People spew venom at Ted Cruz over photo with deer he hunted: 'You're not a Human Being

[Pattylt]

Liberals, in general, do not like guns or fishermen.

I agree that many liberals want to have more restrictions on guns and some simply hate them but fishermen? I’ve not come across that even when I lived in Ohio…back when it was solidly liberal. I’ve also lived in Florida where so many fish and never heard complaints.

Of course, I haven’t lived in those states for years but still have family in both. Colorado and Wyoming are both known for blue ribbon fishing, especially trout. Is this hatred of fishing something more in certain areas? I’ll have to ask my cuz in California about attitudes to fishing out there…

 

[Lysander]

so there are a lot of places were hunting still providea food on the table. If you don’t want to hunt thats fine, doesn’t give anyone the right to harass other people for hunting.

 

[Donkey]

Why can’t he eat the deer he shot? He is not obligated to give any of it away.

 

[vz71]

This isn’t the 19th century where a deer has to provide a family with food for the winter.

No, it is the 21st century, and I can assure you a great number of people stock up on various meats.

Odds are if they can afford ammunition they can afford food

You would be mistaken there.

 

[TheLittleLady]

As a kid, we spent every hunting season in Wyoming and lived for a year in Shell. Love that place.

 

[1Lord1Faith]

They get posts because hunters and fishermen have been under attack for years.

Hunting was absolutely out of control in the US as recently as post WWll. Remember having to reintroduce wolves to the lower 48? Things have now balanced out and hunters don’t go out thinking they have a right to shot anything that moves.

So, we can ignore people who say “Your not human” when Ted Cruz legally hunts a deer. The ones who are criticizing Ted Cruz are getting their message and their vitriol spread around by well meaning social media users.

 

[Pattylt]

As a kid, we spent every hunting season in Wyoming and lived for a year in Shell. Love that place.

The tourism money and employed game keepers and guides is a multi million dollar business in Wyoming. The blue ribbon streams with hungry trout and lakes with muskies and pike all contribute large money. Besides oil, tourism is part of the life blood of the state.

I guess I understand some people being against hunting, especially if they don’t understand the need for herd culling and meat but I’ve never heard of us liberals being against fishing…especially as it’s also regulated and restocking of lakes keeps it all healthy and in balance.

Seems some liberals just need an education as I’m sure no conservatives are anti gun or fishing!

 

[otjm]

I’ve just met so many hunters who really didn’t need to do what they did. I

I hunt, and I eat what I hunt. None of it has been treated with hormones or vaccines. The deer and the antelope were all “grain fed”, as I hunt in an agricultural area. I hunt because I enjoy hunting; I hunt because I enjoy the taste of the meat. My extended family has had hunters all my life - although my daughters will not hunt - no interest; but they fish with me - and we eat what we catch.

I respect the animals I harvest; I do not take wild shots nor do I shoot if I cannot make a clean kill. I have never lost an animal, and with the exceptions of a bull elk and one buck mule deer, all have been one shot, one kill. The other two took two shots, and both were dispatched quickly.

Hunting takes me out in nature; I am not getting this packaged from a meat counter. Hunters and those who fish are the largest contributors to wildlife management, and strongly supported a federal tax on gear and ammunition which is dedicated to wildlife management.

If someone wants to emote over “the big brown eyes” or has a case of Bambi-itis, that is fine; I would be glad to show them the results of those animals dying - particularly if by cougar, wolf or coyote. Not pretty, not fast, and in the case of wolves which have been brought out of Canada to repopulate areas, much of the meat spoils as the wolves imported are of an aggressive subset and do not consume much of what they kill.

Imported wolves found their way to the Oregon/Idaho border, and within a couple of years, reports were that the deer population was “decimated” - not because the wolves harvested 10%, but because people reporting never took Latin and do not know the meaning of the terms they misuse. What actually happened is that within that short time, they killed off close to 50% of the deer population, and wasted much of it. And the deer population has not fully recovered yet.

IF someone does not like deer hunting (or any other game animal) that is fine, I won’t feed them.

