comment: >
  
  Well, when it's potentially all you're able to gather for food in the winter, it's what you do. 
  There were multiple winters growing up in rural MT that if my father hadn't filled his tags, we likely wouldn't have had any meat.  Before anyone says "just go to the store and buy it" it wasn't that easy. 
  For the longest time we had one vehicle. Dad's work truck, which was in use Monday thru Friday from 6am to 6pm, so groceries were gathered on a weekend, usually twice a month and they were mostly the household goods (soap, napkins, maybe some milk and juice, and the like). My fathers 40k a year to house and feed the four of us simply wasn't enough, so most winters we ate veggies from the garden that Mom had canned, and slaughtered and processed our own hogs and chickens for other meats as cow was a luxury we simply couldn't afford. 
  So hunting it is. Trust me, when it's all you got or is a very large portion of your survival, it's a necessity and not overrated in the least.
context: "cmv: why doesn't everyone have the exact same interests as me"
  Because that's exactly how your post reads. Different people find different things interesting. Did you know that people target shoot as a hobby? And those targets sit still in a firing range. How much easier can it get? >
  
  Why do people use a stick with a blunt end to hit a little white ball into a hole when they could just walk up and put it in? Why does anybody do anything? >
  
  So other people can sit around and call it overrated. >
  
  Would you like us to convince that you, personally, should enjoy deer hunting? Or would you like to better understand why other people enjoy deer hunting? >
  
  I'm asking why I should wake up early to go into the woods to shoot at animals that I see everyday on their own. >
  
  Well if you don't want to do it then don't do it I guess. People like different things, why do some people like baseball and others like football? >
  
  So you get to hang out in nature all day, climb up into trees, and if you're successful you get food from an animal you can be reasonably sure had a natural experience during it's life. That sounds like a win to many people. >
  
  Why does it take all day to kill an animal that stops and stares at you the second they see you driving down the street? I could've killed at least 4 deer last week alone sitting in my driver's seat. >
  
  Because forests are big relative to deer and most people don't hunt on public roads for obvious reasons? You see a lot of deer near some highway crossings because there's a lot of places where the only way for animals to freely move places they want to go is for them to cross the road and they tend to cluster around certain sections of the road.
  Have you ever been hiking? Or camping? You see a lot of squirrels and rabbits but it's not like you're seeing a deer every couple of minutes. >
  
  Yes. I live in the woods. I hike all the time and see deer all the time. In my car, from my deck, while walking, etc. >
  
  I don’t get it, do you think hunters are lying? Like they spend all morning in the woods and really see 25 deer but pass them up just so they can say how hard it was to shoot that big buck? >
  
  I'm a bit dubious on OPs explanation here. I live pretty middle of nowhere in a place with deer overpopulation. I'm not seeing a distinct individual deer every day (there is a family of them who lives nearby who you'll see repeatedly some springs, but its  the same few individuals all season). And that's counting all deer, not just deer of the age and sex that are subject to hunting licenses. >
  
  
  In that regard, it's overrated because deer are everywhere all the time and you don't need early mornings and camouflage to kill.
  
  You do if you plan on eating it, which is what a majority of deer hunters do. >
  
  Are they eating it because they killed it or do they kill it because they need it to eat?
  I'd argue eating it is the result of killing it for sport. The vast majority of hunters aren't killing and forging for food to survive. >
  
  
  The vast majority of hunters aren't killing and forging for food to survive.
  
  No, but a lot are lower income and the meat is supplemental and cheap to process.
  You don't have to be abjectly destitute to try and make things easier on yourself.
  The fact that there's a cultural aspect to deer hunting in a lot of places means it can be both a useful and an enjoyable activity to people who may not have many opportunity for much else.
  A box of ammo can last several seasons for a good shot, and is much cheaper than many other forms of entertainment.  The fact that it also supplies an entire family with several dozen pounds of meat is an even bigger incentive. >
  
  I and my fellow hunters in my state have donated venison to homeless shelters.  Those poor souls definitely benefited from my “hobby” and we helped the environment as well. >
  
  
  I think deer hunting is more about an excuse to get away from your family than actually killing a deer.
  
