Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: Nash on March 24, 2005, 10:34:58 PM
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Okay so... I overheard the owner of one of the printing companies I use talking about blowing gophers away.
This was last year, sometime. He was all "I just bought this gun" and "OMG" and "just 'XPLODED!" and everything.
So a coupla days ago, I re-stumble across that video where this dude is shootin' gophers. I thought he'd like it. Maybe. So... I emailed him the link with nothing else in mind than "Hey, check this out."
Next thing ya know... today... He comes busting into my office, just juiced. He navigated me to a website about this kind of ammo he uses... "See.... these are 5 cents a round, but the stuff I use is 25 cents a round - and here's why."
A half-hour passes with non-stop talk about ballistics. And then he lays it on me. "We gotta go shoot gophers!"
"Sounds good", I say... thinking, that must be Alberta-speak for "lets do lunch."
"Lets do it this Sunday!", he says.
(http://www.barnartstudio.com/gophers.jpg)
Thing is, he's got it all figured out. He's talkin' lawn chairs, beers, custom-made tripod mounts for his guns, how to get property owners to let ya onto the land to do it... Everything. It's a done deal.
So I'm thinking.... This guy is a bit nuts to begin with. I wouldn't mind trying hunting sometime... but gophers? It's almost corny.
I throw every road-block in his face. "Aint they hybernating or something?"..... "It's way too cold for this, aint it?"
"No, man! If it's cloudy, we're hooped... only the bull gophers come out when it's cloudy... but..." and he goes www dot weather dot com and shows me the forecast. Warm and sunny on Sunday.
Neat.
So now.... I'm lined up to shoot guns at gophers.
My entire belief system advises me that this isn't such a good idea. I don't have much of a problem with, like, moose and elk and bear because, well, they're bigger than me and if we ever went toe to toe in the ring they could prolly kick the living daylights outta me so I'd best just shoot them. I know it's fickle and full of holes and all that... but so what.
Plinking gophers?... It's almost arcade-like. Those things just stand upright and don't even move for chrissakes.
All that being said... It does kinda sound like fun. I can back out at any minute no problem, but....
I need your advice.
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go shoot the gophers...it will be fun.
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question is...
Do you really REALLY wanna shot gophers?
what I'd like to do is grab that guys gun and stick it were the sun doesn't shine and pull the trigger, see if he likes it, just for fun.
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I wouldn't personaly, don't dig on killing for the sake of killing. Shooting cans and plastic bottles if fun enough for me.
Still if you can live with yourself after, and you think it would be fun, go for it.
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Let's invade Canada RIGHT NOW!!!!!
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Since you came out of the closet in the other thread you could prolly just move there.:D
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If the gophers had guns, they'd shoot you.
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IT'S COMING RIGHT FOR US!
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Gophers, or praire dogs if you like, are generally considered to be a varming. Two reasons, they dig holes cattle step in and break their legs and they eat a lot of vegetation that would normall be putting beef on cattle. This is the one that the cattlemen dislike the most, I think, particularly in times of drought.
They are controlled primarily by poison. An alternate method is shooting, but they reproduce faster than you can shoot down a population in almost any area.
So... which is better? Poison or shooting?
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Originally posted by GtoRA2
Since you came out of the closet in the other thread you could prolly just move there.:D
You're just jealous cuz I had a '65 GTO. Don't be a hater!!
:aok
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LOL
Thats the most common year for the gay man.
Now the 68 GTO was one good looking ride.
:D
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You're too late, Nash.
This is the kind of thing that provides hour upon hour of entertainment for the average thirteen-year old.
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Originally posted by GtoRA2
LOL
Thats the most common year for the gay man.
Now the 68 GTO was one good looking ride.
:D
No freakin' way was the 68 - 69 better looking than the 65!! 68 - 69 were pickles on wheels!!!
J/K, seriously, after 70 it all went downhill for me including this new "OTG" that Pontiac is hocking to us as a GTO. Whatever...
:rolleyes:
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LOL
I like 65s, but the 65 was my dads dream, for me nothing is more good looking then a red a black 68 with hidden headlights.
Your right though after 70 things sucked with the exception of the 73 superduty firebirds.
The new goat, well it prolly got its name cause it blows goats, they just left the blow part off.
I hope GM will learn something from the new mustang and bring out a retro looking GTO or Camaro.
Everything theyhave done the last 5 years it the suck.
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thought you were suppoesed to hit them on the head with a padded mallet
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sounds sick
but I am sure it is just a butt-load of good karma
you couldn't pay me to do it
listen to him
(http://ted.coe.wayne.edu/sse/links/Taiwan/website%20pics/P1000682.jpg)
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Shooting gophers? Nah its better to play Gopher-Fishing.
Its like squirrel fishing here on campus, you get a rod, some string, and food. Play out the line, sit and relax, toy the food, and when the squirrel/gopher go for it, pull it away! Or try to get them with their hands on it and pull hard and lift them up!
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what is the middle way?
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The gophers are just prarie rats. I have no problem killing vermin. Sounds like it could be interesting.
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Its like trout fishing. Whats the big deal. They wont live for ever and they would eat you in a second if they had the chance.
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Well, you can just pretend to be a lousy shot and just miss them.
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Originally posted by Sandman
This is the kind of thing that provides hour upon hour of entertainment for the average thirteen-year old.
no kidding. my dad worked on a farm which also had a golf course (he was a teacher and had summers off and did a bunch load of different stuff there for extra money) my brother and I used to ride shotgun with bb guns - daisy's. my dad carried his .30-.30 for ground hogs since they'd eat crops and leave holes that could damage tractors.
funniest shot was my brother hitting a gopher on the course that proceeded to do a perfect backflip and take off.
best shot was mine from back of a pickup doing about 15 mph using the "scope" - nothing more than an open tube) - hitting a gopher right in the temple for a kill. I guess the added velocity of the truck in motion actually gave the bb enough power for the kill.
gophers and prairie dogs, as well as ground hogs all deserve to die.. basically for being nuisances. perfectly legal in most states.
having said that, go for it nash, it'll build character. or at least be a highly amusing few hours. you *are* 13, right? :aok
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Buddist monks say prayers each morning seeking forgiveness for any insects they kill by accidentally stepping on them.
Just saying.....
Well, actually I'm "more" than just saying...
When I was about 12 years old I went out on a weekend with another kid from the school. This was in the UK and my parents were rarely around for the weekends we were allowed to leave school.
His Dad was a big time hunter. They lived in a nice house way in the countryside next to a stream and the deck overlooked a huge field. The field was full of rabbits. They were everywhere.
The guys Dad promised we could shooot some of them with his rifle that afternoon.
After a huge lunch we sat around watching TV and this guy's Dad dozed off. We let him sleep for a while but I got really anxious that we would run out of time to shoot and have to return to school. So I insisted we wake him up.
He did and within a few minutes we were on the guys deck, rifle in hand and ready to kill stuff.
I wanted to go first, but the guys Dad said that he would shoot the first one, then we would have to wait about 15-20 minutes before any of the rabbits would reappear as the shot would scare them back into their holes.