 

[otjm]

When is the last time you saw someone wear fur? If you going to kill the animal and eat it, why not make a leather jacket out of the skin.

That came at the behest of PETA and related anti-fur folk, and was primarily focused on mink as well as other “exotics”. We had a mink farm in Oregon and PETA made a night raid on it and opend the cages, letting the mink loose. Farm raised mink are not known for their ability to live in the wild, and most died - which showed how much PETA actually cared for the animals.

I don’t know of anyone who ate mink - perhaps there are some - but the bodies made excellent bait for crab rings, likely in part because it was different from other bait and had a distinct odor.

The fur ban also went to animals trapped for their fur - otters, beaver, etc.

I would not call PETA members liberals. I have too much respect for liberals.

 

[gam197]

Seems some liberals just need an education as I’m sure no conservatives are anti gun or fishing!

You are a self-proclaimed liberal but lived in an area that allowed hunting and you ate the meat. You really think that liberals are like you on this issue but they are not.

Hunting and fishing are discouraged in these communities. The conservatives who hunt and fish to support their families are trashed. And no it is not other conservatives that are trashing them.

I would not call PETA members liberals. I have too much respect for liberals.

PETA Folks are liberals and they have been able to get everyone to be afraid to wear fur.

Hunting was absolutely out of control in the US as recently as post WWll. Remember having to reintroduce wolves to the lower 48? Things have now balanced out and hunters don’t go out thinking they have a right to shot anything that moves.

Hunters have always had respect for animals and support many conservation programs. Maybe what you saw is true and there was a need for rebalancing but that is done through permits and herd mantainence not bulling hunters and fishermen.

 

[1Lord1Faith]

Hunters have always had respect for animals and support many conservation programs.

Uhh, that’s just not true. If it was true people wouldn’t be so bent out of shape about Ted Cruz. That is to say, there would be no logic behind the attack on Ted Cruz. I believe what US culture is still dealing with is a legacy of bad hunting practices that don’t necessarily exist here anymore. Anyway, there are always going to be bad apples. But the bad practices have largely been remedied thanks in part to, like it or not, activism. And this is my point, the improved awareness about better hunting practices has rendered the Tweets like the ones criticizing Ted Cruz to be uncalled for. And I’m guessing most of the Tweets are either trolls or bad actors.

 

[BornInMarch]

There’s nothing wrong with hunting animals, not even if you can afford to buy food normally. The people why complained about him killing an animal are just wrong.

However, others didn’t complain about the killing itself so much as the fact that they perceive this as an attempt to appear manly and brave - qualities which he lacks considering he chose to help President Trump politically after Trump insulted his wife and his father.

 

[gam197]

gam197:

Hunters have always had respect for animals and support many conservation programs.

Uhh, that’s just not true. If it was true people wouldn’t be so bent out of shape about Ted Cruz. I believe what US culture is still dealing with is a legacy of bad hunting practices that don’t necessarily exist here anymore. Anyway, there are always going to be bad apples. But the bad practices have largely been remedied thanks in part to, like it or not, activism. And this is my point, the improved awareness about better hunting practices has rendered the Tweets like the ones criticizing Ted Cruz to be uncalled for. And I’m guessing many of the Tweets are either trolls or bad actors.

People are bent out of shape about Ted Cruz because he shot a buck. There have been no bad hunting practices in a long time. Herd management has been active.

If fact some groups like coyote in the North are out of control and expanding too fast.

No the tweets are real people who do not like the fact that he shot a buck. This has been on going. The same is true for trappers. Furs is a lucrative business but not today.

 

[gam197]

However, others didn’t complain about the killing itself so much as the fact that they perceive this as an attempt to appear manly and brave - qualities which he lacks considering he would not stand up for his wife or his father to President Trump after the man insulted both of them.

No Ted Cruz is from Texas and deer hunting is big in Texas. It could be Kamala Harris, don’t think Joe could hunt and they would still be outraged. at her. It is about the perceive taking of an animal’s life.for sport.

Hunting is not all about the killing. It is about the walk in the woods, the back to nature and challenge. It is a good thing we do not have to depend on it as a food source or we would all starve.

