Feeling Remorse?

[rinaldo]

I went hunting with a friend and forum regular "Johnno" last weekend. We were having a great time in the bush when things went a little pear shaped for me, I was wondering if anyone else has felt the same?

I stalked up onto a nanny and at about 12 meters took the shot, she travelled about 5 meters and went down. Great I thought some meat for the freezer as I walked over to her I noticed her kid laying in the grass, I hadn't seen it. My heart sank as I knew what I had to do next, I felt like sh----t, I felt so bad I started to question wheather I should sell my bow and pursue other interests. Thankfully Johnno was there to help put things in perspective I was wondering if anyone else has felt the same?

[rory]

:shock: oh well.............................................. .......... as in I can totally understand your feelings, but you weren't to know about the kid. :)

[adam]

Probably sounds a bit soft mate, but I had the same experience a few years back and really felt like hanging the bow up, I was pretty upset with myself to say the least. Its a lesson learnt though mate, i don't shoot nanny's anymore, If shooting for meat ill shoot a young goat, mid to older kid.

I know we are still talking ferals but it doesn't mean my heart will listen.

White hunter black heart :roll:

Adam

[Puk]

I considered the same thing once upon watching a nanny die that i had shot. I won't say why but it was traumatic. They don't all go that way, though.

Gee, it seems we aren't the murderous, still-beating-heart-eating bastards some would make us out to be.

Good on you for giving a damn.
Puk

[esrom]

I'm the same as adam. i don't shoot nannys any more.
My suggestion is get back out hunting ASAP don't let it eat at you, but at the same time learn from it.

[Mick Smith]

Last Saturday when hunting rabbits, I noticed a feral cat sitting under a bush. I stalked around behind it, and got to within about 10 meters. I drew my bow and felt very confident of achieving a quick kill. The cat must have sensed that all was not well and turned it's head to look at me. It would have been too late for the cat, had I taken the shot, but I didn't take the shot. The cat looked exactly the same as our much loved pet cat at home. I couldn't bring myself to shoot it. I've been kicking myself for not killing it, as I'm aware of the damage feral cats do. Maybe I'm getting too soft in my old age. :?

Stoopid cat, why couldn't it have been any other colour?

Yeah yeah, I know. :oops:

Mick

[Luke]

The first ever goat I shot put me in the same situation...

Couldn't see kid in long grass under nanny...shot nanny only to have kid run out from behind it covered in blood... feeling like a bastard does no justice in summing up how I felt. :(

And at the outset of my "bowhunting career"...

I'm sure I've said this on here before; a quote from a former site member whom some may remember.

He once said - "A hunter is not without remorse".

It teaches us valuable lessons about many things such as our own mortality but mostly, I believe, about the sheer magnitude of the responsibility we have upon our shoulders as hunters. The size of which, IMO is no greater than at the point at which we draw our bows and take aim at our quarry.

You'll learn lots from this experience Rin, and it will be unique to what I learnt from mine, and others from theirs. Remember it and it will improve you not only as a hunter but as a human being who's not just a blood thirsty murderous bastard as some would have us protrayed as.

chin up mate ;)

Luke

[barebow]

Mate been there myself and I will not shoot nannies anymore.I believe you learn from the experience and move on.

As Jindy said about respecting the animal you hunt and utilising whether it be meat or skin or trophy a hunter would have to be a cold blooded person not to respect the animal.

[Scott]

I think alot of us have been through the same sort of experience, I know I have, and most of my mates have that I have hunted with over the years. None of us mean for it to happen, it just makes us better at what we do! Scott

[acthunter]

I think if you dont feel the feeling of remorse you are only a shooter NOT a hunter.

[jindydiver]

I feel sad every single time an animal dies by my hand, but I always find a way to rationalise it to myself and move on. If I wasn’t able to reconcile myself to the necessity of the hunt, then I probably wouldn't hunt. I know more than a few hunters who feel the same I do and a hunters attitude towards the animals they kill can be a deciding factor for me on whether I would even want to know them.

Someone who kill things just because they can, and who don’t appreciate that they have ended something’s life, would not be the sort of person I would associate with.

Maybe I am just a softey :?

[saberhunter]

the same thing happened happend to my friend ben last saturday but we already saw the kids there and we decided that they were old enough to grow themselves 8)

[Wareagle]

I rarely felt remorse when I shot an animal with a gun, because when I got to them, they were cold stone dead, but to watch an animal die, tears at my heart strings a bit.

[Jagumba]

Interesting thread Rinaldo and some great replies - well done guys.

Cheers
Matt

[Spider]

I am still yet to make a kill with the bow and have my reservations on how I will feel being so close and to watch the final moments of the animals life. Same as Wareagle feelings, all my hunting to date has been with the rifle and the knockdown is usual a very quick on the spot drop.

[Puk]

Spider, i find it is not too bad if you trust your ability to follow the animal up (blood trail etc.). You let it go down and you don't walk up to it for 15 minutes. Have a smoke, whatever, 40 metres away.

Sometimes an almost dead animal can run a mile on adrenaline if you startle it, whereas if the broadhead was sharp enough and they don't know what has happened but just feel a bit "funny" they will sit down quietly and bleed out and fall asleep without knowing why (if left alone). But if you ran at them they would get up and bolt!

If you are not 5 metres away when they die it is not too bad. You don't have to be sitting right next to it as it dies. It isn't always pretty. In my experience with humans and animals it is only the minority of times that death is peaceful and not disturbing to those who are present. But it is part of life.

Puk

[Spider]

Thanks Puk. Its just my way I think, I used to work in a home for the elderly and it always broke me up real bad when I'd go to work do my rounds and one of the oldies wasn't there, didn't last to long in that job. I know you can't compare human life with that of what you have hunted but just respect life in general.

[Puk]

I know there's no comparison, it's just that i find people from the country for example, who are used to death of lifestock, working dogs etc handle the concept of death better in humans.
They know it is part of life.
The life experience of so many people these days doesn't include death, and they have no idea how to handle it when they come across it.

Puk

[Antarcher]

I think that bowhunters are a little remorseful for being bowhunters in the first place. Pitting your skill against your animal of choice is a lot harder than spying one from one or two hundred meters away and pulling the trigger on a rifle.
At least we are giving the animal a sporting chance and the rewards are far greater when you realise just how hard it is to get in range in the first place.
Just respect all the game you down and don't waste it as that is the main reason we take up a bow in the first place.

[rinaldo]

Thankyou for your input guys there has been some wonderful responses, the other side of the coin is that I use to hunt with a chap that referred to game as "bushjunk", we no longer hunt togther.

When I have shot an animal and it beds down to bleed out I try to keep out of sight until it dies, hopefully it will make its last moments on this planet as peaceful as possible. I figure there is no point standing over it waiting for it to die and terrifying the daylights out of it during its last moments. An old hunter taught me that and I found it very noble gesture as a last mark of respect for my quarry. Maybe I just a creampuff.
Pic of Johnno at full draw.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v201/rinaldo/P1010038.jpg

[Jacob Goodwin]

I have yet to come across an ethical hunter who doesn't feel some measure of remorse or sadness after a successful hunt.

The day I no longer experience this feeling is the day I need to give up the sport.