He went prone, aimed and fired. The rabbit he hit flew about a foot in the air sort of somersaulting backwards. The other rabbits disappeared into their holes.
I figured all I had to do was wait for the requiste time and then I would get to have a go. BUT the guys Dad said "You have to go and pick it up first, before I'll let you shoot one."
No sweat thinks I. I marched out and came to the dead rabbit. I picked it up and suddenly I felt bad. Really bad.
I brought it back to the guys Dad, who then tried to hand me the rifle and a shell.
"Changed your mind?" he asked.
I just nodded and then went inside to the bathroom and cried for about 15 minutes.
I was just a kid, but since that time I have never felt the urge to kill another animal for fun.
I'm no PETA fan or anything. I understand why people hunt and why they enjoy it. It just ain't for me.
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I'd jump at that offer. :) I would want to use a .22 rifle and scope for that, using .22 long rifle hollow points instead of whatever he wants to shoot for .25 a pop. If you don't have a .22 rifle up there in God's country, you need to go out immediately and buy one of your own... it will be worth it... they are a lot of fun for little money.
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caddyshack wav (http://www.moviesoundscentral.com/sounds/caddyshack/gopher.wav)
Freeze Gopher! (http://www.moviesoundscentral.com/sounds/caddyshack/freezegopher.wav)
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Curval
similiar experience here when younger
but it ain't hunting if you don't eat it ... more like just a bad karma pop
Nash, be sure to let us know your decision, me thinks you are to worried about wimping out in front of your cyperPALs here
be a man, go shoot overgrown hamsters :)
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Ya.. its not spring or anything yet.. And its fun to play god! :(
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Why don't you make it more competetive? Use only hunting Bows & Arrows.
Now that's skill!!!
:aok
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nash... at my brothers place in your country I borrowed one of his 22 rifles and me and a friend of his killed about 100 gophers in about 2 hours.
The holes they create were dangerous to my brothers horses and livestock. They also destroy crops. They are simply vermin. If you believe that vermin should be killed then it is a good idea to kill gophers.
I find it pretty funny that people here who think nothing of buying a steak at safeway act like killing to survive is "playing god".
vegetarians who eat crops are also hypocrites on the gopher thing since the gophers have to be destroyed.
most don't care how they get their food so long as no one tells em how it got on the shelf.
lazs
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Take all of what Lasz just said and remember. It's no different than trapping mice. Here in Arizona, the Gov't agencies that maintain the water supply to farms will pay people to kill gophers. Some people supplement their incomes by trapping gophers. They collect the gopher tails and when they have a coffee can full, they take them down to the water district and collect their bounty.
It's a rodent. Jesus people, it's a freaken rat. One that destroys crops and ditches and breaks horses legs...Trust me, spend some night at 2am shoveling dirt like a madman to keep a ditch from washing out because some gopher tunneled under it and you'll have no problem shooting them.
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Originally posted by lazs2
nash... at my brothers place in your country I borrowed one of his 22 rifles and me and a friend of his killed about 100 gophers in about 2 hours.
The holes they create were dangerous to my brothers horses and livestock. They also destroy crops. They are simply vermin. If you believe that vermin should be killed then it is a good idea to kill gophers.
I find it pretty funny that people here who think nothing of buying a steak at safeway act like killing to survive is "playing god".
vegetarians who eat crops are also hypocrites on the gopher thing since the gophers have to be destroyed.
most don't care how they get their food so long as no one tells em how it got on the shelf.
lazs
The whole primus of this statement is BS lazs.. The idea of 'killing to survive' was introduced by you.. No one else.. Nash is not contemplating 'killing to survive' and neither was I.. This is killing for fun.. Much different. And if the day comes that you yourself can't simply walk/drive to safeway for your t-bone, what will you do?? Roast varmit? pfft
I understand though.. If left unchecked these roving packs of prairy dogs could endanger our entire stock of beef here in the US... I mean look at what those evil dog bastards did to the buffalo!! All the damn holes they dug almost broke enough legs to cause the buffalo extinction..
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there is also the fact that in flood country the little vermin kill people by destroying levees.
how many kids you willing to kill in order to save the vermin dude?
lazs
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Originally posted by lazs2
there is also the fact that in flood country the little vermin kill people by destroying levees.
how many kids you willing to kill in order to save the vermin dude?
lazs
Silly lazs.. Dont you know not to get involved with a land dispute in flood country?? This is a centurys old war between the beaver and the prairy dog..
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Every time you put an eye to the scope say "I'll let you live today." Move the riffle a bit and say, "I'll let you live today." Move the riffle again and say "I must kill you."
Later, when your co-worker asks how you enjoyed the trip say, "It was enlightening. I'll let you live today."
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When I was a junior in High School, I was outside the gym during a dance night hangin with a few guys watching a huge bullfrog hope down the sidewalk. Sucker was huge.
Well.... coming the other way were 2 kids that unfortunately spotted the frog and one said to the other "Hey watch this!" and then stomped on it, crushing it flat. It splattered in all directions.
Him doing that had no purpose what so ever. He didnt plan on eating it or skinning it...nothing. Just plan old sadistic action. It was a senseless act of distruction.
I didn't mind one bit breaking a finger by beating the back of his head into the pavement.
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i'm crushing your little gopher head.
(http://chuck.f2o.org/HEADCRUSHER-thumb.jpg)
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Do it, or don't do it, who gives a crap. It's a gopher. It's not like you're changing the meaning of life by going or not.
But stop with all the heartfelt soul-searching crap. It's a gopher. Personally I don't shoot it unless I intend to eat it, with exception made for coyotes, rats, and other vermin.
And beating on some guy because he squished a frog.....wtfg Dr. Freaking Dolittle.
Flippin' Nancy boys. I swear some of you guys should just join a old woman's quilting club, there would certainly be less angst displayed by them, that's for sure.
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Gophers are a pest and farmers are happy to have their numbers reduced by hunters. Also, the extermination would be relatively painless to the gophers based on the elaboration about ammunition used. Unfortnately, I don't think gophers are very good to eat.
Personally, I enjoy killing defenseless woodland creatures and think you are lucky to be invited. However, I would not be one to drink beer while doing so. Afterwords, yes. Just not while holding a loaded firearm.
Regards,
Malta
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Just wing the lil basstages, then treat their wounds and set them free...
:aok
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Originally posted by Stringer
Do it, or don't do it, who gives a crap. It's a gopher. It's not like you're changing the meaning of life by going or not.
But stop with all the heartfelt soul-searching crap. It's a gopher. Personally I don't shoot it unless I intend to eat it, with exception made for coyotes, rats, and other vermin.
And beating on some guy because he squished a frog.....wtfg Dr. Freaking Dolittle.
Flippin' Nancy boys. I swear some of you guys should just join a old woman's quilting club, there would certainly be less angst displayed by them, that's for sure.
