They got their deer and now will process it and eat it over the winter. I don't have a problem with it. If deer were left unchecked, they would become overpopulated and destructive. Hunting keeps the population in check and people get to eat. Win, win!

The deer population in PA has grown too well and the deer cause a lot of damage to the local farms. Many of the surplus deer are harvested and processed and end up.on the local soup kitchen feeding the poor. It's lean meat without preservatives or hormones. I've worked at the local soup kitchen over the years it's not too much different than lean beef.

They use what they kill. If they can't, they donate it to be processed for use at shelters and for other people who need food.
I have no problem with hunting IF those who hunt follow basic gun safety rules and aren't crazy people out shooting anything that moves. They also need to understand where they can hunt.
There are too many idiots out hunting that are clueless. They are scary to my relatives too.

and make all the nra claims seem correct

many of them support things like background checks

Deer hunting, as much as it makes me cringe, has a purpose. "Hunting" a penned-in lion in order to chop off its head and hang it in your man cave does not.

I've heard it all, and I really couldn't care less who objects to this activity or why. I've decided it fits very comfortably within my belief system.

My Facebook feed includes photos of hunters from across the country. It's a national pastime. If the youths are educated properly in safety, obeying the laws, and respect for game andvland management like my generation was, and my parents generation as well , it's a good thing.

There's more to hunting than killing. There's lots of good hunting in Miss. So there's lots a pics of the kind you may not like. But believe me ALOT of tags go unfilled. And yet people still go for years and years.

In 50plus years, I have only gotten 3 deer. But I still have tons of memories. Watching and listening to the woods while the sun rises is my favorite part. Epic campfire conversations and antics comes next.

You can take solace in the fact that for a variety of reasons there are fewer hunters.
Surveys and licenses sales prove this

I do not have a problem with it actually, except for the fact that it is rarely "hunting."

The "hunters" put feed out for the deer near the deer stand where they sit and wait for the helpless creatures to come eat the feed. Then they shoot them. I have no idea why they bother to wear camo at all.
'

And yet not everyone shoots a deer. In fact not even a majority shoot a deer. Where I hunt people bait their stands. But only 1.5 hunters shoot a deer.
15 %

Because there is more to it than baiting. Deer are wily creatures and they learn .

They have evolved to nocturnal creatures in my neck of the woods. All bait piles are good for are midnight snacks and cool trail cam pics at night.

You have to practice scent control and hunt the rut to be successful. The peak rut does not fall during hunting season

Meantime, I put out feed on my property (which is posted for no hunting) and I hope they hang out here during season.

I hope I never see that half a hunter around here lol! That would be skeery!

Lots of kids and adults on my feed this morning with the deer they harvested. It's nice to see the next generation of hunters doing it right. I know when I was a kid, you never got to go until you were old enough to sit on a stand of your own.

Our youth day was back in September, but we only managed to see 6 deer. People ask me all the time if I hunt, but these days I only want to hunt with my Son. Last weekend I had him on a nice little 6pt only 30 yards away but he never could get a clear shot at anything but it's head and neck because of the brush. I've let him hunt on his own out back with the bow this season for the first time he's 11, and there's been several memorable evenings already where he had deer coming in and once even got to draw back on a spike.

Hopefully he'll take one before season closes, he didn't get one last year, his first "off" year since he was 5.

As long as everything is done legally.
I only have 1 friend, an adult male, that posts his deer pics on social media, and I don't have an issue with it. Hunting is not for me but have no issue with it.

He and my daughter have three little kids to feed.

I don't know anyone who's calling for hunting to be outlawed on DU or anywhere else.

There's a group at DU---"Outdoor Life"--- that's supposed to be for the discussion of hunting (as opposed to gun politics). But it only gets about one post per month.....

BwaHAHA!

Maybe it's shut down for maintenance 'tween 2:15 am and 2:45 am the first Tuesday of every month.

It's a question of inclination; the argument against Bernie that yields the best traction here at DU is that young white men don't find him repellent.

I posted something a couple of days ago about raising animals humanely for meat, and you'd have thought I was selling baby parts.

I would call civilized. Only an asshole would kill a bear.

It keeps the excess population down, which gets to be a nuisance with regard to growing vegetables. A deer can decimate a garden in a single night.

The second thing it does is provide families with meat. You share with your neighbors if you have excess, just like you do if you have a particularly large haul while fishing. I have received some delectable and marvelous meat and fish from friends and relatives.

It's a community thing. We also have feral hog season because they are absolutely a danger. Once again, you share with your neighbors and those that are needy if you have too much.

It's not a wasteful thing like killing a lion.

to eat a wild hog. The ones I see around here are mostly gristle.

and that is exactly what a crock pot is for.

A slow cooker can do just about anything that frying cannot.

Why would you or anyone on DU be interested in trying? Trying what to talk them out of it? If so, why?

Weird OP

Weird and/or misguided.

Neither of which you need for hunting deer.

I think everybody should be able to own a bolt action rifle and a shotgun.

Could your friends discuss gun control rationally or would they spout nonsense NRA talking points?

Nothing wrong with deer hunting but I think it's pathetic to hunt with a semi-auto (where it's legal).

For harvesting their own food, keeping deer population down, and buying hunting licenses which help the environment and animals.

I was just reading a story in Whitetail magazine (no, I don't hunt, but I do fish) about how grants have helped with 'mugging' deer in one area

http://www.aberdeennews.com/outdoors/whitetail-deer-study-taking-place-in-brown-county/article_d4932c94-b631-5920-8bb9-d8c6e3a916ad.html

Hunters dedicate a lot of time and resources to wildlife (there was also an article in this issue on planting crops year round to feed wildlife and attract them to an area - not just for hunting).

Hunting feeds families and helps the environment.