R. Scheppmann Knives 6" Bowie vs. Grizzly Bear *GRAPHIC*

[BladeScout]

I see no brave hunter/gatherer posing with his catch...

Well, at least I was bragging about the knife......

[Chui]

I'm lovin' it !

[parbajtor]

whether or not the area of land available to them is large enough as a result of human encroachment is another matter of course

Is this still going on...
Whatever you may think on this colorful subject, the matter was described and you were given the choice to look, or not look at the images.
I rest my case.

Great Knife, being used as the owner intended!! but I agree with hunting for meat and if you want to put bits of dead animal on the wall to remind yourself of the hunt so be it!
I personally don't think yummy when i see a (INSERT MAMMAL/AVIAN HERE)! but pref re to know the animal in question has had a good life in the wild before it was harvested (I hate the smell of fear on the stock trucks)and the knife in question certainly lives up to its requirement's (More people should have to butcher what they eat).

Personally I don't eat meat but give me a fishing rod or air in my tank I'll get the best Crayfish,Scallop's and Snapper I can. being Ex-Pat my views definitely changed on emigrating to NZ so to me all that has been discussed is just opinion's based on evidence presented and processed to which ever view point wanted to be expressed, my knowledge bow's down to people like Chui and Zakerty that have lived in Trophy and Hunt To Eat Country and have a more balanced upbringing than myself.
That we all have opinion's is great it shows the reason we have discussion forums as long as we keep it to discussion and not a "house of parliament" discussion all's the better

These are my opinions and don't wish to cause offense, anyway back to the Sauv' N' Scallops 'oh and if I forgot NICE KNIFE!!!

I eat animals - animals I've shot as well as animals I've raised and occasionally even meat that I get from the butchers.

In order to do this and still accommodate my belief that all life deserves respect I've had to do a lot of thinking. As a family, some time ago we decided that we would no longer eat meat that we didn't know was raised ethically and dealt with humanely. We also decided that all of us would be involved in the processing of any animal into meat and would treat it as a valuable commodity that shouldn't be wasted.

Like I say we all had to do a lot of thinking and to be honest - we all found it a challenge. It would be much easier to unthinkingly accept that meat comes from supermarkets or Macdonalds. However we all know it doesn't and to eat meat is to accept that an animal has been killed for us to indulge ourselves. No-one needs to eat meat. We could survive quite nicely on a vegetarian diet, therefore the killing of animals to feed us is just an indulgence. A choice we make because we like to eat meat.

What has this got to do with trophy hunting?

Well personally I don't "get" trophy hunting. But I also struggle to see much difference ethically between eating a burger and killing a grizzly. Both are an indulgence - we don't need to do either. Both mean that an animal has been killed to feed that indulgence and I think that we kid ourselves that somehow we are morally superior in killing an animal for food but despising those who kill for the trophy.

I'm sure that a lot of the stereotypes exist like the rich underendowed businessman proving his "manhood" by killing animals as trophies etc. However there are many many more people who accept the needless death of animals in order to feed their love of chicken nuggets or burgers.

I despise those people who don't think about where their food comes from, who turn their noses up at the thought of butchering an animal, who shrilly cry out about the "cruel" and "inhumane" ways that indigenous peoples treat animals or who call for an end to all hunting yet still eat meat. The trophy hunter? Well I don't get it - but hopefully they have thought about their indulgence as much as I have and have found some way of incorporating it into their morality.

Just my 2 pence worth.

George

I worked at Auckland Municipal Abbattoir (Cows, pigs and sheep) for 7 months (1979)painting pipework and chiller trays in the new extension. I am familiar with the smell of fear referred to by northern munkey and the whole process of supplying meat in quantity. It turned me vegetarian for 2 years, but I eat meat because I enjoy it and because I sleep longer. I could go to an abbattoir and take equally graphic and disturbing pictures and I could even get a picture of a slaughterman showing "disrespect" to a carcass. I now only buy meat that has some kind of guarantee of humane treatment and had a reasonable life, but that's my "informed decision".
I do have one point to make really, once we've all turned vegetarian and crop farming has expanded to fill every niche in every environment, what will have happened to all the other animals? Farmed species do not become extinct. If we don't farm animals for meat, then they're in competition with us for food, even indirectly by eating grass on land that could be growing corn for ethanol. We decry the trophy hunter, but what do we say to the subsistence farmer burning off a couple of acres of amazonian forest to scratch out a harvest? The animals don't care if we hunt them to extinction or just displace their habitat until there's nowhere left for them to go. They're still all gone.