So people are nancy boys because they have issues snuffing out the life of something that doesn't pose any type of threat to them? Or could it be that macho sociopaths need to erradicate those dangerous, furry little animals to feel better about themselves? If a hunter wants to impress somebody, stop counting the points on a buck. Skillfull shot? Can be. Particularly manly? Not really. You wanna be macho? Then fight it on even terms and truly prove the supremecy of man. Go after it with a knife or something. :aok Hell, hunters are more dangerous to each other than the prey animals are to the hunters (except boars.. in which case, run). :rofl
Really, I have no problems with hunting. It's just not for me. I think it's pointless shooting at anything that's not gonna shoot back, and for that, I have paintball & airsoft. Humans are on top of the food chain, arguably the ultimate predator on this planet, why screw around with anything less? (let alone herbivores)
edit:
funny how images pop up at just the right times...
if you're ever hunting this guy... shoot first.
(http://www.affenkrieger.de/gfx/monkey_gun.jpg)
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Originally posted by indy007
if you're ever hunting this guy... shoot first.
(http://www.affenkrieger.de/gfx/monkey_gun.jpg)
Shoot first, and shoot quickly before he tears your genitals off and bites your foot in half.
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I just nodded and then went inside to the bathroom and cried for about 15 minutes.
MUAHAHAHAHA! It would have been better if you had not said this...
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Originally posted by lasersailor184
MUAHAHAHAHA! It would have been better if you had not said this...
Why?
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Originally posted by Curval
Why?
Maybe because he does the same thing when he contemplates his sex life.......
Just kidding. :D
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Nash,
The idea obviously intrigues you and you won't know if you'll like it until you try it. Go for it and then make up your mind.
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it's something that has to be done... if you can't do it yourself for whatever reason or if you simply don't want to... fine, don't. let em starve or be gassed or shot by someone else or whatever. you don't have to participate.. let someone else do the distasteful work for you.
I don't like to butcher game or even cows but I like meat. I let someone else do it for me and am grateful... if you like grain or horses or livestock but don't like killing gophers then just let someone else do it and shut up.
nash... give it a try. I think it's fun but then I like shooting. Normal hunting doesn't involve enough shooting for me but ground squirels/gophers can be a lot of fun and useful besides.
lazs
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Yes yes.. The fate of all mainkind rest in the destruction of these god forsaken vermin.. They simply must DIE! lmao
lazs, have you ever been on what would be considered an actual hunt for food? (other than a trip to your corner grociery) Or is shooting still varments and squirrels your idea of 'the hunt'??
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dude... I have killed and eaten a variety of game over the years. I don't really enjoy it that much anymore tho and it is more trouble than it is worth around here. I buy my meat all cut up and in celephane wrapers at safeway. I don't pretend tho that it didn't used to be an animal.
you could probly let all the gophers live....except the epa won't let me at my facility... they demand that I eradicate them (levee protection). as for farming or raising horses and livestock.... you could certainly just accept the loses.
Would you rather save gophers and have a higher price at the grocery store?
would you be willing to have a few sewage ponds collapse into recieving waters once in a while to save gophers? How bout... would you be willing to accept a certain amount of human deaths from levee destruction?
or... would you rather we just carry on as usual and not tell you about it?
let's see just how honest you are eh?
lazs
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lmao lazs.. Those damn varmin are taxing my food now!??!! Those ARE some evil lil'creatures!
Are you saying the EPA requires you to kill gophers on your 'facility'?? lol What is the quota?? And what is your 'facility'??
There are many things that could be done in the 'end times' examples you have given.. Better dikes, natural predators.. Who knows.. I've never faced the problem as these vermin have either been eradicated around my facility or are not indigenious (sp)...
But again, what was offered in this thread was a decision of choice.. Not choice of survival.. lol Is everything life and death with you??
I was asking about the hunting because bird hunting can offer fun with the ability to fire several rounds/hour.. 8) But in the end the hunter is expected to clean the kill. But delicate hands may not do so well at this.. hehe
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what part aren't you getting? if you have vermin destroying a certain percentage of a crop then the crop price rises by that much.
"natural predators"? that is killing them bud... it's just that you are introducing something in the mix that will tear em limb from limb and start eating them before they are even dead or... gas em slowly to death or poison em ever see one that has been poisoned?
Not life or death... never once said it was except in the case of levees.
I run a treatment facility. the epa sets my "bounty" at..... all of em. No gopher holes at all are allowed. Can I make it any simpler for you?
and no... I did not like cleaning game much... I am grateful when someone does that work for me. I even pay em at the store.
lazs
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what, you don't like greasy, grimey gopher guts? Mutilated monkey meat? Thirty dirty birdy feet?
Whatever that old guy is shooting them with at 25 cents a round is killing them, cleaning them and cooking them all at the same time. :D
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Originally posted by lazs2
what part aren't you getting? if you have vermin destroying a certain percentage of a crop then the crop price rises by that much.
"natural predators"? that is killing them bud... it's just that you are introducing something in the mix that will tear em limb from limb and start eating them before they are even dead or... gas em slowly to death or poison em ever see one that has been poisoned?
Not life or death... never once said it was except in the case of levees.
I run a treatment facility. the epa sets my "bounty" at..... all of em. No gopher holes at all are allowed. Can I make it any simpler for you?
and no... I did not like cleaning game much... I am grateful when someone does that work for me. I even pay em at the store.
lazs
A certain percentage of crop destroyed by prairy dogs?? Com'on lazs.. You can't fall for that one can you?? Did the NRA sell you on that one bud? Do you think those vermin could destroy a larger portion of those crops than say the US government pays those same farmers not to plant said crop?? You've heard of such things haven't you?? lol That one is a real stretch.. But maybe you are not familiar with the life of a farmer..
Righton with your water treatment plant.. Its very understandable to warrant the removal of varmin in such places..
But again, this thread is not about such things when you chimed in to call me foolish in your words.. Its a choice of killing for fun.. Not nesseccity..
So just like you going to Canada (you said your brother lives there?) to shoot these evil varmin, its a choice of killing for fun.. Not for nesseccity.. Besides, how much money did you save us by butchering all those canadian varmin?
So wrap your idea of fun in any kinda 'saving mankind' message you want.. It simply is not true..
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Originally posted by Dune
Here in Arizona, the Gov't agencies that maintain the water supply to farms will pay people to kill gophers. Some people supplement their incomes by trapping gophers. They collect the gopher tails and when they have a coffee can full, they take them down to the water district and collect their bounty.
How much they pay?
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there was an episode of dave atell's "insomniac" (comedy central) in which he rode along with some of the shooters. cant remember if they were gophers or rats, but they drove around late at night shooting them from thier truck.
as far as i can remember he didnt shoot any himself.
he painted them with his typical style of course.
wonder if that episode will air again before your trip.
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Laz, don't bother arguing the self-styled Dude. I think he is 14, wealthy and not very well read, though since I have only his posts to go by, I could be mistaken.
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wouldnt be the first time liz.
;)
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Not about him.
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Gunfire Rakes the Hayfields in a War Against the Squirrel
By ERIC BAILEY, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
FORT BIDWELL, Calif.--The pickup bounced along a farm road, still deep-rutted by winter. Cason Baugh peered through the dusty windshield at alfalfa fields basking under the first warm rays of spring. Then he spotted it, right up ahead.
