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Wednesday night, Megan and I made the trek to Lancaster to have dinner at Red Lobster and celebrate my promotion. (Oh, hey: I got a promotion.) While we stood in the lobby next to the tank of live lobsters waiting for our table, we talked about the differences between fishing and hunting, and how neither of us has a problem catching, killing, cleaning, and eating fish; but that neither of us think we could pull the trigger on a deer.

We both eat plenty of venison, thanks to my father in law's hunting prowess. We're not opposed to hunting, and we reap the benefits. Rumor has it we may have a pair of geese he shot for Christmas dinner! (I'm a bit apprehensive, but will definitely try it. I tried and didn't particularly care for both Megan's Lobster tail and Snow Crab legs while we were at Red Lobster — though she said they weren't that great to begin with.)

I'm no excellent marksman but I have enjoyed shooting in the past, mostly at boy scout camps. I even had the opportunity to shoot a musket. But something tells me that I just wouldn't be able to look down the barrel at a live animal and pull the trigger. The only difference between this and fishing, really, is that you don't have to watch the fish die. Depending on your setting, you may get to listen to them die: flopping around in a cooler of ice or croaking like bullfrogs in the boat's fish well. But you don't have to watch and it happens over a long period of time.

Another difference is that you can, and often do, throw the fish back. I think that makes the act of catching them seem more sporting, and then death just sort of happens later, optionally. With deer, I suppose you could track them, but you don't have the satisfaction of bagging it and the ability to let it go all at once. Maybe with tranquillizer? Do people do that?