Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with hunting

Be vewy, vewy quiet...

arm426 — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 16:39:16 -0800

So, I want to go hunting. However, I have no idea what I'm doing and I live in Manhattan... In the past year or so, me and a few friends have developed the urge to go hunting in some form. Considering we live in NYC, what are some good local spots to go hunting?

Things to consider:
- We'll need a guide or someone to teach us how to hunt
- We'll need guns / ammo / camouflage / etc.
- We'd like to be able to eat / use whatever we hunt
- We'd like to have the option to stay at a cabin or lodge near where we hunt for a night
- We'd like the probability that we at least see something to shoot at to be as high as possible

So, where do I go? What do I hunt? Do you have any other tips for a first time hunter? What are some other questions that I should be asking (and, ideally, what are the answers to these questions)?

Advice for advertising CD considering quitting?

Anonymous — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:06:41 -0800

NYC big ad agency creative director with art background is considering quitting his job to look for another, in this economy. Would really appreciate some advice... The person in question (seriously not me, but still anon to be safe) is a friend who badly needs advice and I'm doing everything I can to help.

His current job is horribly mismanaged which results in a steady 65+ hour work week with no chance to see family and not much chance for creative success since project schedules are too tight. No exaggeration here, he's had some terrible bosses and situations in his time and handled it fine, but this is really exceptional and doesn't look like it's going to change.

He has a great resume and great creative skills, mostly on the interactive side. Background is in art/design, but most of the last couple years have been "big ideas" for interactive campaigns. Recently has also been doing TV work.

The questions are:
-Is it totally stupid to quit a job in this market? Is there any hope of finding a CD or ACD-type position in the ad biz these days even with a good resume?

-A different tack I discussed with this friend was looking into jobs outside-of but related-to advertising. Maybe like marketing positions in a company? Is this a good idea? Other careers where it might help to have a interactive advertising background? We talked about maybe something more low key in north Jersey where he lives.

-A couple years ago, this kind of job searching was all handled by headhunter/recruiters. Is that still a good way to go? Any recommendations for people to talk to in the NYC or North Jersey area? If not, other ways to look for jobs at this level?

Feel free to email any questions to: cdjobhunthelp@gmail.com

I realize this is a really vague/broad question, but I'd really appreciate any advice, thanks!

The over-anxious job hunter

angiewriter — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 09:34:24 -0800

My son may lose the chance at a good job due to extreme impatience. My son got his degree in Finance almost a year ago. Normally, this would be a really marketable degree with good job prospects, even as a recent grad. Due to the crap economy, however, he couldn't find a job in his field and after 4 months of diligent job hunting (i.e., making job hunting his "job" and sending out scores of resumes every day), he ended up getting hired by a national car rental chain. Not only is this not in his field--at all--but it's a pretty sucky job for him. I didn't know car rental customers were so hostile to the guys who rent them cars. He is at his wit's end, and desperately wants to find another job. He continues to send out resumes.

I have worked at a company for 4 years. We have been through our ups and downs, but business is booming, and the company's very small Finance group is looking for people. My son had a chat with our CEO earlier this year, (not really due to any efforts on my part--his wife cuts the CEO's hair and he really thinks highly of her. I believe that the CEO was making an effort to talk to my son mostly because he likes his hairstylist and a little because I work here and I'm a pretty good and loyal employee.) The day my son met with the CEO (ostensibly just to learn more about corporate Finance and the business), he introduced my son to the Director of Finance at our company and my son had a mini-interview with the guy on the spot. He was taken off guard, to be sure, because he wasn't expecting that. Shortly thereafter, the Director of Finance offered my son a part-time contract position, but my son had to decline because he couldn't afford to do that. The car rental company job actually pays more than he could have had as a contractor with our company, plus the car rental company provides health insurance, which contractors don't get.