The enemy. The dreaded varmint. A tiny ground squirrel that, along with a few thousand burrowing cousins, is capable of chomping a good quantity of Baugh's crop.
Quick as a cat, the farmer grabbed his small-bore rifle, right beside the sloshing coffee mug and half-filled cup of cigarette butts. He aimed. He fired.
The little critter fell, quite dead--another casualty in the squirrel wars of Surprise Valley.
Up here in California's far northeast corner, where the U.S. Cavalry had its last outpost and a few Wild West folkways still abide, folks shoot first and ask questions later when it comes to squirrels.
Each spring, scores of hunters flock to the green hayfields of Surprise Valley--population 1,500--to take on the ground squirrels that have commandeered vast swaths of this agriculturally rich acreage.
The climax comes the last Saturday of March, with the Surprise Valley Squirrel Round-Up. Rifle-toting marksmen roll into this land of stark beauty and secessionist sentiments, a world removed from the California of suntans and silicon chips. This year's battle, the 10th annual, drew 90 hunters, some from as far away as the East Coast.
As the morning sun topped an eastern ridge, the crack of rifle fire rolled up and down the 70-mile-long valley, bouncing off the scenic walls of snow-capped mountains.
Hunters hunkered in almost every farm field, high-powered rifles set on tripods, cross hairs on any squirrel daring to poke its head above ground.
Tim Riggs, a drywall contractor who has hunted squirrels here for a more than a decade, arrived from Sacramento--nearly 300 winding road miles away--with a pack of 10 buddies.
"Over the years, we've put a dent in 'em," said Riggs, peering through binoculars at the agricultural battleground. "Yesterday, we probably shot 125, 150 each."
Not much bigger than a beer can, the Belding's ground squirrel is a nettlesome problem for hay growers and cattle ranchers all over the West. But if there is a front line in this nasty little war of attrition, Surprise Valley may be it.
"We have more squirrels than just about any other part of California I know of," said Joe Moreo, Modoc County agriculture commissioner. "In some spots, the ground is literally crawling with them."
All over the valley, alfalfa fields appear pockmarked by bomb craters--the telltale mound of dirt at the mouth of each squirrel tunnel.
After wintering in a city-like maze of dens beneath the farmland, the rodents emerge ready for action. As the hay matures, the short-tailed animals diligently mow it down in neat circles radiating a dozen feet from their holes.
Cattle and horses can take a wrong step and snap a leg in the tunnels. Tractors break springs and shackles. Harvesting equipment gets gummed up on the mounds.
Baugh, 61, has seen the worst of it. Last year, half his crop in one badly infested field was devoured.
"It's breaking us, I'll tell you," said Baugh, a stocky man with a gravelly chuckle when he isn't thinking about the squirrels. "That field over there, I don't know how many thousands have been killed, but they seem thick as ever."
That's music to the ears of hunters like Bob Stacklie. A retired Portland firefighter, Stacklie sees a circle-of-life kind of thing at work in Surprise Valley.
"The farmer wants them gone. The hunter can shoot them," Stacklie said. "It's as symbiotic as it gets."
To that end, Stacklie pulled out out his Thompson Contender, a huge pistol packing the delicacy of a cannon.
Boom!
"Missed," he muttered. "Had to have parted his hair on that one."
The annual carnage is, of course, more than a bit unsettling to many big-city animal lovers unfamiliar with the back-country ethos that pervades these parts.
For years, locals in Surprise Valley have been bracing for a backlash from animal rights activists. Though voracious, the squirrels are liquid-eyed, petite, cute. There were rumblings the first few years of the squirrel shoot about a few animal rights groups from Southern California making the long trek. But no one ever showed.
"They probably didn't want to do the drive," said Candy Maidens, Greater Surprise Valley Chamber of Commerce president. If they ever do, Maidens said, "I'd be happy to have them talk to some people who had to shoot a pet horse because it broke a leg in a squirrel hole."
Moreo, too, has answers to arguments that man has no business preying on defenseless squirrels.
The rodents, he contends, are not valley natives. They moved down from the hills as farmers created an "artificial environment." The lush alfalfa fields have produced squirrel populations higher "than anything Mother Nature could do."
To most denizens of Surprise Valley, ground squirrels are no better than cockroaches, no different from gophers in a Beverly Hills garden or attic rats in Redondo Beach.
And the hunters are the best exterminators they've got.
"Just think of me as the Orkin man," grinned Tim Ellquist, a Redding jewelry salesman cradling a shotgun. "They've got easy living, and they multiply like rats."
With that, Ellquist excused himself and raised his weapon.
Pow!
There are plenty more where that one came from.
Aside from engaging in gastronomic excess, the squirrels are breeding machines; every year, a pair can produce more than half a dozen babies. Said Ray Page, a local cattle rancher: "No matter what, they always seem to win the battle."
It wasn't always so. Until a decade ago, Modoc County made headway by deploying a notorious toxicant: compound 1080. Agriculture officials carefully mixed it with sliced cabbage, loaded an airplane and carpet-bombed the worst infestations. But in 1990, the county lost its permit for the poison, long implicated as a threat to the endangered bald eagle and other birds and animals. County officials fought furiously, to no avail.
No surprise there to locals in one of California's most isolated and forgotten spots. Distrust of big government runs deep among residents.
Some, in fact, would prefer to see the state line moved 15 miles west, putting them in Nevada. They still talk wistfully of breaking away: Four of five county voters backed a 1992 advisory measure calling for a divorce from the rest of the state. "This is a small, rural, mom-and-pop place more like Wyoming than anywhere else," said Moreo, the agriculture commissioner. "California's regulations often just don't fit us. And we have no voice. So why would we stay?"
While much of California boomed in the 1990s, times were bad in this hinterland. The lumber industry had gone kaput; mining shriveled; the beef market flagged. Long a place of double-digit unemployment and high welfare rolls, Modoc was one of only three California counties that shrank in population during the decade.
But what Surprise Valley lacks in commerce it makes up for in scenery and community.
Bald eagles sit on fence posts. The forested Warner Mountains line the valley's west edge. Cowboys still drive cattle right through the middle of town. Babies and deaths bring out the community. And most everyone waves hello to total strangers. Though folks hereabouts have been shooting squirrels for generations, the springtime fusillade didn't become an institution until the poison program ceased and the rodent population boomed. In 1992, Chamber of Commerce leaders concocted the Squirrel Round-Up, which has been an unvarnished success. Hunters put a hurt on the varmint population and help the local economy, keeping the handful of hotels and restaurants chugging.
Surprise Valley's squirrels rarely disappoint, turning out in herds. Even so, nailing the fleet-footed rodents in no cinch. "It tests your skill," said Dave Pimentel, a copier technician outfitted for battle this day in camouflage hat and trousers. "You're being a sniper. That's what it is."
As in any war, some varmint hunters seek the high ground. Frank Neth, a retired grocery store manager, got on the roof of his RV.
"Pretty quick, one will pop its head up," he said, armed for now only with a can of Diet Pepsi. "I'll drill him."
Then there is the War Wagon.
