Conference vmsnet::hunting$note:hunting

    Two comments.  First, your friend's buddy is *NOT* a hunter and owes
    you both an apology and if he's ever to "hunt" with you again.
    (Assuming you'll have him.)  My other comment is that I would have
    asked him how he intended to cook that porcupine and what they taste
    like.  Another case of where a non-thinking person (I'm resisting
    using the word jerk.) gives all hunters a bad name.
    
    Making the comment about how he intended to cook it would have really
    put him on the spot and unless he's a total idiot, made him do some
    thinking.
    
    The rule my brother and I follow when we hunt is we a.) don't shoot at
    anything we won't eat, and b.) won't shoot at ANYTHING else if we are
    deer hunting.  We didn't get a deer this year, but we did see some, saw
    a red fox, couple moose, snowshoe hare, many partridge, and they are
    all still alive and kicking.  No wasted corpses littering the woods.
    
    Too bad.  I'd check with your buddy though.  If he wasn't aware of this
    guy's ethics in hunting, then he might also feel as you do.  Good
    hunting partners are hard to find.  (My brother went with me this year
    cast and all.  He broke his leg two weeks before the season opened, but
    he INSISTED we go.  We didn't do much swamping and I only made him
    climb one mountain ;^} ).
    

A friend of mine says porcupines are great eating.

 mark

      First shooting a porky is a waste.  When i was a kid I shot one
    and brought it home to show my Grandfather.  He went nuts!  After
    he stopped yelling he explained that a porky is one of the few animals
    that an unarmed man kill in the woods.  I guess that oldtimers
    considured them a kind of survival animal in that if you were lost
    you could always eat a porky.  But this is besides the point.
      Once you find a hunting partner who you trust and like your a
    very lucky person.  They are hard to come by.  Don't give up though
    cause you'll miss some great times.
    
    Jeff

    Mark,
    I've encountered a very similar circumstance.  While hunting in
    "hot pursuit" with a new hunting aquaintance and his son, the new
    "aquaintance" (to impress his marksmanship upon his son) blew away
    a snowshoe to the point of being inedible.  Needless to say the
    both the "hot pursuit" and the afternoon were lost.  Saving the
    afternoon, I took the son snowshoe hunting, exhibited two clean
    kills, and (I think) taught a lesson.
    Bottom line is is that I have hunted with the son four times since
    but not the "new aquaintance".  Despite - IT IS WORTH IT!  Win one
    good hunter loose one bad.
    
    Squire Dyer

    
    	There is absolutely no reason to allow your buddies "friend"
    to rein your hunting. I'd have to agree that your buddy "if he
    really is a buddy" deserves to be talked to. I mean talk. Not yell.
    If he's a buddy tell him that his friend is not wanted. If he can't
    take the message then he probably wasn't a buddy after all. If he's
    a buddy to be valued then he's take the message and still be your
    buddy. 
    	
    
    
    						Tom

    mark, forget about it and head for Maine and have a great time...
    when you come back you'll be clear headed enough to forget your remark
    about putting the gun away for the remainder... Its always worth the 
    hassle!
    
    On the subject of porqupines, the farmer where we hunt has insisted
    that we take out any and all porkys we see, as their eating all the
    bark off his sugar maples (his livlyhood come spring) and consequently
    killing them. They only have one natural enemy (the fisher), and there
    seems to be an over abundance of porkys and not many fishers.
    Didn't realize they were edible, see you learn something new everyday.
    
    Fra
    

 Mark-

 The problem is that you're hunting with the wrong people. :-)/2

 I don't blame you for being a little PO at the guy. I would've said something.
(Never could control my tongue.)

 Don't despair. Have fun in Maine. Maybe we can get out when you come back.
(And you can show me pictures of the monster you took in Maine).

