h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hi Keith Just read your reply (long time I know but working two jobs, so don't get on here often).

I could not consider killing anything, not even a fly In fact I feel so bad if kill something by accident. I wish I did not feel this way, it's such a pain in the arse! It makes life for me so hard, you could not imagine. I can't even garden

I wish I had your resolve and outlook on life.

I think my attitude to life is ideal, but not practical. I accept that and just deal with it.

My boyfriend in the USA hunts deer in a totally diferent way from from how we hunt them here. He sits in a tree and waits for a deer to pass by. In this country we chase them down until they are exhausted and distressed.

What are the hunting laws where you live?

Well the hunting fraternity are a very small , minuscule actually, part of our society.
It hardly features at all to tell the truth.
Hunters of any kind(apart from fishermen) don't really feature at all.
Not like it does in North America for instance or even in the UK.

Duck shooting is outlawed for instance and all guns are heavily regulated.
You can't just walk into a store and buy a gun and if you can, then you have a very limited range to choose from.

There are professional hunters who hunt Kangaroo for a living and also shoot feral pigs or boars and of course you have shooting clubs.
But like I said, hunting does not feature at all on the Australian psyche.

Your looked at if you own up to being a hunter or a shooter, such is the rarity of such a title. I live in the country and I know a professional fox shooter (an introduced feral animal here) and a couple of guys who have a licence to take feral pigs/boars.

'Roo' shooting used to be a bit of a pastime for rednecks and country boys but since they tightened the gun laws you have to have a reason to own a gun and you can't shoot Roos for pleasure, so you can't buy a gun with that reasoning.

"Why do you need this gun sir" Is one of the many questions asked of the prospective gun owner and if you do happen to luck it for a licence and a gun, then it has to be locked in an approved gun cabinet and they are not cheap.
Most people apart from farmers join a gun club so they can store their gun legally with out the expense coming out of their own pocket.

As for an outlook on life, it's all relative in the end and somewhat subjective in actual use.

My advice is: Ditch the second job as life is very, very short and take time to smell the roses. No amount of monetary need is worth sacrificing your time with family an friends. 3 meals a day, a happy environment, old chairs in stead of new ones, ditch the TV, grab a book or your boyfriend, chill out (probably easy to do in the North) and take it on your terms(life that is).

Amazing how easy it is once you work out how.

A very long winded way of saying that hunting doesn't really have a hold down here in popular culture unlike where you live in North America.

Cheers Keith
xx