That's what Michael Harper, a Chico gun range employee and part-time wildlife guide, calls his specially outfitted hunting van. An elevated platform atop the rig gives hunters a perfect angle on their tiny foes. For $150 a day, Harper hauls rifle-toting clients to Surprise Valley each weekend during squirrel season.
Up top, Glenn Snodgrass, a 70-year-old Portland retiree, popped off shots at a happy clip as the squirrel shoot drew to a close. "I've got a neighbor who says, 'How can you shoot those poor things?' " Snodgrass observed between shots. "I say, 'How would you like a dozen mice in your house?'
"Besides," he added, "the farmers love us."
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Check out this link bottom of the page. California trys to keep it quiet that their critters carry the plague.........
http://www.varmintal.com/avarm.htm
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I see nothing wrong with shooting gophers, though I have had my share of shooting non-edible critters while hunting deer. The hunter's credo is eat what you shoot. That often is a goal to work toward for most hunters, and I eventually took that to heart as I matured. I tended to do as other hunters did in my group. When in Rome... I will say that the serious hunters only shoot the game they are after, and don't take opportunity shots at coyotes, bobcats, etc. unless they are looking for a mount. I don't fault others for it, but I personally felt kinda bad after doing it myself, and decided I wouldn't do it again. Seemed wasteful to me and I couldn't justify it for myself.
[Mother mode on]...
The best thing you can do Nash, if you go gopher plinking, is to familiarize yourself with varmint hunting much as you can before going. You may need a hunting license. Take it seriously because it is serious business handling a firearm. And don't drink while hunting. Guns and alcohol don't mix. There are many safety rules, but that one is the most important one of all. If your companions are drinking while shooting the gophers, then don't go hunting with them again, because they are there for a buzz, not to hunt gophers. Drinking after the guns are put up is part of the experience if you don't have to drive somewhere, are staying at a hunting camp, etc... [Mother mode off]
I know this sounds unenthusiastic, but I am very particular about who I hunt with, and I need to know what my hunting partner is going to do if an emergency comes up. I've hunted for the past 20 years and there are only two or three people I would even consider going hunting with.
Have a great time and let us know how it went if you decide to go. If your friend hunts deer too, you may get an invite to experience that, and I think you would enjoy deer hunting. You being an artist, you will see some cool landscape scenery to draw/paint. And with deer hunting, there is plenty of time to look at the landscape and scenery. You see a lot of things while on stand.
Take care
Les
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thanks bustr....did you get that dude? I heard that each gs destroys up to 9 lbs of grain a day (they eat the roots)
I think what you're hung up on is that some people (myself included) enjoy the challenge of killing em. More fun than a can or paper target.
If they were edible I would either eat em or not hunt em and let people who ate em hunt em. If they were allmost extinct or of any value I wouldn't kill em,
They are vermin tho and it is win win... I like shooting em and everyone (including dude)benifiets from me doing so.
You are just really really wrong on this one dude. you have no point whatsoever unless it is that my aura will be damaged or something.
lazs
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Originally posted by SLO
question is...
Do you really REALLY wanna shot gophers?
what I'd like to do is grab that guys gun and stick it were the sun doesn't shine and pull the trigger, see if he likes it, just for fun.
Yeah, because murder is morally the same as hunting.
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Originally posted by Nash
Okay so... I overheard the owner of one of the printing companies I use talking about blowing gophers away.
This was last year, sometime. He was all "I just bought this gun" and "OMG" and "just 'XPLODED!" and everything.
So a coupla days ago, I re-stumble across that video where this dude is shootin' gophers. I thought he'd like it. Maybe. So... I emailed him the link with nothing else in mind than "Hey, check this out."
Next thing ya know... today... He comes busting into my office, just juiced. He navigated me to a website about this kind of ammo he uses... "See.... these are 5 cents a round, but the stuff I use is 25 cents a round - and here's why."
A half-hour passes with non-stop talk about ballistics. And then he lays it on me. "We gotta go shoot gophers!"
"Sounds good", I say... thinking, that must be Alberta-speak for "lets do lunch."
"Lets do it this Sunday!", he says.
(http://www.barnartstudio.com/gophers.jpg)
Thing is, he's got it all figured out. He's talkin' lawn chairs, beers, custom-made tripod mounts for his guns, how to get property owners to let ya onto the land to do it... Everything. It's a done deal.
So I'm thinking.... This guy is a bit nuts to begin with. I wouldn't mind trying hunting sometime... but gophers? It's almost corny.
I throw every road-block in his face. "Aint they hybernating or something?"..... "It's way too cold for this, aint it?"
"No, man! If it's cloudy, we're hooped... only the bull gophers come out when it's cloudy... but..." and he goes www dot weather dot com and shows me the forecast. Warm and sunny on Sunday.
Neat.
So now.... I'm lined up to shoot guns at gophers.
My entire belief system advises me that this isn't such a good idea. I don't have much of a problem with, like, moose and elk and bear because, well, they're bigger than me and if we ever went toe to toe in the ring they could prolly kick the living daylights outta me so I'd best just shoot them. I know it's fickle and full of holes and all that... but so what.
Plinking gophers?... It's almost arcade-like. Those things just stand upright and don't even move for chrissakes.
All that being said... It does kinda sound like fun. I can back out at any minute no problem, but....
I need your advice.
Nash they are vermin. Happy hunting.
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Yeah, I'm goin' for it.
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get pics.
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We're swingin' by the office on the way out, so I'll grab the camera.
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You have become Shiva, Destroyer of (Gopher) Worlds!
Wrap that inner Budda well and put it in a safe place.
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Yeah, well Buddha don't Surf!
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It is a fact that up until a couple of centuries ago gophers existed in vast herds roaming the Great Plains, and lived in harmony with Native Americans who stalked the gopher herds, basing their entire existance of this balance of nature, and used the gopher for everything from shelter to food....and that was the way it was for countless generations.
Unfortunately for the poor gopher in the early 1800s the Easterners developed a taste for gopher skin jock straps and gopher tongue soup, and soon exploiters of this demand used BB guns to silently decimate entire herds of gophers as they set peacefully munching on praire grasses.
The result, of course, was that the Native Americans, no longer able to subsist on the now decimated gopher herds, turned to Indian casinos and are doing great, thank you very much-
And the gophers? They went underground. They are cunning and devious and the gophers who you see above ground are only there to test your reflexes, and if they notice a manobit of hesitation- that is, if you FAIL to shoot them-
So shoot them Nash. Laugh like a hyena as thier little bodies explode, just make sure you park your car far enough waay that you don't get blood on your car.
Go have a good time man.
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Yeah that's the thing about this. At first I was thinking it was a lawnchair type thing. That's the impression he gave me, anyways.
But there's been a coupla references here about shooting from the truck and.... talking to him today...
Basically we're gonna be driving onto the property and not disembarking. Instead, rollin' around, and with the gun pointed out the window, using the side mirror as a.... a... mobile tree stand mount.
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Never shot 'dogs from a truck. We always set up in a little swale and sniped them. As you shoot, they wise up and only pop up in holes farther and farther away. So, at first it's easy. Then, next thing you know, they're out at 400 yards+. That's when it gets fun. One guy spotting, one guy shooting.
