- NEW!
by R U Sirius on March 20th, 2007
But would'nt that be something if animals did have high powered weapons. What a reality series that would be.
I think I'd be lmao if I saw some humans getting shot at by rabbits or bears.
by Robert13 on April 17th, 2007
Y do they call it a sport? well my friend i can tell for sure you are no hunter. Hunting is a very delicate process that can go wrong with one little mix up. Everything has to be perfect for you to succed. Just like in a game no game plan no practice you dont win. Hunting is the same way hunters spend alot of time practing and have a game plan and procedure before every hunt. I guess for me and millions of others it brings such a feeling to a person that you cant even explain. In some cases u say why use a high power well in many places like in pastures or prairies the sight range is miles and even getting within a few hundred yards is a challenge. Also a high power rifle is not always the gun used. Animals dont have guns, well animals also have defense of their own to use against hunters. Not trying to get you all pissed off just trying to give u a quick review of why i think its a sport so give me a reply back.
by yoho05 reminds you to DYOH on May 6th, 2007
Because they want the status and prestige from giving it a 'noble' name, rather than calling it savage exploitation of another being incapable of adequately defending itself against the hunter's technology. It doesn't match my definition of 'sport', although other answers here have illustrated just how subjective that definition can be. According to one of the answers, if it involves a 'club', it's a sport - S Club 7? Mickey Mouse Club?
by 8 Jan 2004-10 Dec 2009 on July 28th, 2007
The sport is in that animals and hunters have different strengths and each is pitting their abilities against the other.
The animal has many advantages of the hunter. Keener senses for one. Most animals can hear and/or smell a hunter long before the hunter is aware of the animal's presence allowing it to hide or flee unnoticed.
The animal has greater patience and the luxury of time. Legally, hunting ends at a certain time of day and the season is only so many days/weeks. If the animal can just run the clock out, they have another day... unless it's the last day of the season in which case they have months.
The animal doesn't require any equipment and is relatively comfortable regardless of temperature or weather. No jackets, gloves, etcetera; Mother Nature provided them with all they need to survive in the environment.
Animals know the terrain better. The hunter is in the animal's home. The hunter doesn't know all of the paths and hiding places nearly as well as the animal.
A hunter has only one advantage; a gun. If the hunter wins, the animal dies. Sure, the lopsided stakes make all of the animal's advantages seem meaningless but when you consider how many hunters return from a day of slogging through woods empty-handed, you realize that it's FAR more even than you think.
by JohnOBonno on October 27th, 2007
Why do NON hunters denigrate something they have no interest in? Nobody tells them not to strip naked on a 21 degree day and stand in a crowd of thousands wearing red and blue paint on their bodies in the name of "sports" And all to watch someone else do all the "sports." Why should I listen to them when they tell me what a sport is and isn't, it's obvious they don't know? I tell you what, come out to the woods with me while I am hunting and ask me that question.
by Anonymous on October 27th, 2007
In my experience it's non hunters who call it a sport.
You should go to your State's DEC page and learn why hunting is an important part of an overall conservation strategy.
In fact, a portion of all sales of hunting equipment is donated to conservation (USA) thanks to the Pittman-Robertson Act of 1939.
As for those that feel hunting is cruel. I can understand on the surface why you think that way but if you've ever seen an animal starving because of overpopulation of it's species, that is far crueler in my opinion.
Familiarize yourself with the term "carrying capacity" as it pertains to animal populations.
In closing, I find it amazing how many anti hunters think their meat magically appears at the supermarket or their leather shoes at the department store.
by Xtreme2252 on October 22nd, 2007
it's more like a game to them, like wife-beating, child-molesting and killing puppies...oh wait, i said "like"
by Grammy Robin on May 6th, 2007
A sport; I guess... they need to call it something so that they can keep doing it with out bringing their concience into it. How can killing something be called a sport? It is one thing to hunt in order to feed your family, but to hunt just so you can say you killed an animal, I just don't get it. Hunting is killing not a sport.
