

It would be wrong to hunt out of a desire to make animals suffer, but in general most hunters seek to minimize the suffering of deer by using shots designed to make the animal’s death as quick and painless as possible. When this fails and an animal is injured but not killed, it is part of the hunter’s code to put it out of its misery as quickly as possible.

Hunting for sport provides a valuable service to nature as well. Wildlife in general—and deer in particular—have a tendency to overpopulate the areas in which they reside. Each area can support only a certain number of animals of a given kind, and the excess animals die of starvation and sickness unless they are culled.

What the state wildlife commissions do is calculate how many deer can be supported in the local environment, study the deer population to see how many have been born in a particular period, and determine the difference. The number of deer licenses that are granted to hunters in a given year is based on the number of deer that the land cannot support and would die anyway.

By allowing deer to be hunted, the deer population suffers less than if it was left to suffer starvation and sickness. Hunters who serve in this culling program are thus playing an important role in natural resource management. States must hire professional hunters to fulfill this role when sport hunters cannot.


[url="http://www.catholic.com/thisrock/2003/0307qq.asp"]http://www.catholic.com/thisrock/2003/0307qq.asp[/url]




God Bless,
ironmonk

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In my home area of northwest Iowa, the deer population has become so out of control, it is starting to attract mountain lions to the area. These animals are not native to Iowa, but because of the deer, they are here. The deer also cause many car accidents each year. In short, I think hunting is a legitimate means of recreation. It must be done responsibly and without the intention of making the animal suffer needlessly.

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[quote name='Pio Nono' date='Nov 23 2004, 08:39 AM'] In my home area of northwest Iowa, the deer population has become so out of control, it is starting to attract mountain lions to the area. These animals are not native to Iowa, but because of the deer, they are here. The deer also cause many car accidents each year. In short, I think hunting is a legitimate means of recreation. It must be done responsibly and without the intention of making the animal suffer needlessly. [/quote]
We aren't (as far as I know) having problems with mountain lions here in Indiana, but we do have problems with a large deer population, people getting in accidents, etc. Sport hunting helps to keep it under control.

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homeschoolmom

[quote name='Sojourner' date='Nov 23 2004, 09:13 AM'] We aren't (as far as I know) having problems with mountain lions here in Indiana, but we do have problems with a large deer population, people getting in accidents, etc. Sport hunting helps to keep it under control. [/quote]
yep... what she said...

Though with the recent murders in Wisconsin, not likely I'll be hanging out on my in-law's property any time soon... that was just freekily too close for me. If we were hunters (we aren't) it's very likely we would have been near that place...

But for the morality of hunting.... I think if you don't torture the animal and you eat what you kill, it's okay...

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NOthin wrong with hunting

Only I would argue that it would gernerally be wrong (not sure if actually sinful) to hunt an animal to extinction (not to sound like an Al Gore environmental wacko), but we should preserve nature for future generations.

Obviously this does not apply to deer and most American game animals!
Modern hunters are conservationalists - without plentiful game animals, there'd be no hunting!

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[quote]It kind of goes along the same lines as fishing. Jesus didn't tell his disciples that casting nets into the river was sinful.[/quote]

I agree with what you're trying to get across here, dreamweaver, but i think biblical fishing is a poor comparison to modern hunting. Folks fished back then because it was a staple food source and a necessity for living in the area. Even nowdays, (depending on the angler) fishing can be catch and release. Kinda hard to play catch and release with a shotgun. I hear what you're saying though.


:)


el paz,


-Joe

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Have any of you read the Catechism piece I posted?


The Apostles were casting the nets for food.... not for sport.


Killing an animal needlessly is a sin.

If there is a need to control population of that animal it is not a sin.

If there is no need to kill an animal, not for population control, or food, or whatever other real reason... then it is a sin.


Rather or not "sport" hunting is a sin or not depends on the specific intent. If the person doing the hunting is killing for sport for the sake of killing and no other reason, then it is a sin.


God Bless,
ironmonk

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IcePrincessKRS

[quote name='ironmonk' date='Nov 23 2004, 04:30 PM'] Have any of you read the Catechism piece I posted?


The Apostles were casting the nets for food.... not for sport.


Killing an animal needlessly is a sin.

If there is a need to control population of that animal it is not a sin.

If there is no need to kill an animal, not for population control, or food, or whatever other real reason... then it is a sin.


Rather or not "sport" hunting is a sin or not depends on the specific intent. If the person doing the hunting is killing for sport for the sake of killing and no other reason, then it is a sin.


God Bless,
ironmonk [/quote]
Yeah, I was going to ask what was meant by "sport hunting"--I think most people who go hunting (at least here in the US) actually eat what they kill (deer, pheasant, etc.)--everyone I know who goes hunting I know does.

But if you're talking about people who do things like go on fox hunts, or safari hunting just for the thrill of running after an animal and killing... thats not cool. I think that is probably at least a venial sin.

Edited by IcePrincessKRS
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