How many vegans or vegetarians do you think have been out hunting with a rifle? How would one even track that figure? Well, I don't know for sure but what I do know is that at least one vegetarian has! WTF right? Read on and I'll explain.
Most who follow my blog know that I am a shooter and engage in recreational shooting at my clubs and on private property where I hunt and also cull feral animals professionally. I engage in rifle and handgun disciplines and rarely a week goes by in which I am not shooting at least twice. I take it very seriously, not just from a safety perspective, but also from a responsibility perspective. I believe that’s important considering the attention shooters get from the greater community and I feel I’m a good ambassador for the sport and a very responsible shooter.
Sometimes, however, someone exercises their right to free speech and makes their opinion on what I do known to me.
Occasionally this is done in an intelligent way, in a fashion that leaves room for my opinion and perspective, and others not so much.
I’ve been called all sorts of things, none of which I actually am of course and have had some rather wild, ofttimes entertaining, accusations levelled my way and whilst I don’t mind someone sharing their thoughts and opinions…Well, I guess I prefer them to adopt a more balanced approach.
Now, I’m not one to engage in debate over gun control, the latest gun-related crime or the laws around gun-ownership in other countries; I know the law here and that’s really all I need to know. Yes, I have an opinion about these things and yes, I do talk about it, but not generally publicly or with people who become abusive. There’s little point in it and so why bother? However…Every now and then a very "special" person presents themselves and I’m forced to give them my standard dialogue which I will outline below.
So what exactly am I talking about? Well, I’m talking about people who call me cruel and inhumane for the hunting and culling of animals. Sometimes these people are vegan or vegetarian and sometimes not. With the vegans and vegetarians I simply say that they are entitled to their opinion and pretty much end it there. The others though? Well, those are the people who call me cruel for hunting and culling and then tuck into a steak, bacon and eggs or some other food that once had a face.
When that special breed of person starts to lay into me about hunting or culling I simply say the following:
Them: You are a cruel bastard!
Me: Hmm, do you eat meat?
Them: Yes.
Me: Shut the fuck up then.
I mean, what else is there? They hate what I do but eat meat themselves? As if them buying meat from the supermarket makes it legit for them and my shooting it makes me cruel. That’s pretty much where the conversation ends although it normally ends with them feeling a little unrewarded. I feel completely happy to listen to a person’s perspective of course, however when it’s hypocritical hate-speech I’m disinclined to engage with them and certainly don’t put any credence upon it. That brings me to an odd occurrence that took place yesterday.
For months a friend of mine, 
I have spent hours talking to her about it and discussing what goes on when I’m in the field with the hope it would dissuade her however it has not and so I finally relented.
She was as happy as a seagull with a chip when I told her I would take her and was pretty excited leading up to it. Now, also to add some backstory, this person is vegetarian and does not condone the killing of animals for human consumption. In fact, up until very recent times she was full-vegan! What she doesn't do is hate on people who do eat meat thankfully. Why then would she want to come culling with me then, knowing it is highly probable that I would have to dispatch a deer or kangaroo? I asked her that and her response was, ”So that I have a better understanding of my own belief’s and opinions, and a better concept of the process.” Now, that’s someone I can respect!
I know this girl pretty well. She’s an interesting person being very intelligent and thoughtful, eager for knowledge and understanding and also kooky as fuck! It’s a good mix and we are good friends. She hungers for understanding which is probably quite rare these days and she is always willing to listen and consider other people’s opinion’s and belief’s. We often have very interesting conversations, some of which eventually head down the road of ridiculousness and some of which leave us eager for the next opportunity to chat. So, we spoke long and hard over her decision to come with me last night and she decided it was what she had to do. Bravo stuffing.
I took two rifles with me last night instead of just my culling rifle. One is my culling rifle in the .243 calibre which you can see in the top picture and the other is my competition rifle used for long range shooting which is the one you see below. That one is in 6.5mm Creedmoor. Both are laser-accurate and can be shot with accuracy out to very great distances. I don't usually take the 65 Creed as it's too heavy to lug around the hills.