Sports are games people play to show their prowess in physical activity competition. Plain and simple.
by Anon on May 6th, 2007
Hunters call Hunting a sport, because it is, by definition a sport. A Quick look at all the online dictionaries revealed to me, that Sport is an activity that involves competition, and or physical exertion.
Your personal definition of sport is not the same as the Hunters, and most other people in the world. That is why Hunters appear to be "incorrect" to you
by Valparaiso on March 20th, 2007
I don't think its much of a sport personally. I respect hunting, it is a skill of its own, and I have no problems with people who do hunt.
But I just have difficulty calling it a sport.
by Glenn Blaylock on December 8th, 2007
One thing that those who rail against hunting fail to understand is that the animals we hunt evolved with us hunting them. Hunting was one of the primary ways in which our ancestors fed themselves. Being hunted is a natural part of the life cycle for most of these animals. In places were hunting is prohibited, their populations tend to exceed the ability of the land to sustain. The result is often starvation and disease. This is a much crueler means of population control than the quick death of a bullet. It also preserves the habitat that would be ruined by overpopulation thus making for a healthier ecology over all.
I will admit that we have not always been the most responsible about hunting in the past. This is why we now have people who monitor the populations of game animals. They determine how many animals there are, how many the land can reasonably sustain, and then issue licenses only for the surplus. As others have pointed out, hunting is a very strictly regulated business. Responsible hunters don't want to kill too many animals because that would ultimately mean the loss of the ability to hunt said animals. Irresponsible hunters are a danger to everything around them and the responsible hunters don't want them ruining it for the rest of them. Also, as others have written, hunting is not the simple activity of pointing a gun at some animal and killing it. It is a very time consuming activity as the hunter stalks his prey. Quite often the hunter comes away empty handed.
I will say this. I don't have much respect for those that kill just for the sake of killing and/or trophies. However, I see nothing wrong will hunting for food. These animals evolved with predation being one of the main controls on their populations. If you eliminate the predation, then the populations will become too big to sustain.
BTW, no, I am not a hunter myself nor have I ever been hunting. However, I have know a number of people who do engage in this sport and have taken a hunter safety course.
by Paul on December 8th, 2007
Kind of a loaded question. Remember just because hunting is a sport, not all hunters are sportsman. A sportsman enjoys long hikes in the woods, the fresh air, the wild outdoors and the thrill of the chase. Yes, animals die. But you need to remember, animals die. Wildlife laws ensure that only enough game is taken to properly manage populations to protect the natural resources.
Now on the other side there are what I call slob hunters, they do not respect the laws, trespass, poach and are dangerous. Please do not confuse a hunting sportsman with a slob hunter.
by ABnormally HappyVTguy moves to NH on May 6th, 2007
Yup, we hear this a lot from the leaf peepers and tourist types when passing through Vermont. Animals; deer, bear, turkeys, are wily enough and well equipped to avoid most human hunters, what nature hasn't given them they learn from repeated exposure. There are very few good hunters. There are lots of people with guns in the woods during hunting season. Please don't mistake one for the other. A hunter spends time researching and honing skills and usually takes game for table not trophy. People with guns kill game rarely, and when they do it's usually by luck or a miscue by the hunted. I agree there's room for interpretation over Sport vs. Hobby but the differentiation should not be based on the tools used by the parties. Game are worthy adversaries and we need some way to even the score. Obviously I hunt avidly for the table and usually take my limit. An issue I have is when people with guns wound a game animal and fail to finish the job, It's unconscionable to me to let an animal suffer, Alike, I disagree with trapping for the same reason, however for some, trapping is a living not a sport.
by -A- on December 3rd, 2008
Hunting isn't a sport...it's just a load of very cruel people chasing a fox around, tiring it out and then killing it for no reason what so ever...I'm very glad it is banned in this country...
by Discipline on November 6th, 2008
Hunting is definitely not a sport. Sport requires that fair competition is adhered to. Hunting on the other hand, is between the strong bully (the smart and armed person) versus the unarmed and helpless animal. This is not fair play and hence not a sport. The reason that hunters called it a sport is because they don't kill to eat, they kill to enjoy. I think if you kill animals, watch them die in excruiciating pain and fear and if you actually enjoy that, then there must be strong psychopathic tendency in you.