  You're wrong about the reasoning - it's not to get away - it's a hobby, like any other hobby. I used to golf. Takes about 4 hours. I could just hit a ball on my lawn, similar stuff. So when I went golfing - was it to get away from my family? Or was it just because I enjoyed golfing?
  You're attempting to make a hobby (that's all it is) into a bad thing because you're not at home. >
  
  Speaking from an environmental perspective, deer hunting is actually underrated. The overpopulation of deer is recognized as the biggest threat to the environment in the US after climate change. This is because they can destroy whole forests with the amount that they eat. >
  
  Interesting. Serious question. Why the permits needed and seasonality of hunting then?
  Wouldn't the first be gone before Europeans arrived if the deer ate all the forests? >
  
  There are a number of reasons. The biggest one is that animal rights activists often do not agree with environmentalists so they will protest things that are actually best for the ecosystem as a whole. Also, there are different types of deer and not all of them are invasive, and they are not invasive everywhere. But in a lot of the US and parts of the UK and Europe, there are types of deer that are severely overpopulated. Obviously, they're not going to eat a tree. What they do, however, is stop regrowth. Any new buds or sprouts are demolished. And due to the demonization of wolves, bears, and coyotes, their natural predators are greatly diminished. >
  
  Not a hunter, but I bet I can reduce your hobby to component pieces that don’t sound as fun based on description. >
  
  Feel free to make a CMV on it >
  
  No. To say hunting is detestable is your opinion that you are entitled to. To categorize hunters as idiot rednecks is bigotry. >
  
  I didn't classify them as either of those things >
  
  Sorry someone else in the comment chain did. I posted to the wrong spot. >
  
  You say in your responses to other people that you live in the Midwest in an area with such a dense deer population that you see them on a daily basis and that you are surrounded by people who hunt.
  And yet, despite living in this context, you seem to have little understanding of hunting and of deer behavior. As others have said, deer aren’t stupid. They know where gunshots tend to happen and they know what time of year they happen. Like all wild animals, they have the ability to recognize and learn from environmental patterns. So they avoid areas where they have been exposed to guns and are extra vigilant during hunting season. Experienced animals can even recognize hunting equipment by sight and smell. You hiking around the woods for fun are not the same threat as a someone equipped to hunt, which is why they may watch you rather than run. Animals try not to run unless necessary to avoid burning extra calories. 
  Also, there are strict laws around hunting that control how and when people are allowed to harvest certain animals, which greatly impact how easy or hard it is to hunt. Great, you see deer from your car. In most, if not all, states, it is illegal to shoot an animal from any vehicle, be that a car or an ATV. In some states it is illegal to have a loaded gun in the passenger cabin of the vehicle. There are also laws about what land can be hunted on, how far from roads or buildings you need to be before shooting, what ammo and caliber of gun you can use (which effects how far you can shoot and your ability to kill cleanly), and what items you can use to conceal yourself and attract the deer. 
  Hunting ethically, following the law is difficult and it takes time. >
  
  This.  Perfect explanation.  Thank you!!! >
  
  It prevents overpopulation, therefore car wrecks,  and terrible population decimating illness including wasting disease among the deer,  and provides nutrients for people. Now, we could release more of their natural predators where they live and that could be fun also because we'd have to deal with them, then. 😂😂😂😂 >
  
  This feels like a troll. There's no way someone who "lives in the woods" can know this little about hunting. >
  
  Nope. I love soccer and people out here think "it's gay". Not everyone enjoys the same things because they're in the same area. >
  
  People saying that about soccer are wrong, flat out, and don’t understand the game and its value.  It sounds like you’re engaged in a tit-for-tat situation.  If you don’t like soccer, then I’m going to belittle something you enjoy.  Kind of immature. >
  
  What are you talking about. I literally said in my post "I LOVE SOCCER". you making shit up to be angry?