When we arrived I went through the usual safety dialogue, showed the operation of the rifles and how to make them safe before allowing her to take some shots…NOT at an animal of course! She loved it. We then packed away the 65 Creed and headed off on our hike to find something to shoot. Once at one of my favourite spots we sat and talked about the process of culling which is different to simply hunting.
We went through how to locate targets, range them out on my range finder and then calculate the field firing solution (FFS) which is the amount of elevation and windage input on the scope turrets to make the shot. Of course calling the wind speed and direction and also determining the angle of shot is critical here, along with the many other environmental and firearm/bullet related data. It can get very complicated for new shooters and I’ve written blogs about it previously so I won’t go into it here.
We also talked about the fact that I do this, and the reasons why. She knows I’m not cruel, in fact am the exact opposite of cruel. She knows I rarely eat meat myself when compared to a typical carnivore and that I feel cruelty to animals is abhorrent. I mean, I think horse racing is cruel and very rarely go fishing because I can’t abide hooking a fish and dragging it topside for minutes on end before banging it on the head. And yet I shoot animals. It was an interesting conversation and helped pass the time as we waited for a feral animal to come along.
When it did the conversation turned. I made her range it, put the data into the ballistics calculator and determine the FFS. (I did the wind call). I then made her get behind the gun and sight the animal up. There was no round in the chamber and I made sure the scope was wound up to a magnification that allowed her to see the head of the kangaroo very clearly. She placed the cross hairs on it and I asked her if she would take the shot. Keep in mind there was no round in the chamber.
You see, pulling the trigger and killing something is not something one does without implications later on. It can't be taken back. I wanted her to make that decision for herself, to give the experience of choosing whether something lived or died. For the record at no time would I have allowed her to take the shot. Firstly she is not on the license for that property and so cannot shoot at anything and secondly I was not convinced that she actually wanted to take the shot. It's one thing seeing it on TV and quite another looking through a 25x magnified scope at something that has just been shot; The pink mist that lingers in the air momentarily, the convulsion and final drop to the ground...What has been seen can never be unseen.
I have to say how impressed I am that my friend took the time to educate herself about what I do when culling. I know she respects me either way however I feel that she has a little more respect now that she knows the process. What so many people do is base their opinions on second or third hand facts, even urban legends, rather than educate themselves to the true facts and then form an opinion off that. For those meat-eating people who label me as cruel for culling whilst tucking into an animal-flesh-based meal...Well, it's convenient for them to believe their meat comes neatly packed in white styrofoam trays at the supermarket rather than an abattoir where they are electrocuted, bludgeoned, shot with a nail gun and stabbed to death. There's a high likelihood that you've seen a semi-trailer full of livestock heading to one of these abattoir's and averted your eyes...They look forlorn don't they? That's the thing with people...We don't have to harvest our own food generally, and rarely our own meat. There's a buffer between us and the livestock and that buffer allows people the ability to forget, or ignore, the fact that someone killed the flesh they are eating. If you're in any doubt about what happens in an abattoir simple YouTube it. You'll get a quick education.
My friend was very grateful to me for taking her last night and I'm glad she didn't see anything actually shot. I don't know if she was ready to do so to be honest. What she is most glad of though is that she understands the process better, understands how humane it is and how much effort goes into a shot to ensure the animal is dispatched cleanly and humanely; This, in stark contrast to what happens in most abattoir's where meat is slaughtered for human consumption. Again, a few minutes on YouTube will clarify it all for you.
I don't seek to convert people, to champion the righteousness of what I do or defend what I do. It's my own business what I do and no amount of abuse, "logic" or brow-beating is going to change the fact that its my business. I guess it's the same as people that want to be vegan being allowed to be so without getting abused for it. What does annoy me is when people who have no clue what goes on out in the field call me cruel. Maybe they should come and have a look at what goes on, just like my friend last night. But then again, I'd not value their company so best they do not. Besides, they're often too busy deluding themselves that their meat actually came from the supermarket and that their opinion is the right one.
To my friend,
Below are a few pics from where I cull just for the hell of it. It's bloody dry at the moment but as you can see below it'll green up nicely and is a beautiful spot. Sometimes I just get out there and sit around taking it all in. I'm lucky to have the opportunity to enjoy it.
Design and create your ideal life, don't live it by default -