The hunter, this bully of a person will enjoy it as long as he is not the one being chased and hunted down without anything to defend himself. People with psychopathic and bullying tendency will enjoy hunting. If you strip out all the fancy jargons attached to it, it is simply an act of bullying where the strong enjoy bullying the helpless (ie, the scared animals). I hope this answers your question?
by ender1886 on February 11th, 2008
Its funny, stalking a living breathing human and shooting him or her is called murder.
But if its a deer or other form of lesser intelligence its sport.
by Costantinus on December 9th, 2007
what's the point in even discussing this, whatever you say they r too used at shooting things down so that's what they'll do.
by koldkanuck on December 9th, 2007
I would much prefer to hunt an animal than to have them born and bred in cramped enclosures for the sole purpose of being eaten.
The competition to produce inexpensive meat, eggs, and dairy products has led animal agribusiness to treat animals as objects and commodities. The worldwide trend is to replace small family farms with “factory farms”—large warehouses where animals are confined in crowded cages or pens or in restrictive stalls.
that would be ok in your book grammy
by Twhupfold on December 8th, 2007
Because 'sport' sounds much better than 'murder', 'slaughter', 'massacre', or 'killing spree' ; )
It's not a sport at all - unless maybe they took on a bear with a knife... That could be taken as a sport of sorts...
*****
What are the requirements for something to be a sport?
- Exertion (Physical, sometimes mental, etc)
- COMPETITION
- Rules, customs, and or regulations, etc
- (Fun?)
Which of those does 'shooting animals' include?
Let's be serious here:
Rules:
1. You must shoot the animal, it must die, you must find the body
2. You must not shoot other hunters
3. You must try to kill the animal as quickly and as humanely as possible
Competition:
1. Try to kill the animal before they kill you
2. (Try to kill better prey than the other hunters?)
Exertion:
1. None; you're using a gun.
2. If you are using a bow or a knife (or similar), then there can be a very, very, very small relative degree of physical exertion (in the bows case), or a significant one in the knifes case (unless you're hunting rabbits or something...)
Fun:
1. If you find killing things fun, check yourself into a psychiatric clinic immediately.
2. If you do not find it fun, then you damn well better be doing it for food - if not, check yourself into a psychiatric clinic immediately.
*****
There... It can -on occasion- involve rules, but there isn't really any competition involved in 99% of hunting, nor is (should) it be fun, nor is there any exertion involved (unless you're doing it with some sort of mêlée weapon)
by Ted-E-Bear on December 4th, 2007
the sport. is you in the elements of the great outdoors. 6am til 6pm against the wind,rain,snow and 20 degree to a high of 40 degree weather. cold as hell enjoying nature and if you do bag an animal its a bonus. i like hunting because, just getting away from everybody and everything and you do alot of thinking. YOU should go for a walk in the woods sometime and turn your cellphone off and listen and if you are quiet you mite see something and walk slow. i hope this helps. hunting to me is not shooting an animal,its just being outdoors.
by Jewel on September 15th, 2007
Yes, guns do seem to unbalance the mix. That is why I prefer archery. Still, hunting is all more difficult than it appears to be.
I question the validity of most "sports". If you figure in purpose, equipment, cost and the abilty to use technolgy to affect a sport, I don't see it as a real competition any longer. To me, sport is about competetion.
by Anonymous on July 28th, 2007
I'm sure being a pescatarian does not help my beliefs in such an argument. Plus I'm a liberal democrat who does not believe war is the answer... no, not even after 9/11, you sick dummies. Hiding in some bushes or a tree or whatever, wearing camouflage and scented oils, and using a rifle against an unsuspecting docile creature doesn't hardly seem fair no matter how you look at it.
