I have killed....and I will kill again...

Sure. My husband hunts so I haven't done the killing part - yet, but I demand he bring the whole animal home so I can use as much of it as possible. Lots of birds - geese, duck and pheasant. In the next few weeks I am going to slaughter and butcher a lamb my friend raised for us. I cannot say I am looking forward to the slaughter one bit. But since I want to eat his shanks very much I guess I am going to have to go through with it. I'll let you know how that turns out.

Without any hesitation. My husband's a hunter, both bow and rifle, and I've butchered my share of game. The only thing keeping me from going hunting with him now is that I prefer to spend my non-job time in the studio. If life were to get less cushy, I'd go get my dinner the old-fashioned way, no problemo.

I've never been in a "survival" situation per se. Ya know, "have to" kill to live.

But where I'm from hunting (or harvesting animals) is a normal part of the rhythm of our lives. It's seasonal. We don't go around "killing" for kicks...at least not the majority of us.

Anything I've ever killed, I've cleaned (dressed) myself. Took it to a local processor and "lived" off the meat for months.

From my perspective, it would be almost second nature to take the life of an animal for food (with my own hands). I think if you go to any butcher, any market, any ranch, any grocery store, etc. to buy your meat, you should also be willing to harvest the animal yourself.

I almost think it's a bit hypocritical for someone to eat meat their entire lives and pay someone else to do the harvesting...but not ever be willing to harvest the animal themselves.

I would wipe out an entire village for some pastured eggs.

Absolutely, the buck hanging in my garage who was standing on a hillside a mere 4 hours ago can attest to that. I thought that blood type stuff was quackery? Although I'm type O like almost every Native American is I know a lot of natives who don't hunt at all. Don't get me wrong there is definitely a higher percentage than the general population, however I think that has as much to do with the rural lifestyle and high rates of poverty that makes it a necessity rather than genetic predisposition. I think there are no limits to what people will do when there are few alternatives.

Only reason I would hesitate to kill larger animals is because I've never done so before. I think that is a normal view as a petite female....... I am most definitely the Hunter genotype; everyone in my family hunts. However even my younger sister has never actually shot a deer; her husband does all the hunting. She is capable of tearing anyone to pieces verbally though........

Have killed my own meat for food, but only domesticated. I would hunt, if I could hit anything, but unfortunately, I have zero coordination when it comes to shooting stuff. Couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with tank. OTOH, I'd have no problem being there to skin/gut/apportion the kill, and would be happy to handle smoking, drying, and cooking the meat (and, with some refresher practice, tanning the hides -- haven't done that in 30 years!)

I had to kill a mouse once (for a pet snake) and it was pretty traumatizing. I have gone hunting with my dad on several occasions, and, in spite of no lack of trying, we've been "skunked" (didn't see any deer, nothing to do with skunks) on 4 consecutive occasions. Ironically, he has had success whenever I'm not with him, so maybe the deer know something I don't (either that I am harmless or that I am in fact a deadly hunter).

P.S. I'm assuming that fish, reptiles, and invertebrates don't count and we're talking about warm-blooded "harvesting".

I'd probably end up being a vegetarian if I had to kill my own food. Because I can't even bring myself to kill fruit flies, for goodness sake!! However, maybe if I was in a life or death situation and I was starving, then I might react differently...

Anyway, if I were in paleo times, wouldn't I be the one to receive the already killed meat, and would only have to skin/clean/cook it? (me being a female and all....) So maybe it wouldn't be much of a problem anyway. I'm not against killing an animal for food, I just don't know if I could do it myself.

Edit: I just remembered that I have gone fishing before. However, it was when I was really small, and after I caught the fish I just handed it to my dad and he did all the rest. I wonder if then, I could atleast kill fish? Hmm....

I grew up on a farm, we hunted & fished all the time, it is natural for me. Have used guns, bows, traps, etc.

Around here (Pennsylvania), just about every guy and quite a few gals hunt or have hunted. I usually get 2 or 3 deer every year, and several groundhogs that raid my garden. One year I shot 14 groundhogs. I field dress (gut) the deer where they fall, but it's easier to get the butcher to skin and cut up the meat and freeze it, although I have done it myself. I do cut out the deer liver while gutting it - nothing better than liver from a wild deer.

I took my hunter's safety test back in July and I've been practicing at the shotgun range for a month or two now to hopefully bag a deer this season. I'm in New Jersey, though, so this might take a while.

I dabble in archery and my skills there have convinced me that I won't be an ethical bow hunter without a lot more practice. So modern technology it is.

I don't think this is a "litmus test" really. Killing your own food is nice and all, but it's not really possible for everyone to do so in the modern world. Nor is re-enactment central to anything Paleo (or at least I hope so). I suppose it is an interesting mental exercise, though.

I would. Actually, once I scrape some more money together I'd like to learn how to hunt. Bow, rifle... not sure which. Actually, possibly both. I'll see what I can do.

Ideally, I'd like to live like the elk hunt scene in Last of the Mohicans. Chasing down my food, killing it quickly, honoring the animal for providing for me and then using the entire animal - because I feel not using the entire animal is wasteful and I can NOT tolerate waste (food, time... just waste in general). It bothers me a lot.