 

[1Lord1Faith]

There have been no bad hunting practices in a long time.

There hasn’t been Jim Crow or slavery in a long time either. Do you see where I’m going with this?

Herd management has been active.

Herd management is active because the (eco) system is out of balance. Out of balance partly due to a legacy of bad hunting practices.

If fact some groups like coyote in the North are out of control and expanding too fast.

See above about being out of balance.

I am very happy to hear packs of coyotes howling and calling at night. Their return is welcome AFAIC. They can eat all the rats, mice, and feral cats they can catch.

 

[BornInMarch]

No Ted Cruz is from Texas and deer hunting is big in Texas.

Maybe.

The thing about politicians is that it’s hard to tell what their actual interests are because in general they tend to feign interest in things to present a public image to their constituents.

So while it could be that the photo was just Cruz sharing a moment from a leisure activity he genuinely enjoys, I’m not sure we can rule out it being a photo op. Looking him up on Wikipedia I couldn’t find any mention of him being an avid hunter or having gone on hunting trips in his younger years.

 

[gam197]

gam197:

There have been no bad hunting practices in a long time.

There hasn’t been Jim Crow or slavery in a long time either. Do you see where I’m going with this?

“Race” in a hunting thread?

Herd management is active because the (eco) system is out of balance. Out of balance partly due to a legacy of bad hunting practices.

gam197:

If fact some groups like coyote in the North are out of control and expanding too fast.

See above about being out of balance.

I am very happy to hear packs of coyotes howling and calling at night. Their return is welcome. They can eat all the rats, mice, and feral cats they can catch.

Coyotes attack small children in yards. It is out of balance but since hunters have dwindled, it remains an imbalance.

Maybe at one time the wolves, it was out of balance but that has not been the case for some time and Wildlife management follows these herds very closely, if herds are down, permits are not given out.

 

[gam197]

gam197:

No Ted Cruz is from Texas and deer hunting is big in Texas.

Maybe.

The thing about politicians is that it’s hard to tell what their actual interests are because in general they tend to feign interest in things to present a public image to their constituents.

John Kerry certainly wasn’t when he did that pose with gun in a hunting outfit but Ted Cruz could be an honest hunter.

 

[Allie1]

There have been no bad hunting practices in a long time

Let me start out by saying that I am not against legal hunting. I have friends who often will share meet with me from their elk or deer.

But, it is not true that there are not bad, illegal, hunting practices going on. I think that it is important to be cognizant of this, and speak out against it.

In Oregon, they are actively searching for a serial poacher.

Serial poacher appears on the loose in Oregon

I will also never forget the story of the father and son in Alaska who wandered into a bear den and killed a hibernating bear and her cubs.

Video of father and son killing bear, cubs released in Alaska

I am not comparing Ted Cruz to these people. He is behaving in a legal manner. I support legal hunting.

However, Illegal behaviors do still happen.

 

[Gorgias]

I believe what US culture is still dealing with is a legacy of bad hunting practices that don’t necessarily exist here anymore.

Nah. I’m of the opinion that folks get bent out of shape over the idea that people actually go into the field and shoot their own food. Apparently, they think that the grocery store sells chicken that grows on chicken trees.

I’ve just met so many hunters who really didn’t need to do what they did.

I’ve met many grocery shoppers who really didn’t need to buy meat at the store. Does that mean that the cancel culture should castigate them, too?

“You don’t need to” doesn’t delegitimize “you have the right to choose to”.

the majority I’ve met were not poor people who needed the food for winter

Odds are if they can afford ammunition they can afford food.

You’d be surprised. Once you’ve bought your firearm, ammunition is relatively cheap (around $1 / round). $20 – the cost of a box of shells – isn’t gonna buy you a lot of meat.

On the other hand, if you process the venison yourself, you get somewhere around 50-80 lbs of meat per animal. At no additional cost.

Even if you take your deer to a processor, you’re still going to end up paying around $3 / pound for your venison. Where can you buy beef at that price?

It’s cost effective even for folks whom you consider ‘poor’…