Hunting? Immoral?

[Valjean]

Considering the enthusiasm with which we slaughter each other for no useful purpose at all and still increase, it's hard to imagine how an occasional "table guest" would have that great an impact.

 

[Sententia]

The idea is that the animal is going to die of starvation and not be used. So instead we kill it and use it.

Well if it died of starvation it may go to feed the wolves and coyotes who may have died otherwise hunting had they not happened upon such an easy meal.

That argument ends in your survival is morally more important then a pack of wolves etc... Which might be correct but is a silly argument since we could survive without hunting whereas the certainty that said pack of wolves would live without running down starving deer is questionable.

I guess said deer could die and not serve other life usefully but that rarely happens in my opinion. My friend and I were talking about this and we concluded that there is a species that dies and tries damn hard to make sure their death benefits no one.... humans...

 

[dallas1125]

Well if it died of starvation it may go to feed the wolves and coyotes who may have died otherwise hunting had they not happened upon such an easy meal.

That argument ends in your survival is morally more important then a pack of wolves etc... Which might be correct but is a silly argument since we could survive without hunting whereas the certainty that said pack of wolves would live without running down starving deer is questionable.

I guess said deer could die and not serve other life usefully but that rarely happens in my opinion. My friend and I were talking about this and we concluded that there is a species that dies and tries damn hard to make sure their death benefits no one.... humans...

Yes, the animal could feed another predator. That is not the situation i am thinking of. The situation is were the deer are extremley overpopulated, with little to no predators.

 

[Reverend Rick]

Are you saying that killing animals to save them from being killed is ok? lol...

I'm saying killing half of the herd so the other half can live is OK.

 

[Falvlun]

If you're gonna eat it, then hunt on!

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Yes, the animal could feed another predator. That is not the situation i am thinking of. The situation is were the deer are extremley overpopulated, with little to no predators.

Even in situations with predators, it can make sense to reduce numbers of prey animals artificially.

If the population of deer increases, this can cause an increase in the predator population as well. However, because the predator population is a response to the prey population, there's a lag between the two curves: once the prey population peaks and starts to decline (when food starts to become scarce, for instance), the predator population may not yet have peaked itself.

When this happens, then the deer are now under double pressure: not only do they have to cope with a lack of food, but they also become over-hunted by predators. If the situation is bad enough, this can wipe out the local deer population. The local predators that depend on the deer for food then die off as well.