If you don't know the scene, here it is on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9oW0Nk7Dm4

This question is paradoxically offensive. It reveals a namby-pamby readership with a disgustingly delicate suburban sensibility. Like that other thread trying to imagine life without iPhones, I only read the title of that and got disgusted. You kids are up shit crick when the empire falls any day now. Pitiful.

I've only killed poultry and fish but I have skinned rabbits, cut pieces of deermeat off a hanging carcass, and cut up sides of beef for the freezer using the guide in 'Joy of Cooking' as my roadmap.

As an animal lover I think I would find it hard to kill a large mammal but given the fact that I like to eat them I might do it if necessary!

Naa, I've never killed an animal, so i can't really answer the question! I'd rather squeeze a cows udder than kill that whole thing and let it die naturally.

Absolutely - I view it as totally natural and an intrinsic part of life. But then again I grew up in south Africa, where everyone I knew hunted, and shopping for chicken involved the 'chicken man' coming around with live birds, of which you chose the best one, which he proceeded to kill in your backyard.

My cousins always used to eat the fresh liver, raw, after hunting and freshly killng game such as nyala, kudu etc. A little bit was considered a delicacy.

The squeamishness around killing for meat strikes me as an exclusively first world urban issue.

I Would personally kill an animal for consumption with sadness, reverence and gratitude.

Yes I would, but I've never killed and cleaned anything more than a fish. If there were a zombie apocalypse to live through, then I wouldn't have a problem if it meant surviving.

Yes, in order to survive, I'd hunt for food. Such a simple question, yet one that can trigger thinking -- and likely one that all carnivores should consider. For myself, I think the only reason I don't hunt now is that others do it for me.

Bow hunting for sure. Have nothing against guns but where's the challenge in that - unless hunting for survival would stick with the bow. One of these days I'll try it.

I am admittedly squeamish at the thought of ending an animals life, by my own hands, in order to eat it. I had been a vegetarian/vegan for 3 years (many years ago) mostly because the thought of animals suffering in order for me to eat made me cry, feel like crap and gave me a guilt complex like you have NO idea....and if I still really, I mean, REALLY think about it too much I do get kind of depressed about it. I do feel better eating meats from local sources although can't always afford to. I physically feel better now that i'm a carnivore again and wouldn't trade my health to be a vegan again EVER. But...i'm still a puss, i'm still squeamish, i'm still a sad and pathetic hunter (but i'd gather with the best of them!). I want to get past this. I want to be able to raise my own chickens, eat their eggs and when the time comes, be able to thank them graciously and then take care of business myself....I know the life they will live with me will be much better than in any factory setting...i'm doing them a favor (this is the story I have to tell myself on a constant basis). This upcoming year my husband and I will be taking a "class" through our local Farm Co-op to learn how to do just that. I know i'm going to be the weepy chick (no pun intended) in the back trying to get a grip but I WILL do it. But I don't judge ANYONE who can't. You do what you can...you support what you can...you live to the best of your ability and don't be an asshole to someone just because they can't do what comes easy to you.

The theory is that our ancestors hunted and killed and therefore so should we. We're talking about DNA here......epigenetics. I know my genotype and was surrounded by it as a kid. There's a definite personality and attitude in the type O Hunter clans. A lot of mean people and can be aggressive. If this is not your natural personality, if you really don't have the instinct to kill in order to survive, doing a diet that involves eating a lot of fresh animal meat especially red meat seems kind of silly.

There is another element of being a Hunter which actually is literally hunting.... for anything, not just animals. If you don't enjoy literally hunting for hours on end up on your hind legs walking for hours and looking for things......anything, just sniffing around here and there..... if you can't run, don't like to run, have never run really.... the idea of running after someone or something.... isn't your nature...... if you don't hunt around on the Internet, scouting out this and that... well a lot of people do nowadays, it's a national past time just about.... you might want to do some contemplating. I'm clear about who I am any why I eat paleo.

I argued eariler this year with blood type As on another forum who said they never hunted for anything in their lives-- not even at the mall!-- they actually couldn't relate to the "up off your ass and moving about thing" yet insisted a diet high in animal protein specifically red meat was good for them and really anyone.

Don't forget that the "Paleo" diet, in situ, included not only hunting but also significant gathering. So, even if you're not a "born hunter", it stands to reason that you would still eat meat and still eat a "Paleo" diet.

Early humans lived in small family groups, where subsistence tasks were divided among members of the group- assuming based on area of skill, some hunted, some gathered, all ate. This set up can be seen within extant hunter-gatherer societies as well. Just a thought.

But yes, personally, if I had to, I could do it. Never done it before but if I was hungry, I think I'd have to.

Yup definitely!

I hunt. And I eat.

Unfortunately my freezer is almost empty and I won't be allowed to hunt again until November unless I leave the state. Regardless, I look forward to it, even if I get nothing, I will have still walked in the woods all day and enjoyed the solitude.

I no longer eat wild pig offal simply due to some pretty nasty stuff the wildlife commission has been finding in the blood and organs of boar and sow alike (I used to eat sow liver in sausages). So... here's to hoping I finally get something other than pigs.