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I think the most he mentioned was 150 yards.
But he also mentioned there being a lot of downtime once they got spooked.
If I remember right, he said theres about a half inch of bullet drop at 100 yards.
And he bought this "wicked-ass" scope.
And that if you could see them, you could hit them.
And if you hit them, it didn't matter by how much, they were going to explode.
400 seems long... But then this guy is kind of a putz.
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Well, it all depends on what he's using. 150 yards is truly far for a regular .22 rimfire and scope but it's a piece of cake for a .22-250 varminter.
The serious varminters say 500-700 yards is do-able with cartridges like the .220 Swift, .22QT, etc.
Being the plebian that I am, I never went after 'dogs specifically. There were just 'dog towns where we deer hunted and the ranchers usually suggested that if we wanted to hunt deer, we'd best repay the favor by spending some time working over the 'dog towns.
So, I often went out with a .22 rimfire and my deer rifle, a .270 Win. Used the .22 until they wised up and moved out past 100 yards. Then I switched to the .270, which would handle things nicely as far as I could shoot accurately. Generally, 400 yards or so was where my hit percentage started to drop off. I have an old 4x Weaver on that gun and no bipod or anything.
Someday maybe I'll get a real varmint rifle and go back out there. Who knows.
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Yeah, I know that he said these were 22 rifles... but that the ammo wasn't yer typical 22 ammo... Something like that.
I'll know for sure tomorrow.
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.22 Rimfire cases, from the CB caps up throught the Shorts, Longs, Long Rifles to the .22 Magnum.
(http://www.22ammo.com/cases.gif)
The three on the right are .22 Centerfire varmint type rounds; 223 WSSM, .22-250 REM., .223 REM. The .22-250 is a popular varminter.
(http://www.rifleshootermag.com/ammunition/RSwin_supershort225B.jpg)
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The round he showed me was... Hmm..
Hollow, filled with what looked like red wax. So the tip was this red wax stuff, and it went into the body of it as well.
The end of it he called "boat" or something, because it was tapered to get narrower at the back.
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Nash, the projectile is a boat tail since the nose is pointed and there is a truncated taper at the base of the bullet. (inside the case when loaded)
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Probably a Nosler Ballistic Tip bullet with a "boattail" design.
(http://www.wholesalehunter.com/product/nosler/nosldes/noslpic/varmintbullet.jpg)
The tip is polycarbonate. The "boattail" is that taper inwards on both sides of the base of the bullet. It cuts drag, increases velocity a bit mainly.
Nosler's are color coded; red is a 7mm bullet. Most of the 7's are sorta big for varmints but I'm not real tuned in to the varmint scene so I don't know what's new or what's in vogue.
Anyway, let us know what you think. I'll be interested to hear if your inner Buddha barks. ;)
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Drinking, driving and shooting with a "putz" eh?
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You're so negative.
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http://www.dogbegone.com/video.htm
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(http://www.mossyoak.com/camoguide/images/forestfloor/ff_effect_1.jpg)
you go girl!
be sure to share your story & photos with the next female you try to pick up, I am sure she'll think you are quite the stud - LOL
(http://www.nhptv.org/natureworks/graphics/blackt3.jpg) (the only one living the real Buddha in this thread)
Going Gopher Hunting (http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.exn.ca/news/images/exn2002/06/20/exn20020620-closeup-m.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.exn.ca/Stories/2002/06/20/53.asp&h=113&w=140&sz=7&tbnid=ssAqkMNi7kIJ:&tbnh=71&tbnw=88&start=9&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dgopher%2Bhunt%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D)
ps
"Don't shoot your eye out" :)
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This sounds like fun. I prefer, however, to head down to the local slaughterhouse so that I can look the animals in the eye up close and personal as they die. Its great fun really; sometimes I’ll even yell at them and tell them how worthless and week they are. I love seeing the fear in their eyes. I love seeing the realization in their faces that’s its all over. It’s pretty cool when they slit their necks; I can’t believe people get paid to do that. The squeals are so damn funny. Mostly I just love the beheadings; it’s such a rush! Yea, I’m pretty sane.
eskimo
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You big city folk really ARE divorced from the natural world aren't ya.
You've got nothing against enjoying a well-cooked ribeye or rack of lamb. And after dinner you'll sit around in your ascots, pick your teeth, and discuss the evils of shooting these cute little furry critters by people whose business it is to raise the beef that you're digesting.
If I had my way no one would be allowed to eat meat unless they killed it themselves. That might remove that supercilious look from your faces.
Those rodents are vermin. I regularly exterminate rats and mice in my home to keep them from eating the insulation off my wiring and burning the house down around me while I sleep. If I can't do the job myself, I hire an exterminator. But I bet you guys practice trap and release...to feel good about yourselves...and cart the little buggers off elsewhere so they'll be some stranger's problem.
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I agree... If you have never killed anything then you should probly not be allowed to eat anything that is meat.
at the very least.... you should be ridiculed and beaten whenever you harrass a hunter with your dead animal breath.
also... did you know that plants scream when you rip them apart?
and... shooting gophers is fun. I also used to shoot little cottontail bunnies in arkansas... they were a plague. I didn't eat em but there were some poor and black families that would follow us on rabbit drives and collect the dead bunnies to eat. I admit that it made the whole thing a lot more enjoyable knowing that not only were we thinning a destructive population of bunnies but were also putting food on some peoples tables.
lazs
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I hadn't quite put this together Friday...
You're going hunting for gophers on Easter Sunday?
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Remember that fool who used to go to Alaska and live with the grizzlies each summer? He said he would rather be bear scat than defend himself against a bear attack.
Well, the fool brought his girlfriend and they both ended up becoming bear scat. There's even an audio of them screaming in horror as the furry, friendly bears tore them to peices.
Well it's not the bear's fault....were just being bears.
Now, as Nash blows away gophers......it's just an example of man being man, plus it's fun.
Happy Easter little gophers !
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Originally posted by Shuckins
You big city folk really ARE divorced from the natural world aren't ya.
You've got nothing against enjoying a well-cooked ribeye or rack of lamb. And after dinner you'll sit around in your ascots, pick your teeth, and discuss the evils of shooting these cute little furry critters by people whose business it is to raise the beef that you're digesting.
If I had my way no one would be allowed to eat meat unless they killed it themselves. That might remove that supercilious look from your faces.
Those rodents are vermin. I regularly exterminate rats and mice in my home to keep them from eating the insulation off my wiring and burning the house down around me while I sleep. If I can't do the job myself, I hire an exterminator. But I bet you guys practice trap and release...to feel good about yourselves...and cart the little buggers off elsewhere so they'll be some stranger's problem.
Perhaps it is somewhat hypocritical to eat meat and not kill it yourself. I'm as guilty of that hypocricy as anyone.
If these vermin are destroying your crops, then that is not a bad thing in my opinion. Killing mice inside my house is not a bad thing either, they endanger the health of my family by crapping all over the place and carrying nasty parasites.
Killing animals for the pure "fun" of doing so is a completely different story.