Then, a couple of months ago, he was contacted by the CEO and later the Director asking his salary requirements, and my son was then interviewed over the phone by a member of the Billing department. He felt the interview went well was told he would be contacted by the Billing department manager for either a phone or in-person interview the following week. That was over 4 weeks ago. He has sent a couple of follow-up emails to the person he interviewed with, and they haven't sent him a response. He is beyond frustrated and can't understand why they can't send him at least a cursory response to his emails. I obviously have stayed out of the whole thing, and haven't talked to anyone in Billing as to what's going on. I'm not "that Mom." I do know both of the people fairly well--the one who interviewed him on the phone and the manager he was told would contact him for another interview--but I still don't feel it's appropriate to ask them what's going on with this.

I can certainly understand his frustration, and can empathize. As someone who has job hunted many, many times, I have seen this happen time and again. Two weeks ago, the Manager of Accounting was let go, so the Finance dept. now consists of the Director, 2 Billing people, and one other person. They desperately need somebody, and I believe they were given headcount to hire (why else would my son have been asked for his salary requirements, and given a phone interview?).

I am still going to stay out of this, and not talk to anyone in Billing about this. I do feel, given my own personal experience, that if they weren't interested in hiring him, they would've already sent him a "no thanks" email by this point. I also feel that with the departure of a key member of the team, they are up to their eyeballs in work, which would definitely stall a low-priority task like interviewing and hiring an entry-level employee.

Now my son wants to send yet another email, this time to the Director--a thinly veiled "shit or get off the pot" kind of email. I strongly discouraged this, but he won't budge, so I told him that I needed to review it before he sends it so he doesn't shoot himself in the foot. This morning, he asked me to write the email for him.

My questions--FINALLY:

*Do you agree with me that if they weren't interested by now, they would have told him so?
*Do you agree that this is a low-priority item for a small and extremely overworked group?
*Do you agree that the ABSOLUTE WORST THING he can do would be to send yet another email--to anybody in the group, especially the Director?

He has no other current job leads, much less interviews lined up. I keep telling him to be patient and that things like this can take even months to come to fruition.

What can I do to get him to calm down and not contact them any more? I have been on the hiring side of things, and personally, I always hated the pests who just wouldn't be patient. Am I wrong in believing that any more contact from him would be a VERY BAD THING? He sent his 2nd follow-up email to the Billing person who interviewed him over the phone a week and a half ago, with no response. BTW, I'm not defending these people's lack of responses to him. I consider this to be very poor business etiquette. Even if they're really, really busy, even a quick "we're swamped right now, please be patient with us" response would be better than leaving the poor guy swinging in the wind for over a month, and not just because he's my son.

I would appreciate any feedback you guys have--especially from HR people or people involved in hiring employees for their company.

Sorry this post is the size of War and Peace, but there was a LOT of backstory here.

Thanks a million, hivemind!

For a screenplay: what are some wilderness traps one could improvise to incapacitate another person?

thejrae — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 23:09:04 -0800

For a screenplay: what are some wilderness traps one could improvise to incapacitate another person? The protagonists are extreme survival camping types, a hetero couple. They are out in the middle of nowhere winter camping when a crazy dude starts shooting at them with a rifle. They manage to escape on his Argo (ATV type thingy) to get a headstart, but have little supplies. They have a gun but I'm not sure if I want them to use it- they'd prefer to solve things non-violenty. ;)

Anyway, they need to set a trap up for the hunter. They have something he wants so they can lure him.

I've seen some snare traps and deadfall traps online, but those seem more for small animals. This is for a human. There's the pit with spikes in the bottom, but I'm not sure if they'd have enough time to dig a pit, and don't know if they have a shovel or not (of course I could write it in... but it seems kinda boring, I dunno.)

Maybe it's not a trap but more "knowledge of the land" they could use to their advantage... a triggered avalanche perhaps?

The other thing is I don't want to kill the hunter- just pin him down or knock him out.

Also, me and 2 other people are shooting this in Colorado this winter, so we have to be able to pull off these special effects ourselves! That's a big catch! :P We could use stock footage perhaps for an avalanche.

