1/19/14 10:58 AM

Hunting boar with a bow down in Florida a few years ago was exactly that. Trust me, when you're within a few feet and you get charged an enraged animal that's entirely capable of shredding you, it's pretty intimate. You have no protection and the one thing that saves you from having a really bad day is that boar can only run well in a straight line, so you have to dive out of their path when they get close and let them pass. It's definitely a different type of hunting.

OTOH, during the same day, I watched a guy take one with a rifle at 150 yards without ever getting out of the jeep we were in. While he made a nice head shot, the whole thing seemed pretty matter-of-fact and unsatisfying to me.

1/19/14 12:33 PM

I have a neighbor who hunts hogs with a pike and Bowie knife.

Uh, not me. I don't want to bleed out, knee deep in a swamp.

1/19/14 11:02 PM

If you're doing a sport that's that dangerous and unforgiving of slight lapse of concentration, it would be best to at least be highly payed.

But many, many people choose unforgiving activities as simple thrill seeking, and as a high-intensity reminder of what it means to not only be alive, but struggling to stay that way.

Think sportbikers, downhillers, high-flying skiers, deep-wilderness explorers, etc.

I guess it's addicting, both in the trill of the act and the publicity of same!

And it's a powerful distraction from the frustrating challenges of every day life.

Some people are addicted to crime, gambling, sex, drugs, etc for the same reason.

1/20/14 4:49 AM

How many of us here have broken bones due to the activity that brings us here? Or rather, how many haven't?

1/20/14 9:35 AM

quote:

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If you're doing a sport that's that dangerous and unforgiving of slight lapse of concentration, it would be best to at least be highly payed.

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1/20/14 1:50 PM

As a former hunter and still an active carnivore, I won't try to pass judgement on hunting. However, I think you should use the most effective means of achieving a clean kill - typically a rifle of sufficient caliber. Someone who would use a pike for boar hunting and greatly increase the likelihood of wounding an animal just to get a thrill isn't much of a sportsman in my book.

1/20/14 6:59 PM

Concur.

1/20/14 8:00 PM

quote:

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And it's a powerful distraction from the frustrating challenges of every day life.

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1/21/14 6:34 AM

In a survival situation, it might make sense, but otherwise, it's just a stupid stunt. Heck, I wouldn't hunt with a bow if I wasn't fully competent with it (which I'm not at the moment).

1/21/14 8:14 AM

Kerry, hasn't anyone ever told you how insane you are for going 50+ MPH on <1" tires? Allowing for alternative metric measures, of course. Some people like to watch TV, some like to gamble, some of us ride bikes and some people jump out of perfectly good airplanes.

1/21/14 9:47 AM

quote:

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I get a real buzz from a good powder day in the trees or a fast descent on a bike.

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1/21/14 10:00 AM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbhvZ2y1V80

1/21/14 3:27 PM

At first, I thought it was an alcohol transfusion he was singing about, like he was bar hopping...

1/21/14 5:15 PM

Man, I haven't heard that song since college (and I'm surprised anyone who didn't listen to my college radio station has even heard of it).

But Andy, while you can certainly get hurt riding a bike downhill, it's really not in the same thrill seeking category as, say, your namesake Sketchy Andy:

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EdHqmnB-NNc&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DEdHqmnB-NNc

I saw an extended film on this guy at the Banff Film Festival and I guarantee you, he is totally nuts.

1/21/14 8:59 PM

An old standby from the Dr. Demento days of old. A well-loved tune among certain sorts.

As for Sketchy, this is one time I'll go along with Nancy Reagan.

"No!"

I'm just saying that many of the folks here would be classed as "thrill seekers" in the sense that we think of people hunting wild boar with knives. It's kind of relative.