Not a good day on the Sheep ranch for Wile. E.

BTW - I see where you guys are coming from, but you're not totally seeing where I'm coming from. It all depends on circumstance, I guess.

Now if I had a ram mount that would be a total ego thing. I'd point at that f***er and say, "Yup, I climbed up _,000 feet and stalked that bastard for two days..."

Small predators...not so much. I just want them to be able to enjoy their presence since I can't keep them live.

I kinda see your perspective.  Let me see if I can explain myself better...

To my way of thinking my ego is all about Me.  If I had zero ego, I would do my thing and not care what anyone thinks and not even consider posting a pic.

Yeah most of us do, and that's because some ego is healthy, and normal.

I think where we differ in opinions is I feel that wanting something fror yourself to enjoy comes from having an ego, (again, which is not a bad thing).  How can it be otherwise?

Don't shoot me, bro.

I realize studying philosophy filled my head with some funny ideas and maybe that's one?  Dunno.  We all have our own reality we live in.  S'all good.

 I feel that wanting something fror yourself to enjoy comes from having an ego...

There it is there. Now I see where you are coming from. I don't relate the two so that's why I feel otherwise.

And this is still just a friendly conversation, my man. I promise I won't shoot anybody! 

Cool.  We'll have some good campfire conversations ahead.

Dustin is that your .17? Cool scope, lets go blast at the range. Id love to shoot some clay with my old 20 g.

Dustin is that your .17? Cool scope, lets go blast at the range. Id love to shoot some clay with my old 20 g.

Nope. That's my .204.

This is my .17.

I guess this threads been jacked enough....lol.

Last year while hunting pigs I saw a coyote sneaking around about 30 yards away. Cool to see! Really cool that he thought he was all by himself. I shot an arrow at his feet, and it hit right where I wanted it to hit. He jumped pretty high and took off. I also saw a bobcat and left him alone.
In years past I called many a fox, 'yote, and bobcat in. Never shot a one. I can't eat them, so why? I don't own livestock either.
I have though, shot tons of groundsquirrels. I see those squirrels as ants. Squish an ant, I don't feel anything. Same for the groundsquirrels.
In killing fish, if it's a large salmon bleeding out at my feet... I feel something. Same thing for anything large, a pig, deer, etc. Maybe it's the amount of blood? Or the body mass?
As for mounts, I respect people who have a thing for that. Myself, I don't need it on my wall. I used to keep pig ears and deer antlers. Now, a picture will do. A pic of a live animal, or one taken in the circle of life.
I like how this thread stayed civil.

Eric I see where you are going but you gotta know Dustin he is a really visual guy he loves stuff that looks cool. Fish tanks,birds,cats, movies,fights,sunsets beautiful women. Look at the photos that he took at the zoo and garden sin San Diego He might get pumped up when the adrenalin is flowing and razz you a little but he is a pretty humble guy. I've been to his cave a few a few times when he was single and it was like walking into a museum everything had it place. I would agree with you that most hunters that take the glory shot are done with ego but Dustin is a differant animal. He would love to kick your ass but he would never brag about it or feel that he was better than you in any way. Damn I just realized how much I miss fishing with him it's been awhile.

Thought I read somewhere that they can make a mount from just a picture?

There's more to a mount than the mount...

Ben -

What a great discussion and provocative pics. As a hunter, I have no problems with shooting whatever. My neighborhood is infested with turkeys and I can't wait for the day when hunting them is legal.  We have coyotes too but they aren't causing any problems at this time so it is live and let live IMO. If one attacked my dog, things would be different.

Scott

There's more to a mount than the mount...

That's the ego part, the "I-killed-that-animal-and-want-everyone-to-know" part. If you could take a photo of a leopard and recreate an accurate proportional mount, then why not, especially since it's an animal you'd have no interest in eating?

I agree that we all have egos, especially those of us who post reports, but to kill something just for the skin or shell or jaws, there's no denying that's an ego thing and I don't think it's cool or right or fair, especially with apex predators. And half-hearted attempts at eating it after the fact don't justify it.

There's my two cents.

I just typed up a long winded response, but I think I'll end it here since everything I've said in my previous posts has gone right over some people's heads due to pre-conceived notions (sterotypes?) of hunters.

Kind of hypocritical coming from anyone who has ever killed a fish. Sure you ate it, but you didn't NEED to. That's just your little way to justify killing something. I have mine. No difference. A mount can be enjoyed by me every time I look at it. You killed something and enjoyed it once.

Think about it.

Way to take this thread somewhere it didn't need to go BTW.

There's more to a mount than the mount...

That's the ego part, the "I-killed-that-animal-and-want-everyone-to-know" part. If you could take a photo of a leopard and recreate an accurate proportional mount, then why not, especially since it's an animal you'd have no interest in eating?

I agree that we all have egos, especially those of us who post reports, but to kill something just for the skin or shell or jaws, there's no denying that's an ego thing and I don't think it's cool or right or fair, especially with apex predators. And half-hearted attempts at eating it after the fact don't justify it.
There's my two cents.

But it's OK to kill abs and display their shells because they are not cute and furry? Hypocrite. You're just like all of the sheeple calling sealions sea kittens.

Oh, but you ate the ab? Then why didn't you settle for an 8"er? Is it because your starving family needed the extra meat of a 10'? Like I said. It's all in the way you justify it to let you sleep at night.

Plus, you might wanna read the second bolded statement from you, of all people.

you're not totally seeing where I'm coming from. It all depends on circumstance, I guess.

I get it bro and I completely agree.  If everybody applied to themselves, the principals with which they judge others, then I'd fully expect to see the classified section full of posts looking to trade fishing poles and tackle for scuba gear and camera equipment.  





edit....LOL, tshirt says Shoot Happens, how ironic.