Plus I'm all about protecting the planet by riding a bike whenever possible, and when not I drive a small car that get's about 35 mpg. What I've learned from growing up in Oklahoma is that most farmers drive big pickup trucks and don't give a s%^* about the environment (obviously, because they're literally shooting it in the gut and then decapitating it).
I ride horses competitively, and just knowing whether I've done well with my horse at the end of the day is benefit enough. Never have I beat another horse in competition, then decapitated it and hung its head on my living room wall. I, personally, prefer my home to NOT be filled with dead animals.
I have absolutely no respect for those who enjoy hunting. (And I believe that hunting and food gathering are 2 totally different things). Just like I never had respect for the kids in my grade school who thought it was fun to jump on and kill frogs, or for people who hide under cars and slit people's achilles tendons. I mean I'm sure both of those take skill in some way or another, but they're both sick and demented... just like hunters.
by Anonymous on July 11th, 2007
I imagine their ability to successfully hunt and kill a defenceless animal somehow gives them a sense of achievement. Like wow - what an achievement huh.
Though i must say in many cases ( not all ) the inhumane and cruel way animals are slaughtered for human consumption far outweighs the cruelty and pointless process of animal hunting for sport.
by Im Alec has abandoned this account on May 6th, 2007
The meaning of the word "sport" has changed over the centuries. Th original meaning of the word was hunting for pleasure rather than hunting for necessity (though even hunting for pleasure was expected to provide food). This is before any kind of organised game playing developed. When it did, the word "sport" was extended to include any kind of physical exertion done for pleasure. Such exertion was usually of a competitive sort, because you usually want some sort of a goal, and the hunted game was not available, you took the played game instead. This newer usage of the word has become dominant, but hunters still use the word in its original sense.
by Patti jo on March 20th, 2007
I don't have a answer steel - But a darn good question
I can't + up up right now but I will
by socal619 on February 3rd, 2008
Has the non hunter forgotten how food was brought to the table before fast food restaurants.
And next time you non hunter are eating a burger or steak, remember those animals are in captivity before they are slaughtered.
by Bartman on December 9th, 2007
It is as sporty as sitting on a couch and eating peanuts
by rampie87 on August 5th, 2007
i see hunting as a sport because in the woods, the animals have the edge. humans are not ment to be there. they can smell a 3 day trail, they know if youve stood next to their tree. some can see better than you can through the scope of your rifle. some can literally dodge bullets. tell me its easy!
by bgoodjohnny on May 21st, 2007
I think hunters consider it a sport because they use strategy to outfox a wild animal in its own enviornment, and a sport must have strategy. Hunters would say there are many factors to consider when attempting to kill an animal such as, how sensitive is their sense of smell, and is the wind blowing in their direction; what do they eat? if a hunter can understand their diet, and when they eat, the hunter can strategically place himself near areas of food; what times of the day are the animals most active? when do they sleep, where do they sleep?
The answers to these questions are different for each species. for a hunter to know these answers he/she must understand the habitat and create a strategy.
I'm not a hunter, nor have I ever hunted, but this is my hypothesis. I probably would not kill a large animal like a moose or deer, but may consider smaller game like rabbit, pheasant, or quail; its less messy.
regards,
John
by billjoe on March 20th, 2007
I think that it is considerd a sport becuse they have a club and they have a lot of fun and becuse they have a club like what is a sport without a club.
by sally on November 5th, 2008
These people cannot fight the real fight so why not pick on a innocent creatures mainly deer usually from a deer stand with bait. I don't cannot even call them 'hunters' more like ambushers.
The only time they "hunt" is when they wound the deer shooting from the deer stand and have to follow the blood trails or the gut shot intenstinal matter where the it can take up to 8 hours to die.