EDIT: To me, all "Trophy hunting" will have to become some kind of "adventure playground farming" to have any hope of those animal species surviving. I think we need to acknowledge the "bounty" this world provides and take steps to preserve it. That means also managing their environment. If trophy hunters will pay to preserve an environment in order to shoot one (or all) of the "big 5", then that money also pays to preserve the thousands of other species that make up that environment.

[morgan]

You should have got the BIG one.

[Kitman22]

Wow,

This thread sure has ignited (regretably).

Seems like a few posters effectively think that letting 'nature take it's course' is the best way to mangage various species which, given where we are is naive to say the least. In reality if that happens more animals are predated and or starve as the balance swings back and forth over several generations/seasons. Anyone who has actually worked with herds will understand that not managing numbers (in whatever manner) leads to the overall health of the herd suffering.

Kitman22 I read your comment of "Writing what you mean is normally helpful." as simply unnecessarily sniping and despite your lack of clarity in your own posts - I'll ignore it from here on in (but thanks Jameswood for clarifying what I thought was a reasonably clear comment).

Would a Michael Winner "Calm down, Dear" help or hinder right about now?

Ben

My posts clearly state what I mean, I guess that was too difficult for you also.

[jameswood]

was there really any need to bring that back up?

[banksy]

Well, at least I was bragging about the knife......

Nice knife. What is it?

[Corso]

Nice knife - would be more impressed if he'd gone hand to hand with it

[tenderfoot]

The bear was a trophy animal. It was skinned as a trophy and not even by the guy who shot it. Isn't it great shoot a bear and can't even skin it. It's likely that little of the meat will be used as food for humans. The pics will serve as evidence of how big the bear was so the killer can boast about it. The guy who shot that bear paid big money to do it. He pulled the trigger for sport and cudas. The skin will hang on a wall. He will talk about the great kill. How brave he was. Blaaaa blaaaaa.
His choice and my right to object. But above and formost the pics are horrific in every sense of the word. They are offensive no matter how labeled. The title was written to sensationalise the content. Most of the pics show nothing about the use of the knife. Just a hunter getting his jollies. The guy who skinned it would give a better review of the knife. It is not in the best interest of British Blades and most of the time served members here will know I'm against censorship but this obscene and serves no purpose but to flag British blades as a forum that revels in pointless slaughter.

EDIT: I would also like to say that that is a dandy knife and hopefully once I finish my 35 Whelen I can shoot something that big in the face and eat it (or have a really big old barbecue and invite the whole block!).

pps. animals are delicious, thats why most people shoot them. I hear bear is rather good, but moose is better.

[jameswood]

seriously?


just go and bring it back up a month later, great idea!

[rarms]

This is the shooting/hunting forum, and a thread entitled graphic and suggesting dead animals.

If you are not interested in shooting/hunting. Why bother clicking on the thread?

[John N]

Hey TF ! good to see you back - ironic that your 'troll' post is about as trolly as it gets though

I read this thread last weekend, and found it quite thought provoking.

My own take on it is we have, as a species, overpopulated the planet, so as a result we need (pretty well have to) regulate other species to our own ends (hunting, livestock farming) I agree with some of it, disagree with other bits and as a 'thinker' can put myself in others positions and make a balanced judgement.
To my mind it boils down to a having bit of respect for the animal whos life you are taking. Trophy shots grinning over a buthered carcass of an apex predator shot (presumably) from afar, then publicising the photos removes some of the respect for the animal, in my opinion. Much as looking forward to shooting somthing 'big' 'in the face', just because you can does not sit easily with me.

lots of 45 rc cheap stainless knives kill and process thousands of tons of animals every day in abatoirs. They do the job just fine.

I wasnt going to comment on this thread im not trying to flame, just mulling my thoughts on it really - spose it boils down to 'shoot em if you 'need / have / really want' to, but pictures of peeled apex predators skulls might be a bit 'ott' getting the point accross that your knife holds an edge!

The o'ps knife looks quite nice BTW!

[thomas]

ironic that your 'troll' post is about as trolly as it gets though

Correct.

One thing you have not learned is diplomacy.
You would have thought that would have been taught before the art of 'shooting things in the face and eating them'.
Better to learn the social skills.
Just an idea.