And you got to admit Jeff does and says wacky things that make a person think WTF?
I will admit I've been known to bust Jeff's balls myself. I try to save that for when he does something truly wacky though. Fishing on a hunting trip and the like is far from that IMO.
I know that Jeff's politics get under a lot of people's skin here and he catches a lot of crap for that. But that's just the internet. If he was your neighbor or some guy you met in a bar most would just laugh and shrug off the politics, not go full retard.
And I do get a kick out of the nitwits on the freak show ("Hunter's" Campfire). Talk about living rent-free in someone's head. I really like the "call-out" threads: "No evidence of Russia Collusion, Jeff O goes on suicide watch."
I guess the joke's on them. Jeff wasn't on suicide watch, he was hunting, and killing a really nice buck while the nitwits were sitting at their keyboards. Just like I am now, LOL.
When I'm proven right, and I will be, about Trump and/or campaign officials colluding with Russia, those guys will be falling all over themselves to acknowledge that and own all the vile crap they've tossed at me, because they are such honorable people operating in such good faith and all. Yeah right.
But let's respect THIS forum, and leave that talk for up on the loony forum or in PM's.
To the business at hand. Irfubar, I think you are just plain wrong from the git-go on this issue of respect for an animal's life. It's not "showing respect" to take a photo or to hang their preserved head on the wall; those actions are to stroke YOUR own needs and desires. They have nothing to do with respect for the life of the animal and everything to do with indulging one's own ego and doing a retroactive justification for same.
I am a predator. It's completely in-bounds for me to kill and eat another creature. I do not need to justify it with some kind of after the fact dog and pony show.
Respect is shown by doing one's best to kill the animal cleanly, and to not waste that life by say letting the meat rot or the like. I find many examples of blatant, yet accepted within the hunting community, DISrespect towards animal's live. The first example that comes to mind, and this will piss some people off but that's fine by me, is grizzly hunting, where the cape and head are taken and the meat left to rot. My good friend did just that, as do many (or even most) griz hunters as I understand it.
To your point, I'm sure they take lots of great photos and then get the thing mounted as a trophy on their wall. To my point, that's not fundamentally out of respect for the animal; it's to serve some need the hunter has, to scratch some personal itch. I'm not going to plumb the depths of the human psyche here but that kind of trophyism is, as far as I'm concerned, extremely disrespectful to the animal. Yet, it would appear that to YOU, that's the very pinnacle of respect. I suspect we are simply at loggerheads on that and further, that you ain't changing (or even examining) your position anytime soon.... so I'll leave it at that for the moment. If you want to mount a cogent defense of trophyism, then have at it. And I'll address what YOU type.
Secondarily, you are saying that I've somehow disrespected the tag itself. Since *I* know everything I did to get ready for it, that's kind of comical to me. But please, type more about that and we will address what YOU have to say. Rubbing my hands in anticipation here.
Finally, because I'm a bit of a troll and provocateur around here, let me finish by saying that any time you want to directly compare our measurables, you and I, in the realm of shooting and hunting, I'm all-in. Let me rephrase that. I challenge you to a hiking and shooting contest. And I think I'll whup up on you pretty decisively. Why is that relevant? Because as far as I'm concerned THAT is how one shows respect to the animal: by being physically ready to engage in a true fair-chase hunt, and by being as ready as a guy can be to execute a clean, humane kill. I've done that. Do you?
A couple factual corrections. I fished AFTER I filled my tag. I'm NOT leaving the antelope head in my yard so the dogs can chew on it. For my egotistical reasons I'd like to have a bare skull with horns on it as a momento of the experience. I thought hanging from a tree would do that; worked great for an elk and a big blacktail. Sounds like that might not work with antelope. I haven't yet decided if I care enough about my own personal trophyism/ego stroke needs to go to plan B.
