Critters you won’t shoot

[Duckologist]

The list isn't long. I think it's more of a question of a desire to hunt/shoot for me.
Most of it is protected animals. Like the 10,000 hawks dining on our quail.
Here around Texas I won't shoot ring tail cats or badgers. Coots. Non venomous snakes get a pass.
I have no desire to shoot goats and sheep of any variety but if I had a friend want one to eat I would kill it for them.
I went on a bear hunt and I wish I could say I was disappointed I didn't see one. But honestly I wasn't.
Giraffes, big cats, elephants, hippos.
I don't like monkeys. But I wouldn't book a monkey hunt.
In a pinch I'd shoot anything I had to.

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Fire ants wiped out our quail

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[scubasteven25]

Mountain lion or any big cats. I've always had a fascination with them since I was a kid and can't bring myself to shoot one unless my life depends on it.

[okrattler]

Another example of how an over abundance of animals can have a negative impact is the bubonic plague. It'll wipe a prairie dog town out and they won't come back to that area for years to come. In turn it'll drive snakes and other predators into other areas because that ecosystem was destroyed by disease. Shooting prairie dogs is necessary and fun. And it creates food for coyotes,badgers and birds of prey.

Shooting skunks and raccoons is necessary because they are known carriers of rabies. And they also will be eaten by coyotes and birds of prey. Nothing goes to waste.

[GA Bowhunter]

The only thing I kill is something that I want to eat or a coyote.

[DRT]

Fire ants wiped out our quail

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Yes in a lot of areas. In the sand dunes we don't have many fire ants. Red ants we have a bunch.
However water and food are key factors. When we first bought the place (2016) there were plenty around. The years since not so much.

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[oktx]

The lack of farm crops probably had more to do with the quail decline than ants.

[Rick]

I'm with the "if I'm not going to eat it, i have to desire to kill it" crowd I love sitting out in the stand watching animals.

[tex4k]

I don’t kill anything without a good reason, don’t care for killing without reason. On the other hand, I was brought up to not feel bad about killing anything that needs it. Kind of an odd philosophy coming from an animal control guy but it’s all about mindset. I don’t hate what I kill, I don’t revere what I don’t. It just something that needs to be done.

[IkemanTX]

Birds of Prey,
Animals that take too long to gestate/raise a young (think giraffe, elephant, rhino, etc...)
Anything I won’t eat (unless it needs managing to improve survival rates)

[SmTx]

Never understood how people could zebras and giraffes.

The allure of a zebra to me is that it looks like a horse

[Cowpolks-TR]

Fire ants did not wipe out the quail. They may play a factor, but that’s not the reason, contrary to popular belief. When I was heavily involved in quail research, the highest population of quail was in Georgia. Guess where the hugest population of Fire ants was.... Georgia. The bigger impact is the loss of habitat, along with the fact that everything eats quail eggs. I have seen trail cam pics of deer eating quail eggs. Hogs also eat a ton of quail eggs.

[jerp]

The list of what I will shoot is much shorter.

[jds247]

I don't kill anything that don't need killin.. If I'm not gonna eat it I'm not killing it. Unless it's damaging something that's mine or killin my chickens. I'm not against killin and don't have a problem doing it.. There are a lot of animals im not really interested in hunting. Goats, big cats, bears etc..

[Cowpolks-TR]

Critters that I won’t shoot???? That’s a pretty narrow list. My initial thought was birds of prey, but then remembered the giant great horned owl that wiped out my goat kid crop last year. With that being said there is a time and place to shoot anything, so I can honestly say that there is nothing that I wouldn’t shoot. I have had to shoot all kinds of barnyard critters, horse with a broken leg, bull that was sick and suffering, sheep in the same condition, dogs that killed sheep and goats. There is a time and place.

[Smart]

For you guys worried about quail and turkey eggs, quail and turkey did just fine until we disrupted their ecosystem and balance. If you restore their habitat, the quail, turkeys, foxes, and bobcats will all balance out. I got the first pics of a bobcat and red fox on my place. I am glad to see them because it tells me that my efforts are working and the habitat is providing prey for them to survive there.

Well the systems are never gonna not be disrupted. We humans are here to stay.


So I do what I can...how I can. There are plenty of foxes, bobcats, coons, porcupines and skunks on our place that need a 22 to the light switch so I guess our disruption is not as bad as yours.