Went out rabbit hunting last week. Snowshoe hare hunting, actually. Saw three of them, didn’t have a real shot at any of the three.
They hadn’t lost their summer coat yet- still mostly dark fur, except for the feet, which have changed to pure white. Looks like it’s going to be a good season.
I don’t do the shotgun thing. I use a .22 and take head shots exclusively- cleaner field dressing and less waste.
Get yourself a good camera with a telephoto lens. I got rid of my .22 and shot gun a long time ago. Photographing wildlife is a lot more fun than killing it.
**Photographing wildlife is a lot more fun than killing it. **
Debatable, I guess, but the photos taste awful.
I got my dad a snap in filter for his 35mm when he went to South Africa. The filter puts the crosshairs right on the photo but doesn’t mess with the viewer.
I’ve been thinking about putting a long lens and a bipod on one of my rifle stocks for quite a while now. Hhhmmm. Could even put a scope on it and zero it to match the lens. It would make for interesting hunting and you would still have to make the shot. No more “you should have seen the one I almost had”, the photo doesn’t lie (I know, I know, they can be altered to lie, but you get the point)
J
If this isn’t a compromise cerveloguy can live with, there’s just no pleasing him! 
They’ve had gun cameras on boats and fighters for years, I’m surprised it’s taken this long to come to market. Nice looking rig though. I wonder if you’d have to have a hunting Lic, if you were out with one of those and no rounds. Might have a hard time convincing the authorities you were just taking photos. I don’t know what it’s like down there, but up here I think they can confiscate your vehicle and anything you have with you if your caught poaching. Big loss to get a good photo.
J
That’s sick!
Realize that I live in the heart of rural Ontario where hunting is considered a right of passage. In fact it’s the start of the deer hunt next week and our little village shuts down for a couple of weeks.
I’m not condemming anybody. It’s just not my thing. Rather be riding my bike.
Why is it sick? I don’t own one, or want one, but I don’t see anything sick about it. If nothing else, it would be a good tool to help improve one’s shooting.
“Why is it sick?”
Well that depends on the time delay on the thing! Does it do pre and post shots?
Somehow I don’t want a picture of an unfortunate animal in it’s last moments of life that I just killed. But that’s just me. Like I told you, I sold my guns a long time ago and would rather be riding my bike. I grew up with hunting but never really ever liked it.
Does it do pre and post shots?
No- well, it has two modes, manual and auto. In the manual mode you push a button whenever you want and take a picture just like any digital photo. In the auto mode, it takes the picture when you pull the trigger- the result is a photo of the animal well before the bullet gets there. They have several examples on the website.
“I’m with you on the whole hunting thing.”
If the animals had guns and could shoot back then I’d consider it a legitimate sport. It’s just too unfair a competition as it stands.
I understand the whole hunting thing from the perspective of the of culling of deer, etc. as being very necessary since we’ve driven most of their natural predators (wolves, cougars, etc) into near extinction. However, I differentiate between what I call legitimate sport hunters who might shoot one deer for the meat during the hunt season and the “killers” that want to shoot anything that has fur on it without any conscieous or regard to the eco-system. They’re the same redneck morons that leave their hunting dogs tied up in the back yard on a rope all year except during hunting season and try to hit anything on the road with their pick-up trucks. You’ll be amazed how many “road kills” I see riding my bike on the rural backroads at certain times of the year. I stop for every snapping turtle on the road during their season because I know running over them is a sport to these idiots.
I hated hunting even as a kid but I would never put down the legitimate hunters. Killing animals just never held any personal appeal to me. Perhaps that’s why as an adult I eat very little red meat.
My ex-brother-in-law is a big time hunter. Does his own loads and owns about a dozen rifles and likely the same amount of handguns (all registered and legal). He can honestly say that he cannot remember the last time he bought any kind of meat in a store. Everything hunted is eaten. I have zero problem with that, I just don’t want to do it myself. I hunted and did some trapping when I was a kid living on a farm in New Brunswick, but after seven years in the Airborne and Royal Canadian Regiment (First Special Service Force), I kind of lost my taste for killing things.
I still own a shotgun and a couple of 22.s and I don’t mind target shooting but that about covers it. Thats why I was thinking about converting one of my rifles to a camera. All the thrill of the hunt and bambi never would know I was there.
J
“Airborne and Royal Canadian Regiment (First Special Service Force),”
I grew up as an RCAF military brat. We had great posts - lived overseas with NATO twice, two stints in the USA including one at Holloman AFB in New Mexico and a year in England, all by the time I was 18. Never had to go to Cold Lake, Goose Bay, or any of those godforsaken Canuk bases in the frozen north. In Canada we were either at (called then) CFHQ in Ottawa or Downsview in Toronto.
My dad was a big time hunter when I was a kid and made me go whether I wanted to or not. He finds it a bit disgusting now though.
My cousin is the base commander down in your corner of the world. He is one busy guy. Every now and again I get an email from him from some forsaken hole. Im not sure how he commands an AF base from a ship but…
Right now my dog is sound asleep under my desk and she’s very cute. Why would I want to take the life of another animal? I am not against hunting, I just don’t have the stomach for it any more.
J
My parents and extended family live over in Northeastern Oregon (outside of Pendleton). My Dad and his buddies all got their bucks the first few days of the season.
Re the hunting debate: I’m no hunter, but the animals my family hunts are all eaten. Also, there is a very real need for deer population control.
Aw hell, no bait required where my folks live. They could just shoot 'em off the back porch. In their underwear (does that count as a loin cloth?).
Also, there is a very real need for deer population control.
I think the other side of this coin is a good reason we should be arming deer with guns as well. There is definitely a very real need for human population control.
I eat meat, and I understand how it gets to me. Part of the life cycle includes death, and all life feeds on other forms of life. However, just two days ago while riding in the forest, on roads closed to vehicles I was riding up a hill that four hunters were walking down. They had a log they were carrying waist high that had a canvas with a deer on it behind them. It was disturbing. It’s really awkward riding my bike directly by men in army gear carrying rifles. A couple days before that while descending I nearly collided with one of four deer that was just standing in the road. It just stared at me, and then bounded away. I wonder if that was the deer I saw that was dead just 48 hours later. I was talking to my family about hunting for sport and we too couldn’t help but think it’s not fair that the deer don’t have guns, or any desire to kill a human. It’s just kind of a bizarre concept, killing for sport.