Google "tracking wounded deer", "bloodtrails", "how to handle a gutshot" and more. Believe me these hunted animals especially deer die the most horrific death no hunters would ever want to experience. Gut shot the deer dies in own poison, lung shot they drown in their own blood. You are not "hunters" and DEFINITELY NOT "sportsman" you are all serial killers of innocent life no different then what jefferey dahmer would do to human victims. and plus you love to take snuff videos to boast your killing like serial killers does with their human victims. "Hunters" love using euphemism , whitewash and excuses to make the their disgusting actions "acceptable"
"Hunting" is immense suffering for our forest creatures in the name of "sports"
by dreams always come true on October 29th, 2008
it does case for alot of runing and skill but your right the poor animals can only run and hope they live. a wolf might stand a chance though.
by Slingkell on April 16th, 2008
Mommyof2, That is exactly my point. I DO know what some animals go through and it is horrible to say the least. To raise animals for food or to hunt for food is one thing. To hunt for "sport or thrill" is another. My problem is not ppl as you and your family, this I can fully understand. The problem I have is with the sickos out there who throw away the carcuses and put the head on the wall etc. I don't believe this how things were meant to be.
by judgebill on April 12th, 2008
It's not really a "sport" in the classic sense. It is a survival skill. We are meat eaters by genetic heritage, which necessarily makes us hunters. Whether you like it or not, you, me and all of us come from hunting stock, and, if requqired, would revert to hunting. 15,000 years ago when we were hunting the wooly mammoths and dodging saber tooth tigers, we spent all day, many days in the field. Today we don't have the time to spend a week, with our brothers, trying to kill an elephant. Instead we pay a guide to help us find our animals and use a rifle to help us kill them. Different times call for different techniques. The hunter today is merely following his basic instincts and exercising his genetic heritage. You don't have to participate but recognize that you can't really deny our history.
by smart guy 008 on March 7th, 2008
it only called a sport becouse some yuppie dont have the gut to harvest his own meat he willl let someone else do it for him before store it was called a way of life so get over it
by Anonymous on January 28th, 2008
well for one, animals have a keen sense of smell, sight, and hearing. the hunters have to keep themselves concealed while remaining perfectly quiet so as not to disturb the animals. They must also make sure to keep downwind of the animal so that the animal doesn't smell the hunter and take off. then the hunter must position himself where he can get off a clean shot at the animal while keeping himself concealed. you must be very skilled in the first place to be able to handle high-powered weapons and be able to shoot them accurately. sometimes the hunter's shot depends on his surrounding cover, the weather, his position, as well as the wind.
by Galeanda on September 15th, 2007
Wikipedia's definition of Sport: an activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively. Sports commonly refer to activities where the physical capabilities of the competitor are the sole or primary determiner of the outcome (winning or losing), but the term is also used to include activities such as mind sports and motor sports where mental acuity or equipment quality are major factors.
"Sport" comes from the old French desport meaning "leisure".
Sport: a physical activity involving large muscle groups, requiring strategic methods, physical training and mental preparation and whose outcome is determined, within a rules framework, by skill, not chance.
Sport: any game or activity of competition involving physical effort or skill
Sport:A form of leisure-time physical activity that is planned, structured and competitive.
Sport: activities that are competitive, have formal rules, require physical effort and skills, and are organised within institutional structures
Then on this webpage at Wiki, there is a long list of sports. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sports Do a search.....you will NOT find hunting listed.
Interestting:-)
by The King of Awesome on July 28th, 2007
im not really for hunting, but i was gonna try to give a serious answer to this, until i saw who asked it and realized anything i said would fall on deaf ears
by anonymous on July 11th, 2007
Because they can talk to each other just like in the cartoons...:)
by biketroy on May 14th, 2007
Because every animal has super powers!
by Galeanda on May 6th, 2007
A sport can be defined all these ways:
Physical activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively.
An activity involving physical exertion and skill that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often undertaken competitively.
