"But what I can't and never will be able to get my head around are those that take pleasure in killing" I have known hundreds of hunters over my lifetime. I grew up in America in an area where hunting is extremely common. I always hear about people like this. I've never actually met them. The only place I ever seem to come across them is in comments and writings by those who are anti-hunting. The hunters that I've known (yes, that includes myself) enjoy the challenge, enjoy the outdoors, enjoy getting back to nature and a more natural way of filling the pot, and most especially enjoy filling the freezer with fresh, wild game meat for little more expense than a pleasant walk in the woods. And, yes, sometimes even enjoy keeping some other memento of the hunt--a skin, or antlers, or some such. But enjoy the killing? Nope. Not a bit. Not even close. I don't doubt that there are people out there who call themselves "hunters" and who do enjoy the killing. I suppose there must be. Otherwise, why would I hear about them so much? I just don't know where they all are, or where they're doing their hunting. I've never ever met even one, despite having personally known--quite literally--hundreds of hunters in my life. And therein, I believe, lies the problem. You see the extremes (the less-than-one-percenters) and assume that they represent most, if not all, hunters. I can assure you that the great majority of people who hunt are at least as respectful of animals, and care at least as much about their welfare, as any anti-hunter who ever lived. Indeed, worldwide, it is hunters--more than any other group--who spend the most money on habitat preservation and species protection. As to the original question... Oh, wait, that's right. The original question wasn't really a question at all. That much, at least, is quite obvious. It was merely a preamble for a personal anti-hunting rant. "How difficult is it to integrate?" Please Odile! You quite clearly have no desire, nor intention, of ever integrating into any community where hunting is common. If you move to such an area you will deliberately berate and harass your neighbors who hunt, stereotyping them just as you have repeatedly stereotyped hunters here, and probably revel in being the outcast anti-hunter, imagining that somehow you have gained the moral high-ground. Ah well. You've had your soapbox and now I've had mine. It is almost hunting season, and I will sleep happy, peaceful, and with a completely clear conscience if I am able to fill the freezer with game meat this fall. À Dieu.
