

Farm Confessional: What Butchering Your Animals Really Feels Like - palidanx
http://modernfarmer.com/2014/10/butchering-animals/

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robodale
This article reminded me of the deer hunts I've participated in the past.
Looking through the rifle scope, moments before pressing the trigger and
feeling that inevitable moment of unconsciousness as the controlled explosion
blasts out of the barrel and shocks your senses...I've always aimed for the
upper neck. I've seen others shoot deer in the rump and also the shoulder area
(which shoulder shots are often recommended to prevent them from running away
after being shot)...but then run for miles in pain and exhaustion before
expiring. To me, targeting anywhere but the neck is lazy and inhumane.

My neck shot is a way I come to terms with hunting a live animal. I miss more
than I have hit - it's a way to keep myself sharp. One shot through the neck
with an adequate caliber rifle stops the animal in their tracks and are almost
always expired before I can run the 50-100 yards to where they fell. Of the
few that were still alive when we reach them...one of us in the hunting party
always carries a 9mm pistol to end things quickly.

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howlin
It's still disingenuous to call this "being part of nature". This is asserting
complete dominion over the predator prey relationship. There's no better
depiction of how we are "above nature" than in the way that we can keep these
animals in complete obliviousness of their ultimate fate for their entire
lives.

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Terr_
Untrue, that's just the same human-exceptionalism with fresh set of paint from
"we are uniquely awesome" to "we are uniquely terrible".

We're not _that_ unique: Nonhuman species have wars, rape, pillage, lie,
etc... and yes, that includes "raising" other creatures for food.

Certain ant species, in particular, manage aphid livestock. At various times,
the aphids are raised, mutilated, drugged, and eaten.

~~~
howlin
You are coming awfully close to completely destroying any distinction between
artificial and natural. Raising animals for food is not a natural human
instinct and there have been plenty of human societies that hunt rather than
raise livestock. Call it for what it is: a (very old) technology.

~~~
Terr_
You're telling me ant-behavior is artificial and they have technology?

~~~
howlin
I'm saying ant behavior is artificial when humans emulate it. Just like humans
flying isn't natural just because birds do it too.

~~~
Terr_
You can't seriously be telling me that animal-husbandry is artificial...
because early humans learned it from squinting at ants!?

Or are you telling me the _ants_ are the artificial ones, and they learned it
from us?

You claim there's a bright-line distinction between "natural" and
"artificial", but so far your personal definitions appear to be illogical and
mutable.