An active pastime; recreation.
Hunting and fishing can are definitely the 3rd definition. That's all it means to 'sport'.
by blondiepetvet on January 2nd, 2009
exactly the point i try to make "When a man wants to murder a tiger, he calls it a sport: when the tiger wants to kill him, he calls it ferocity." "Hunting: the least honorable form of war on the weak." "Detested a sport, that owes it's pleasure to another's pain; That feeds opon the sobs and dying shrieks Of harmless nature." So if you want to call murder upon the weak & defenseless, a sport, then your just sick in the head
by brad thompson on December 23rd, 2008
Hunters call hunting a sport because finding the animal and getting the shot isn't always easy. hunters that kill for the trophy (antlers, fur, horns, etc.) are pigs the only reason i hunt is because my family can't spend money on meat to eat, so we need the extra food. this is what hunting is supposed to be.
by aivzdog on December 16th, 2008
Sport hunting is called that because people just do it for fun and for competition at times for the biggest animal. Saying hunting is not just for sport...decent people just do it for food.
by Banned from Yahoo on December 16th, 2008
My family has hunted for years we use everything and yes we have them "stuffed". We enjoy the meat it is free of steroids and other chemicals! It is about as green as it gets! The cost of 1 bullet can feed a entire family for months!
by Shteve on December 16th, 2008
Shooting any kind of target is a sport but when it has free will to run and is unpredictable, that is exciting.
by torch on December 16th, 2008
shit if iwas getting shot at by animals i would be ducking weaving and running fast as i can to get out of there
by Matthewisdom on December 14th, 2008
You think hunters always get their quarry everytime they hunt? You wouldn't know would you?
by QBALL on December 10th, 2008
hunting is a sport for many reasons, but the big one is that animals have better more enhanced sences than humans. making it a competition between the hunters ability to play on curtain instincts of the animal, and the animals ability to sence the danger and smell the human.
by koldkanuck on December 4th, 2008
Can a convicted felon own a crossbow for hunting?
by Answerbag Staff on November 8th, 2010
| 1 person likes this
What swing speed is good for shafts?
by Answerbag Staff on August 21st, 2010
| 1 person likes this
Will a Class 3 bulletproof vest stop a .306 bullet?
by Answerbag Staff on August 19th, 2010
| 1 person likes this
can a convicted felon hunt in nh.
by dannyboyce on November 28th, 2011
| 1 person likes this
In your opinion, what is the best bullet to shoot out of a .243?
by jama69 on November 18th, 2011
| 1 person likes this
You're reading Why do hunters call hunting a sport? The animals dont have high powered rifles, so where is the sport in that?
Your favorite Q&A site is on Facebook! Become a fan to connect with the ever-growing community of Answerbaggers, share your thoughts and find out what Answerbag's up to next!
Comments
That wascawy wabbit will kick ass
by steelhamster@aol.com on March 20th, 2007
I wonder if the animals would call it sport or payback time?
by Major Look at yerself on December 10th, 2007
If they did have rifles it wouldn't be hunting. That would be war. I don't understand why anyone would be against it. I have hunted since I can remember and they are all great memories of spending time with my Dad in the woods. Away from all this digital technology. It brings the mind into focus while out in the woods, basically alone and makes for great conservation with family and friends. Plus we help stabilize the population of game species. And about all that about making an animal suffer, well I personally only take sure shots with my rifle and bow. Have you ever seen a pack of wolves kill a deer? I assure you that animal will suffer for hours if not days in some cases. While game taken by a hunter will only suffer for minutes.
by Jason_B8431 on December 10th, 2011
Personaly, I would'nt want to go to war with the rabbits because I don't think we'd have the advantage. The rabbits know their territory and they have unlimited ammunition. All they have to do is shit and load up with their pellets......crafty little bastards. PS: Thanks for answering 4 years later........I'm still here.......and talking about crafty little rabbits.
by R U Sirius on December 12th, 2011