 The Doctah

      Reminds me of what happened to my hunting party about 5 years
    ago. My brother-in-law hit a large buck, and was tracking it. There
    was snow on the ground and the blood was obvious. He tracked for about
    2 hours, had caught glimpses of the deer, but never had a real clear
    shot. Then he looks up ahead and there was someone else picking up
    the track. The lets me brother-in-law catch up, and it turns out to be
    someone he knows from his home town. The guy decided that he would 
    "help" me brother-in-law, so he heads off down the ridge a bit, off to
    his left. The only trouble was that he kept getting ahead and closer
    to my brother-in-law. Then my b-i-l sees this guy pull up and shoot.
    Damn, he shot my deer!!! B-i-l runs over to where this guy is, only to
    find out he has shot a porcupine. Hot on the trail of a wounded deer,
    and this idiot shoots a porcupine!!! B-i-l figured the deer was long
    gone after that, and since it was close to dark, he didn't figure to 
    get close enough to the deer now before dark. He heads down the ridge
    to an old dirt road, and starts heading back to the car (the porcupine
    shooter stayed on the deers track). He figured to go back in the morn-
    ing to pick up the track again.
    
      The story does have a happy ending though. As brother-in-law is
    walking down the road (gun unloaded), the sees something coming down
    the ridge, heading for the road. It was the same deer. Apparently he
    doubled back after the a$$h**e shot the porcupine, and crossed the
    road right in front of my b-i-l. Quickly loaded his gun (after getting
    off the road) and dropped the deer as he was jumping a stone wall, just
    before going out of sight. Ran up to the spot and there it was, dead as
    a stone. 8-pointer 205lbs. Not bad for a VT deer. ;-) 
    
      The deer now hangs over his fireplace. A beautiful mount, 19" spread
    on the rack. 
    
    -Ron-

    .0 (and others)
    
    Have any of you folks EVER done anything dumb in your lives?  I
    didn't think so.  You're probably too dumb to realize how dumb you
    can be.
    
    OK!! OKAY!!  I'm being harsh.  But isn't it just possible
    that if the young idiot who shot the porky were shown the error
    of his ways, maybe he'd LEARN FROM HIS MISTAKES!!  (Now there's
    a novel thought!)
    
    Seriously folks.  I love hunting, and I hope I never get to the
    place where I can't learn something new.  But I can relate to this
    guy.  My father hated hunting.  I was never taught hunting ethics.
    I've never done anything like this guy, but, like most folks, I
    admit to the possibility that I could make a mistake.  I think that's
    true of most folks.
    
    Does everyone else feel the same way?  Should this guy be summarily
    written-off, banned from friendship and any hope of hunting with
    folks who might show him the ropes?  Isn't it just possible that
    instead of writing this poor slob off, he could be enlightened,
    and turned into a first-class hunter?
    
    <<< Tim >>>

    re : .9
    
    Well stated.  My thoughts exactly.  Rather than lose control of
    the situation, educate the hunter.  If you don't, who will?
    
    Otherwise, he may never learn and he'll probably screw up someone
    else's hunt.
    
    Peer pressure works.  
    
    /brett

    re .2 I have been told that a porcupine is about the only animal
    one can eat without cooking it. Great for survival if one gets lost.
    							bret

    First of all I would not shoot a porcupine while on a fresh deer trail
    or during a planned hunt with others.
    
    However, I do not hesitate to shoot one while hunting on my own.
    
    Porcupines are to tree farmers as woodchucks are to land farmers,
    destructive pests.  They eat the bark off trees, often scarfing and 
    killing them.  They reproduce quickly, having litters twice a year.
    
    The owner of the land that I hunt on once offered me a bounty to shoot
    as many porcupines as I could, it paid for my hunting/fishing license
    and ammunition.
    
    I too have been told, by my grandfather, that porcupines are good
    eating.  So, I once skinned one out thinking that I would eat it,
    but after an hour of quills in my gloves I discovered that the only
    parts with any meat on them were the legs and I had lost my appetite.
    
    So, next time I have a hankering for porcupine I'll take the legs and
    leave the rest.
    
    Bon-appetite