How do I tell my boss I am job-hunting and need her to speak to an employer?

Anonymous — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 10:08:22 -0800

I am well into the process of interviews for a job in my same industry but about 2,000 miles away. I am in a good job but at a stagnant company and I don't have a lot of clients and must cold call a lot. I need to tell my boss and ask her to be a reference. Help me do it! She is already extremely on edge that people are planning on walking away and up to now I have been the ever-loving employee by not applying for anything in the last ten months. Every time she thinks I am going to do something, she will dress me down, which is very distressing and I am tired of it. I want to go but I need some good points to make when I approach her. She is a bully and I don't want to be pushed over.

I plan to tell her that I will need her to be a reference. Is it good to be so straightforward?

I plan to explain the position I am interviewing for is more of a behind-the-scenes job.

I am currently in a position that requires a lot of public interaction but I have never met any of our top clients. This makes things especially difficult as my boss has stated me to me weekly since I came here that she would like to leave herself.

I feel I have improved recently a lot but still think my leaving would not be a tremendous loss to the organization as in just over a year on the job only a handful of people know who I am and what I do.

I do get worked up over this and I don't want to yell at her during the conversation.

Any tips for telling a hostile boss that you are looking for work would be greatly appreciated.

Do I dare unleash the Beast?

LunaticFringe — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 09:05:14 -0800

RentalBeast: Has anyone used this company? We're moving to Boston for August 1st and are considering using this company to help us find an apartment. It sounds like a nice, easy way to get the job done, especially since we're not from the Boston area and only have 48 hrs in Boston to find a place. Does anyone have experience dealing with them? I'm mostly interested in hearing if this is a giant scam or if the units they show you are just crap. Anything really would be helpful at this point. Thanks a lot all!

Do I include the unemployed roommate on the apartment application?

Julnyes — Wed, 13 May 2009 13:43:31 -0800

I am planning on moving in with two of my sisters. One of them lost her job and has been unemployed for the past few months. Should we include her on the apartment application / lease? We will be able to cover the rent for the apartments we are looking at without her financially contributing, so should we just not put her on the application? I don't want to defraud anyone, but I also don't want her unemployment being a determining factor when we apply for apartments.

Everything I have seen online is about kicking out an unemployed roommate, not moving in with someone unemployed or very newly employed.

We are in New York City (Brooklyn specifically) if that matters. I am worried about some scenario wherein her not being on the lease could lead to us being evicted or her not having access to the apartment, etc.. does this happen?

I can haz GBLT Sandwizh Apartmentz?

Anonymous — Mon, 11 May 2009 20:52:51 -0800

What does GLBT friendly mean in the context of roomate ads? Many ads for cool apartments say "GLBT Friendly". I know what the acronym stands for but I'm wondering what specifically that means.

In my own case, I
1) Fully support and 2 human's right to get married, have health benefits, etc.
2) Feel that homosexuality is a natural situation and not a sin.
3) Erm...have a very good gay friend! I mean, some of my best friends are gay. Well, one of them, anyway. Very happy for him and his partner. However, he's generally critical of the gay scene and works as a mechanic. I don't know.

on the other hand, to be quite frank:
1) I've had a hard time in my life making friends with many (but definitely not all) of the lesbians I've known.
2) Not particularly interested in listening to someone's personal sexual history. Straight or gay. Unless I am, when I'd probably ask. But it's not something I necessarily want to be forced to talk about.
3) As a fairly solitary and contemplative person, I'm generally put off by flamboyant behavior in general.

So I'm wondering, do I qualify as GLBT friendly? The thing is, I'm not sure I'm straight friendly, or particularly friendly in general. I guess I see people as individuals. I'm hesitant to declare myself GLBT friendly because I feel like there are aspects of the culture as I see it that annoy me. Not really different than how aspects of straight culture annoy me. But I don't have to say I'm "straight friendly" to find a roomate.

Thanks for your thoughts here. I end up thinking about this a lot. I apologize in advance if in asking the question I've raised anyone's hackles. I'm seriously interested in the answer.

