feel kinda bad about shooting tame bull elk.

[jimmy z]

Yes I have my Quality bull tag. But now I've started wondering about the ethics of it all.  Our state has systematically created tame, mature bulls thanks to their great wisdom in trying to manage  age distribution in breeding bulls. Also know as revenue building. 

Think about it. These bulls from 2.5 yrs on are getting their picture taken and apples tossed to them all summer and fall. Come winter we push hay off a truck for them and and take more pictures. After 5 years of this these poor creatures see us coming, start to drool a little, and then we pop em. It's kinda like shooting a pet dog! And we drop our hard earned dollars for these coveted tags.  To shoot tame bulls.

Just sayin!

[lokidog]

Feel free to sign your tag over to me....     Apple fed deer and elk are yummy!

[sebek556]

will you shoot a trophy class bull more than likely, will it be a trophy hunt nope. but hey its tasty meat in the freezer

[RadSav]

On the farm as kids we named everything.  I fed the chickens every day.  I came into the house one evening and asked dad, "Have you seen Red?"  He said, "Yep, I left you a thigh and a leg."  That used to be life in the real world.  Never felt guilty about that.  And never apologies for the way I was raised.

I'm sure if you try real hard you can find one that is running like heck away from you.  Then you can track him down and tag him with a clear conscience

[rtspring]

Ever see how they slaughter cattle in the slaughter house?

I don't knwo where you hunt but the elk I know damn sure dont hang their tongue out looking for a treat no matter what time of year it is.


Something about putting it all together , the planning, the hunt, the pack out, makes the meat taste a whole lot better......

[Alan K]

The indians slaughter the elk in most of our permit only units, so I wouldn't call them that tame! 

[dreamunelk]

HUH???

[Atroxus]

If you really feel bad about it, and need to donate the meat I have room in my freezer. 

[Elk whack master]

HUH???
 

[Swannytheswan]

On the farm as kids we named everything.  I fed the chickens every day.  I came into the house one evening and asked dad, "Have you seen Red?"  He said, "Yep, I left you a thigh and a leg."  That used to be life in the real world.  Never felt guilty about that.  And never apologies for the way I was raised.

I'm sure if you try real hard you can find one that is running like heck away from you.  Then you can track him down and tag him with a clear conscience

 
If you have trouble killing something "tame"(which I doubt these elk are) you better stop eating meat. I remember coming home from the 4th of july parade (when I was about 5 or 6)to my dad telling me hold the lead on our steer jumper(he liked to jump the fence) while he shot it in the head and I helped him hang it in the tree in the front yard and he would cut a slab of meat off and my sister and i would take to the house for my mom to wrap up and put in the freezer the meat we ate always came from an animal we raised, fed by hand, played with, some even we nursed from a bottle because their mother died we ate them just the same it was a way of life and most generations before us lived that way. This age of ppl being a afraid to kill animals for food is ruining this country and is what is making hunting a dieing sport it is this mentality that is behind all the anti hunting groups
 

[huntnnw]

I kinda feel that way.. I drew the only muzzy tag one year and I dont have half the satisfation I got from a public land archery spike I got on a OTC tag. Fun and all to see all the bulls..but the whole hunt was not IF u were going to get a elk it was how big was it going to be.. Different story hunting up in NE WA.. hunting these parts its IF your going to even see elk in the season

[RadSav]

I've read quite a few stories on HuntWA since becoming a member where members spent 8 or 10 days hunting these draw only areas with no success.  Most of these areas have had deer hunters in there kicking up the turf and causing a little hate and discontent for a month or so before the elk hunters get out.  I doubt there are too many good bulls standing around looking for hand outs once the elk season starts. However, if you were able to find one with a "please shoot me" sign around his neck no one says you have to shoot him.  Bump up your goals and find a bigger/smarter one if you like.

The alternatives are much worse - No game and game habitat money and no hunting season. 

[Skyvalhunter]

I think your forgetting a different mentality with the elk in the different time frames. It's not like you could throw a bunch of hay out during the hunting season and they come running. Just the same as you seeing these nice bucks on the mountains in the summer but when they lose the velvet they are a whole different creature and vanish into thin air for a reason.

[halflife65]

Not sure which tag you drew but let us know if you still think that they're tame after season is over.  If you have some kind of tag that allows you to shoot an elk out in a pasture, then maybe but if you're bow hunting Peaches Ridge (for instance), you're going to find out that they aren't very tame at all, despite the fact that they are a feed station in the winter.

[CAMPMEAT]

If you don't kill one, somebody else will. Do it !!