Those of you who cannot see the difference probably enjoyed using a magnifying glass to burn ants when they were kids, or seeing how far you could kick a toad, or poking the eyes out of stray cats etc.
It says a great deal about the kind of person you are and how you simply haven't grown up yet.
...and by the by...getting back to the subject matter of the thread Buddists believe in reincarnation. If you think you have an inner Buddha you might want to stop and think about that little tid-bit.
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Most people that hunt anything are doing it primarily for fun. They don't "need" to go out and hunt in order to eat.
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Originally posted by NUKE
Most people that hunt anything are doing it primarily for fun. They don't "need" to go out and hunt in order to eat.
But they "DO" eat it..as has been pointed out many times.
If these same hunters leave the carcass to rot and simply give a "high five" for a great heart shot, then I have no respect for them at all.
WHat about poachers who are destroying engangered animals world-wide?
Do you support them?
They use the horns of elephants, for example to make some silly hocus pokus aphosidisiacs...that's cool...right?
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Originally posted by Nash
You're so negative.
Just don't want to you to get killed in a darwinesque manner. ;)
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Originally posted by Curval
But they "DO" eat it..as has been pointed out many times.
If these same hunters leave the carcass to rot and simply give a "high five" for a great heart shot, then I have no respect for them at all.
WHat about poachers who are destroying engangered animals world-wide?
Do you support them?
They use the horns of elephants, for example to make some silly hocus pokus aphosidisiacs...that's cool...right?
Nope, don't support doing anything illegal, like poaching.
In Arizona you can go kill mountain lions, coyotes and even gophers.......yet nobody eats them. I guess it's for fun.
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Originally posted by NUKE
Nope, don't support doing anything illegal, like poaching.
In Arizona you can go kill mountain lions, coyotes and even gophers.......yet nobody eats them. I guess it's for fun.
In many countries in Africa all you need to do is pay enough money to the gaming authorities and you can get a license to shoot pretty much whatever you like.
Had a client pass around pictures of his , and his son's "kills" on one such African excursion around the table after dinner once. I looked at the first two, I think, and then just passed them on.
He justified all of it because tribes from hundreds of miles around carried away the carcasses and it fed them all for months, probably. These same tribes however would not have starved without the hunt. To them it was a treat.
Fact is, he did it for the sheer joy of killing those beautiful creatures.
When the bottom fell out of the market his business was in and he had to sell the house in Beverly Hills and his 100 foot yacht I smiled at my inner buddha.
;)
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Originally posted by Curval
Fact is, he did it for the sheer joy of killing those beautiful creatures.
I highly doubt that. The joy for him was probably the adventure, the hunt and his trophies.
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Originally posted by Curval
But they "DO" eat it..as has been pointed out many times.
If these same hunters leave the carcass to rot and simply give a "high five" for a great heart shot, then I have no respect for them at all.
WHat about poachers who are destroying engangered animals world-wide?
Do you support them?
They use the horns of elephants, for example to make some silly hocus pokus aphosidisiacs...that's cool...right?
Heya Curv,
Actually the poachers take the tusks of the elephant for ivory. That ivory is used to make decorative items. Fortunately there is a man made substitute that has cut down on the poaching a bit. It hasn't eradicated it as there isn't much of a way for these twits to make a living but it's still a waste.
As far as the gopher situation is concerned. They are pests, varmints, whatever you want to call them. They need to be thinned as they harm agriculture. If the ones who do the thinning have a good time while helping solve a problem is that necessarily a bad thing? I've hunted coyotes on my Uncle's ranch as he was losing calves and chickens. One enterprising coyote ran within 5 feet past my Uncle and snatched a chicken as he opened the night security chicken coop. That REALLY pissed him off!
The rabbit population was down as a part of their 7 year cycle and the coyotes were destroying my Uncles chance to make a living. Nope I didn't eat them (unlike the deer I harvested) but my Uncle got the chance to keep his family ranch. Yes again I had a good time doing it and enjoyed the misses (majority) as well as the hits. Am I then a "bad person"?
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Curval, your posts are so retarded sometimes. Trying to equate varmint hunting with poaching endangered species or torturing pets. Your gun posts are amazing too but this takes the cake. You're lucky you wear those cute pink shorts or I'd disown you. Love, Funkypants
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The varmints live to dig another day. Completely overcast here. We waited a bit to see if it would blow over... but just now decided to call it.
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Dagnab them varmints and their weather control station!!!!!:mad:
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lol
I'm retarted for not enjoying killing animals.
Gotcha.
:aok
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Evidently your inner budha thinks you could actually hit one.
Don't worry about it -go hunting...you'll miss...
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Originally posted by lazs2
thanks bustr....did you get that dude? I heard that each gs destroys up to 9 lbs of grain a day (they eat the roots)
I think what you're hung up on is that some people (myself included) enjoy the challenge of killing em. More fun than a can or paper target.
If they were edible I would either eat em or not hunt em and let people who ate em hunt em. If they were allmost extinct or of any value I wouldn't kill em,
They are vermin tho and it is win win... I like shooting em and everyone (including dude)benifiets from me doing so.
You are just really really wrong on this one dude. you have no point whatsoever unless it is that my aura will be damaged or something.
lazs
Ya, I got it lazs.. Some folk really have it out for those lil'demons... In some places the desire could be warrented..
But do I think I'm foolish or a hypocrite for my beliefs in killing for fun as you posted in this thread? no..
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Originally posted by Lizking
Not about him.
Ya.. Your wrong again..
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relax man and try to be less hypocritical. I am sure that some slaughter house employees enjoy their job or exterminators... you enjoy the fruits of their labor. Be glad someone does the dirty work so that you can enjoy the benifiet...
If you want to dig into it any deeper than that then i would suggest that you examine your own part in all the killing first and make some sort of commitment other than criticizing the people that are doing the work.
Your premise is... it's allright to get the job done unless you find some fun in it... A lot f bosses I have had in the past felt as you do.
lazs
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Originally posted by lazs2
relax man and try to be less hypocritical. I am sure that some slaughter house employees enjoy their job or exterminators... you enjoy the fruits of their labor. Be glad someone does the dirty work so that you can enjoy the benifiet...
If you want to dig into it any deeper than that then i would suggest that you examine your own part in all the killing first and make some sort of commitment other than criticizing the people that are doing the work.
Your premise is... it's allright to get the job done unless you find some fun in it... A lot f bosses I have had in the past felt as you do.
lazs
As you wrote it.. That premise belongs to you.. Has nothing to do with me.. And I have not criticized anyone for doing 'their work'... Please lazs.. stop writing false bs about me.. This is how we got here in the first place..
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So you have no problem with anyone enjoying killing so long as it is useful to you?
lazs
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Originally posted by lazs2
So you have no problem with anyone enjoying killing so long as it is useful to you?
lazs
Ah lazs.. gee man.. I cannot control what other people 'enjoy'.. I use what I need to survive.. There is a natural order to things as well as an unnatural. Some things are breed to be slaughtered, some things are not..
Personnally I do not eat much meat.. I plant a garden and I tend it.. I typically can at the end of the season.. Do I enjoy picking the fruits of my labor? yes I do..