Boston. Bedbugs. Do not want.

sully75 — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 12:10:07 -0800

I'm moving back to Boston. I hear there is a bedbug epidemic. What can I do to minimize my chances of getting bedbugs? This may be scaring me more than I need to be scared, but I have a friend whose house became invested via their next door neighbors and they may be losing their tenants because of it. Coupled with the This American Life episode from last year, I'd really like this not to be an issue.

My main questions are:
1) are their neighborhoods in Boston where this is a bigger problem than others?
2) Is there a type of building that is less susceptible? My friends have a sort of brownstone...I'm wondering if seperate houses are less likely to have bugs?
3) Is it just stupid now to trash pick furniture? That used to be where all of my furniture came from but now I'm afraid I might get the bugs.
4) Anything I can do when looking at a new place to see what the bedbug chances are?
5) Should I just forget about worrying about it?

What to consider when starting a Meetup.com group?

cranberrymonger — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 00:12:00 -0800

What should I know before starting a Meetup.com group for Hearts? I am considering starting a social group for Hearts (the card game) on Meetup.com.

Is Hearts too unusual to find enough players (minimum of 4) in Toronto?

I have nowhere to host the game - is playing cards in restaurants, cafes or bars allowed?

What are your experiences with this website?

Any safety tips? General advice?

How do you apply to positions at big name companies like Discovery and National Geographic?

Chromakey — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 20:43:05 -0800

How do you apply to positions at big name companies like Discovery and National Geographic? It seems that the main conduit to HR is online through their site, but their forms are so generic, I wonder how anyone could stand out. I am a broadcast video professional with 5+ years experience, seeking a job back East, preferably near DC or Maryland, so I can be closer to family. I have always liked the product these two networks put out and have recently found job openings at both that fit my qualifications and career goals. However, I have not networked with anyone at those companies and, thus far, keep getting directed to their online application system to apply. The form is very generic and I feel that, even with appropriate experience and accomplishments, that it would be hard to stand out from the high volume of applications I'm sure they receive. Anyone have any advice for applying to internet listings on a large company's website? Thanks in advance for any help.

What to do with an inherited tiger's head?

omnigut — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 13:26:09 -0800

We inherited a tiger's head from our dead grandfather, which was hunted around 1940. We'd like to know how much it is likely to cost, and what people think we should do with it; donate it to a museum? to an art college? to an insane asylum? Any suggestions appreciated. Photos are here, here, and here. You can see photos of it here, here, and here.

Sky Whales movie?

Artw — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 16:56:33 -0800

Can you help me remember this barely remembered cartoon from my childhood? A community of alien looking people live on a floating island and go out in flying boats to catch flying whales. Every so often one of them would turn blue and die, and they would throw him down a well. The well was actually a hole passing through the island and as the body fell it would turn into a new sky whale. Any ideas?

(Non-trophy) Hunting in Southern California?

bone.eater — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 14:15:16 -0800

I'm an avid primitive outdoorsman living in Temecula, California one hour north of San Diego, 45 minutes east of Oceanside, and one hour south of San Bernardino (including Crestline, Lake Arrowhead, Big Bear, Devore). I'm seeking any sort of hunting, fishing, or collecting. On land I plan to using primarily a bow and, when hunting on private property with permission, an atlatl or sling. I'm a competent archer but have limited hunting experience. I'm up for anything - and I mean ANYTHING - that I can eat: pigs, goats, deer, hare, rabbit, crustaceans, mollusks, possums, raccoons, beaver, frogs, snakes, large insects, etc. What are my closest, best opportunities for game/fish/crustaceans? I'm SCUBA certified and willing to purchase dive equipment if opportunities for ocean collecting exist. Cost of hunts and charters, however, is a concern, so I'm looking for the best "bang for the buck" regarding dollars per pound of meat. I am wholly unconcerned with trophy opportunities.
I'm also looking for a hunting partner, if anyone is interested. You bring experience, I'll drive and carry.

