Wild Game...

**Shadizar** · 08-18-2012, 11:10 PM

So I had a conversation the other day about people who hunt. The common defense for hunters seems to be "wild game is better than beef".

While I don't have much to say in the defense of cattle production, it does have several things going for it. Safety for one, the cows are safe until slaughter time; wild game isn't, so it will never have the level of flavorful marbling which beef provides. Cleanliness, the cows are slaughtered right at the slaughter house; wild game tend to get dragged through all kinds of hell from the place it was shot to the processing at home. No waste, cows are killed in a manner that reduces the chance of wasted meat; wild game tends to lose meat to bruising from one or more bullets to whats usually their tenderest sections. Economy; my ISTJ buddy is a hunter, and he tallied it up for me as such, "by the time you're ready to go bang a moose on the off chance you succeed the first try, it'd still be cheaper to fill your freezer with beef"; this means that, like all other hobbies, hunting is expensive, not economic.

**envirodude** · 08-18-2012, 11:27 PM

Well, if you already own a rifle, then you shouldn't include that cost. Same for a truck. So then the only significant cost is butchering. I have friends who butcher their own moose, so in those cases, it would be cheaper than beef.

But yes, people use tangential arguments to rationalise their thrill at killing things.

08-18-2012, 11:10 PM	#1
Shadizar Core Member [171%] MBTI: INTJ Join Date: Feb 2011 Posts: 6,859	So I had a conversation the other day about people who hunt. The common defense for hunters seems to be "wild game is better than beef". While I don't have much to say in the defense of cattle production, it does have several things going for it. Safety for one, the cows are safe until slaughter time; wild game isn't, so it will never have the level of flavorful marbling which beef provides. Cleanliness, the cows are slaughtered right at the slaughter house; wild game tend to get dragged through all kinds of hell from the place it was shot to the processing at home. No waste, cows are killed in a manner that reduces the chance of wasted meat; wild game tends to lose meat to bruising from one or more bullets to whats usually their tenderest sections. Economy; my ISTJ buddy is a hunter, and he tallied it up for me as such, "by the time you're ready to go bang a moose on the off chance you succeed the first try, it'd still be cheaper to fill your freezer with beef"; this means that, like all other hobbies, hunting is expensive, not economic.
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08-18-2012, 11:27 PM	#2
envirodude Core Member [110%] MBTI: INTx Join Date: Dec 2010 Posts: 4,435	Well, if you already own a rifle, then you shouldn't include that cost. Same for a truck. So then the only significant cost is butchering. I have friends who butcher their own moose, so in those cases, it would be cheaper than beef. But yes, people use tangential arguments to rationalise their thrill at killing things.
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