I’m not talking about the consumption of animals here, to be clear. What I’m talking about is spending days and a bunch of money planning to kill something, doing the killing, and skinning/eviscerating what was killed, and often displaying the stuffed corpse. Hunters and fishers refuse to admit they’re obsessed with taking pleasure in killing something.
Miss me with the “tradition” stuff, it’s just peer pressure from the dead and a fallacious argument. Don’t tell me it’s to eat, like I said, I’m not talking about the consumption here, so please prove to me you are literate by not bringing up that point. And don’t tell me you’re respectful to the animals you kill; I don’t believe the planning, stalking, and killing is a good way to show respect.
I know a lot of hunters and none of them like killing. They experience a complex series of emotions when they’re successful with a hunt. Triumph over all their hard work paying off, excitement over having a successful hunt, joy over having meat for half a year, and remorse, over having killed a beautiful animal. I do not know a single hunter who doesn’t experience remorse. I even know some people who have cried over what they’ve done. But in the end, they’ll do it again, because they’ve chosen a lifestyle where they’re willing to be active participants in the cycle of life, and aren’t willing to just outsource all of the killing for their meat needs.