Help me identify this two canon hunting rifle. (.22 & shotgun)

PowerCat — Sun, 04 May 2008 14:50:37 -0800

I once saw a rifle that I really wanted. I forgot the name, I only know a description. The gun had two canons. One was a .22 size, and the other was a small shotgun size (don't remember the exact size).
On the top of the "butt" there was a "door" that held some bullets.
They had a steel and black model. I think it also folded in half.
It was very thin.

Does anyone know which rifle this is?

Squirrels are crunchy

Kioki-Silver — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 16:03:44 -0800

If I feed my cat more often will he stop bringing home his own snacks from the wild? So I’m sitting at my computer reading email, watching junk on youtube, whatever. I hear my cat jump into the cardboard box we have set up for him. I hear him scratching around, I think he’s playing with one of his toys, then I hear CRUNCH! I turn to look and my cat, no, my 10 year old, 15lb neutered and declawed cat, is crunching into the skull of an adult gray squirrel. Nature is disgusting. But my question is, my cat is big, he’s fat even. I know he gets enough to eat. We feed him a can of wet food a day plus we make sure his other bowl always has some kibble in it. He’s not hunting because he needs food, but he begs from us whenever we have food, and he seems like he always wants something more to eat besides his kibble. If I were to feed him as often as he wanted would he stop stalking the local fauna?

I’m sure the real answer is to just not let him go outside, but that’s impossible. If my cat wants to go outside he’s been known to break through window screens and jump. Right now we have it set up so he can get in and out through the back door. That’s how he got his snack inside in the first place. This set up works well for us because the cat can come and go as he pleases and we’re not worried about him being locked out of the house if we’re upstairs or not home. So is there something I can do to curb his behavior or is this just natural hunting instinct?

Deer hunting in New Mexico?

vorfeed — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 09:19:01 -0800

Deer hunting in New Mexico: your experiences or advice appreciated! I'm putting in for a deer tag (for deer taken by rifle; it will probably be a mule deer) here in New Mexico. I don't have any experience with deer hunting, so I'd like to hear from others who've hunted deer in NM. In particular, what's a good unit to put in for, and good areas within the unit to try? Does anyone have a lead on private-land hunting that doesn't involve outfitters and/or paying the landowner a ton of cash? I live in Espanola, but I'm willing to travel pretty much anywhere in the state. I haven't done this before, so general muley hunting advice is also welcome!

I'm not looking for a trophy... I just want to fill my freezer with venison, so I am not all that particular. I mainly want to maximize my chances of getting a tag/landowner's permission, and then have a decent chance of getting a deer. Thanks for any tips you can give me!

Where to find an apartment in Monterey, California?

kimota — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 06:50:26 -0800

A friend of mine is soon to start his dream job working for the metro system in Monterey, but is having trouble finding an apartment. He's tried craigslist and the various national apartment finder sites, to no avail. What other resources can you recommend for leads? He'll need a place that allows cats and that is close to the metro lines, but other than that, he's open to pretty much anything.

Wild game -etarians?

Kevin A — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 12:30:39 -0800

Is there a name for people who, for ethical or environmental reasons, will only eat meat if they have hunted it themselves? Do significant numbers of these people exist? Do they have web sites?

How to kill a deer

Corduroy — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 23:14:22 -0800

Short story research: what would your average, on the weekend hunter use to kill a deer (gun, bullets, etc)? What is the process after a deer is killed? What is taken, and how, and what is left? How long would it take for what is left to be gone? Thank you!

Is hunting good for animal populations?

wigglin — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 20:18:50 -0800

Growing up in West Virginia, which is a state where almost everyone hunts deer, I was constantly told that hunting was in the deers best interest. The rationale being that if the hunters didn't kill some of them off, there wouldn't be enough food to support the entire population, causing many of them to die off over the winter. Looking around the internet, I haven't found anything that supports this idea. So i'm wondering if there is any truth to this, or if perhaps it is just something people made up to justify their animal killing hobby.