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anthropomorphic.
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but you still enjoy meat and you still enjoy fruits and grains and veggies that other people have killed to get to you. The natural order of things.
I guess I am just havbing a hard time with you being so upset with people making a sport of a chore that needs to be done. It seems so.... dishonest and hypocritical.
lazs
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Originally posted by lazs2
but you still enjoy meat and you still enjoy fruits and grains and veggies that other people have killed to get to you. The natural order of things.
I guess I am just havbing a hard time with you being so upset with people making a sport of a chore that needs to be done. It seems so.... dishonest and hypocritical.
lazs
Well, one thing to get straight.. I offered very little view in this thread.. Then you post and call me foolish and/or hypocritical about killing for fun and then went on and on and on how the world would end unless we kill all the vermin.. Which is false.. The example you gave of vermin causing food prices to rise is false (at least in todays farming market).. Then you gave a 'save the children' example.. Then you missrepresent me and say I am criticizing people for their work, which was false.. How many different ways can you twist this lazs?
I can't understand how you don't see a difference.. I can.. Obviously there are times when things for whatever reason have to be killed/slaughtered.. This to me is nature or natural. But this thread was not started under these natural happenings..
So, I dont really know what it is you believe I am so upset about.. I have said throughout this thread and still maintain that I do not agree with killing for 'fun' . I do not know how to explain it any better lazs..
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One man's fun is another man's work.
My termite guy loves killing those little ****ers, and I thank him for doing so. Hell, I even PAY him to massacre the blind, helpless little wood-maggots.
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exactly liz... I just think that dude want's to be PC and smug about the whole thing when he should be thanking the exterminators and slaughterhouse workers and butchers.
but nash... I think we got off track.. do you have any firearms training at all? were you ever taught safe gun handling and are you familiar with the guns being used? You do know that you need ear and eye protection to right?
Be safe... have fun.
lazs
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Guns again:lol :lol :lol :rofl
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Originally posted by lazs2
"...but nash... I think we got off track.. do you have any firearms training at all? were you ever taught safe gun handling and are you familiar with the guns being used? You do know that you need ear and eye protection to right?" - lazs
Ya know... That's a really good question. Didn't even occur to me. I guess I just sort of reckoned he's gonna show me how when we get there. Along those lines... am I even allowed to do this?
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Originally posted by Nash
Ya know... That's a really good question. Didn't even occur to me. I guess I just sort of reckoned he's gonna show me how when we get there. Along those lines... am I even allowed to do this?
Find out if you need a hunting license; you probably do. Gets some gun safety training if you never have had any before. Ask him how many beers he is planning on bringing; if it is more than two I would either decline to go or insist that there not be any drinking.
eskimo
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You don't need no stinkin hunting license to shoot something there's not a bag limit on. You also don't need no training either- just keep the business end of the gun away from your face.
Eye protection is a good idea in case the gophers start throwing rocks back at you, but hearing protection isn't necessary, especially if you have a wife at home who's going to nag you about wasting an afternoon shooting varmits. Who needs to hear that. right?
Ask him how many beers he's bringing; if it's less than a six pack you might want to bring your own, and maybe a pint of Crown Royal to calm your nerves and steady your aim.
Now go have fun, pilgrim, and shoot them gophers. Do it for the Vegans and the cows.
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"License to kill gophers by the government of the United Nations. Man, free to kill gophers at will. To kill, you must know your enemy, and in this case my enemy is a varmint. And a varmint will never quit - ever. They're like the Viet Cong - Varmint Cong. So you have to fall back on superior intelligence and superior firepower. And that's all she wrote."
"I got to get into this dude's pelt and crawl around for a few days. Who's the gopher's ally. His friends. The harmless squirrel and the friendly rabbit. "
Go get em fearless hunters..
DoctorYo
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Originally posted by lazs2
exactly liz... I just think that dude want's to be PC and smug about the whole thing when he should be thanking the exterminators and slaughterhouse workers and butchers.
lazs
lol lazs.. thanks for the advice.. But how thick is your head?? Or is it trouble with reading? Or do you just like referring to me in your post??
I couldn't give a single watermelon for PC.. What you describe here is different from my original point in this thread.. But that really doesn't matter to you does it....
Or wait, was I suppose to say save the termites?? lol Ya know, I have a termite/pest contract on my house and my rental.. But I dont let them spray poision.. I pay extra for termite relocation.. For the ants I place ant food in the lot next door to attract the ants away from my area.. If they happen to make it in my house, I will place extra food in hopes they get their food stock for the winter and dont return to my kitchen.. lol
LoL Just trying to do my part and fit the picture you enjoy drawing of me.. 8)
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ok dude... so you have no problem at all with people killing vemin and enjoying doing it? You are sending mixed signals. It appears that you find it distateful that anyone would kill gophers and it also appears that you take great joy in getting all PC about the whole thing.
nash.. get some kind of ear protection that allows you to hear sounds that are low but shut down loud noises like guns that will most certainly damage your hearing. safety glasses, shooting glases... even good sunglasses are better than nothing. If the guy knows you are not a firearms kinda guy and he isn't getting all teachy about gun safety... probly he isn't who you want to be out there with. minimum... point the gun in a sfe direction and keep your finger off the trigger till you intend to shoot.
I have no idea what you need for shooting in your area but can't imagine you need any kind of licence to kill gophers.
lazs
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Im qouting Bill Murray from Caddy Shack...
"Relax Francis"
;)
DoctorYo
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Hmmmm....Methinks The Dude is a fancy lad. ;)
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Originally posted by DoctorYO
Im qouting Bill Murray from Caddy Shack...
"Relax Francis"
;)
DoctorYo
It was "Lighten up Francis" and it wasn't Caddy Shack, it was Stripes. The DI said it too...not Bill Murray.
Geessshhh.
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Nash, after you're done shooting gophers you can flame a few ants with a magnifying glass. After all, ants consume almost as much of our food as we do, so they deserve to die.
Oh, and SNAILS....Don't even get me started on snails. The best way to handle them is to sprinkle salt on them and watch them disolve into a loogie.
And if I smile while exterminating these pests it's only in the grim satisfaction of finally flaming a serpetine running ant or a snail that's retreated fully into its shell.
They deserve to die. You will kill them. You are The Equalizers.
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Wow, Airhead is becoming almost.......human.
The idea, Ladies, is that **** we don't like and that harms us, like mosqutios, viruses and vermin, we kill with all due dispatch.
If that makes you squeamish, you are not a girly-man, per se, but you are flirting with the concept.
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Originally posted by Curval
I just nodded and then went inside to the bathroom and cried for about 15 minutes.
I was just a kid, but since that time I have never felt the urge to kill another animal for fun.
I'm no PETA fan or anything. I understand why people hunt and why they enjoy it. It just ain't for me.
Curval you ***** harden up, they're vermin!
Its waaaaaaaaaaaaaaabbit season!
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curval and dude... I am not totaly heartless.... after I kill the vermin I light a candle and chant for their little souls.
oh wait... first I stuff em in one of the holes and stomp it in.
lazs