THE most under rated boating accessory

I hate you feel that way Reel. I consider myself very ethical when it comes to the outdoors. I never catch/kill anything I dont eat and put to good use.

I may be a little naive but really didnt think a little rock in a sling shot is going to injure a bird that size. (had I actually hit any) It was more of a fun thing to do while the fishing was slow and I shot way more at trees and boulders on the bank than at birds. My buddy actually "nicked" one in flight and he never missed a beat. like I said, sorry if you were offended or think less of me because of it...didnt want that as I love all God's creatures and the outdoors. Just a couple guys being boys for a moment I reckon. :head:
 
I agree with Reel but still love ya Stinkman!

Fishing a pond near the house when I was a kid with some friends. One of my friends Thought it would be fun to throw a rock at the ducks. Didn't think he could hit it. Ducky took a direct hit to the side of the head and died a slow, violent death before our young eyes.

I'm all for killing the fish though. My favorite is watching them quiver and starve for oxygen with a gaff in the side of their head on the deck of the Blue Runner.
:beer:
 
IMO The Best boating accessory is The Bow Bunny. The slingshot is useless on an overnight stay. Second best is a Kettle Grill. Third best accessory is the Cutter Insect Repellant with DEET, occasionally taking priority over the first two. :clap:How old are you guys again? :head::beer:
 
I had kinda hoped this thread would die a quiet death, but now that I see it hasn't I feel compelled to add a few lines in my own defense.

First, you have to know a few things about me. I am, as I've stated a few times in other threads, a Vietnam combat vet.. as such I've seen more than my share of pain, suffering and death. It truly changed me when I came back. So much so that I find it extremely hard to kill almost any living thing..much to the anger of my wife when there's a bug in the house... (I guess I'd make a great Buddhist.) I make an exception for fish, but just barely... I'll catch as many fish as I'm going to eat, and then I have barbless hook rigs that I use to continue fishing... but I release those fish... knowing full well that a lot of them will die even after I've released them. (According to the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, as many as 43 percent of fish released after being caught died within six days). So I'm faced with a quandry.. do I give up a sport that I love, or do I continue to fish, knowing full well that I'm going to injure and needlessly kill fish I'm not going to eat? It's a problem I struggle with every time I go fishing... and one I'll have to live with for the rest of my life.. it really is traumatic for me.

anyways...

My point is I don't kill or needlessly injure ANY living thing. I am however, all about sport and also about the need to protect my family and my property... So I fish, I golf, and I like to shoot my guns, bows and yes, slingshots also. On that note, there are times when I have to shoot at racoons and possums that are in my garbage cans, and deer that are chewing on my new $500 shrubs... A well placed shot in the *** or even near them will usually scare them off. But like all things aimed, there is always the occasional missed or errant shot. I've killed a possium and a groundhog that way... and it bothers me to this day.

I do not kill or injure without cause. It hurts when I'm accused of such things without someone knowing the facts. Nowhere in my posts did I ever advocate hurting any animal. And before you judge me I would ask each of you to consider for a moment the pain and suffering that each of you cause to other animals just to stay alive.. Fish that suffocate to death, pigs and cows that are herded into a chute and then shocked to death, chickens that are penned up all their lives, then have their heads lobbed off...etc, etc, etc... noone is without sin here..noone is guiltless.

Reel, I have to echo Stinks comments..I also hate it that you feel that way. It saddens me greatly. I consider myself very ethical, perhaps even super sensetive when it comes to living things. I've never deliberatly killed anything I didn't eat or in defense of my life or my familys, and I never deliberatly injure any living thing just for sport.
 
Last edited:
Well said Destroyer...different life experiences have put us all in different places and views. I still remember to this day killing a rabbit (young boy with a pellet gun) and she had babies that crawled off as I walked up to her lifeless body. It changed me when it comes to needless killing from that moment.

As I said before I never felt I would really "harm one" but as stated several times in here, one "accidentally well placed shot" and it may do just that. So this thread has definately got me thinking as I WOULD feel horrible if I actually hurt one of them.



Ill still have the slingshot on board for fun with crab buoys and channel markers and such though.:clap:



And thank you Sir, for your service to our country. :beer:
 
I'm not w/out guilt when I look over my past...I just saw an opportunity to raise the point of animal neglect which is something I feel pretty strongly about...I felt bad about saying something and almost went back and deleted my reply...please don't take it personally, Stink...as I said, my past haunts me sometimes...the point is we learn...
 
To add a little levity (humor) to this:

I don't feel bad 1 bit :devil: for a bushel of steamed crabs or oysters v1 that's some Yum YUM :party:
 
Congrats to all of you for having a respectful, productive exchange....on most boards something like this would turn UGLY.

Destroyer, thanks for your service. We have a whole new generation of Vietnam Vets, but they served in Iraq and Afganistan.
 
randlemanboater said:
Congrats to all of you for having a respectful, productive exchange....on most boards something like this would turn UGLY.

Destroyer, thanks for your service. We have a whole new generation of Vietnam Vets, but they served in Iraq and Afganistan.
Click to expand...

I thank you and everyone in this post and elsewhere for the thank you's. I really wasn't looking for any. The only reason I even mentioned my service was so that people could understand my adversion to killing or causing pain. Before I went over there I used to hunt with some buddys.. We would shoot ducks, deer, etc. Thought it was great fun. Then I came back and found that I had a different outlook on life in general (to me all life is sacred) and that also just the sight of blood would bring back flashbacks of things I would just as soon forget. As time rolled forward that diminuished somewhat, but it's still an issue with me occasionally. I think that's why when I go fishing with friends I like to steer the boat more than actually fish.. I enjoy the hunt.. not so much the kill...and I carry a fishbilly with me so I can put the fish out of it's misery as quickly as possible.

The people that should really get everyones thanks are the ones that were just mentioned by Randleman... our present day vets. They all VOLUNTEERED for what they are doing. We, (The Vietnam vets) were for the most part drafted, and that's a huge difference in my eyes. These people are going willingly. They are putting themselves in harms way for us and they deserve every pat on the back, every thank you that they receive and more. They are risking their lives everyday for all of us and I, for one, am ever so greatfull to them. :clap:
 
My neighbor has been in Afghanistan since Spring...I've been cutting his grass as I did while he was on his 1st tour...my wife waters the plants for them and we bring in the mail daily...I think about him being over there a lot...away from family and home...doing his duty to his country...I can't thank him and every other soldier who has been boots on the ground in a foreign country, particularly in a combat role...I can't thank you enough...WE can't thank you enough.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top