Trespassing hunters

Baby_Balrog — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 14:26:47 -0800

How to deal with trespassing hunters. Before I begin - please let me state that I am not "anti-hunting" - I have hunted. However, my mom's property extends in a 14-acre rectangle back into the woods, and we've done a good job preserving it as a natural space. It includes a large field surrounded by dense forests where deer like to hang out. My mom loves her deer and feeds them, so there are many deer. Unfortunately, the property is difficult to monitor because it is pretty rugged terrain. Recently, the adjacent 10-acre parcel was split into half-acre lots and sold to to a bunch of other Michiganders, many of whom love to hunt and are pleased to have a nice big forest behind their houses in which to do so. Illegally. Today, we walked the property and found evidence of two treeblinds. We placed additional signs that said, "No Hunting. Premises Monitored. Violators will be Prosecuted."

I don't want people hunting out there because my mom's house has a bunch of windows that face the woods. Also, recently two hunters went tromping through the back yard to recover a kill that had run up by the house. It freaked her out and she called the police, but she's afraid of "making a fuss" because where we live people can get a little... retaliatory. And I can't really enlist the neighbors because I think some of the neighbors are the biggest offenders.

This whole situation vexes me. Frankly, I don't want people shooting guns in the woods behind my mom's house. My mom abhors deer-hunting. The signs don't seem to be stopping them. Ideas?

Cute thing downed by bb gun

typewriter — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 21:27:14 -0800

In the 1950s, what small game might a young boy in rural Louisiana be able to fatally or severely injure with a bb gun? I'm thinking a jackrabbit, or squirrel. Something cute and thus regretful in hindsight. What kind of terrain would it be? Tall and grassy, wooded? Also looking for a location that may not be too far from his house.

(Creating a small backstory for a character.)

Need help figuring out symbols on a pocketwatch.

Cataline — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 17:55:27 -0800

My brother gave me a Soviet-era pocketwatch for my 40th birthday. On the obverse of the watch are two wolves in a forest. Within the forest, there is a circle of rope with little pennants tied it. These pennants appear to be hemming the wolves into a circle so that hunters can capture them. Can anyone explain this?

Job hunting while employed. How to approach.

willy_dilly — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 20:32:40 -0800

Job hunting while employed. How to approach. I've decided that I'm going to start looking for a new job after 3 months into my current job to look for something that's more suitable to my personality. I'm an assistant media planner at an interactive advertising firm. I love the internet space but I want to do something that's more project based instead of the glamorous culture of advertising.

I am at meetings more than my desk and I probably only do an hour, two if lucky, of actual work each day and the only work I do is paper pushing. I have coffee and lunch with publishers almost every day, "laughing" and talking about their babies, vacations, and new house, there are happy hours hosted by publishers almost every week and if you are "recommended" to go and I always feel really uncomfortable at all these social events. I really feel like such a big part of the job is building connection and relationships and it's just not for me at all. I don't really have any real responsibilities besides paper pushing and tagging along to meetings and publisher events. I'm a naturally shy guy so this glamorous, social, work=fun kind of environment is making me really anxious and stressed out at work. I dread going to work the next day because I'll have to attend more meetings.

Quite honestly I hate it. I want to sit down and work on something. A job that will allow me the time to think about and do my work instead of this 30 minutes at my desk, an hour at meeting, another 30 minutes at desk, and over and over type of job. At first I totally thought that working in advertising will be awesome but it's way too glamorous for me. I get sick of the idea of helping a client spend 50 million dollars a year telling people to purchase their products. I'm thinking about finding a new job in market research. Does anyone have any experience?

I'm going to be applying for a research analyst position at Comscore, an internet research company. I have experience using many of Comscore's service in my current job and noting the working experience at my current company will help me IMMENSELY in landing this Comscore gig. However, I've only been there for 3 months. Should I include that in my resume and explain the reason behind my short stay in my cover letter? Or will that totally turn HR off? Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!