There are hardship exceptions, right? I mean, if you get into a situation where you don't have any farmed meat, is it more important to not trap and go meatless?

I'm pretty sure that tame animals have been around for longer than the rules of kashrut. I don't know about the apocalypse question -- according to at least one Jewish source, everybody will be vegetarian after the messiah comes, because Adam and Eve were vegetarian in Eden.

Well, I know of plenty of historical circumstances of religious Jews going vegetarian because they couldn't get kosher meat. The Talmud says that that's what Queen Esther did in the palace.

I don't really know the rules about trapping. I vaguely recall learning something about it, but I don't remember what.

http://en.kendincos.net/video-lpttlfh-hunting-is-allowed-in-judaism-how-to-be-a-kosher-hunter-.html

No clue who this dude is, but he's talking about hunting for fur in biblical times.

This looks like a decent summary of the Jewish view of treatment of animals, including hunting: [link] (That website is generally from an Orthodox perspective, and he usually takes the more liberal view if there are several accepted opinions within Orthodoxy.)

He later went on to talk about culling overpopulated animals. I think he mostly wanted to be manly and shoot stuff -- but that's an impression based on enthusiasism, not any critique of scholarship.

I'm trying to pay my credit card bill. It won't let me.

ISTG, this had better be a site glitch and not the prelude to another fun fraud battle.

That was an interesting article, Hil. He does say:

hunting and trapping for legitimate needs is permissible only when it is done in the least painful way possible

So I'm guessing no bear traps, but maybe snares or nets.

The guy I was talking to today goes home to Montana to cull both elk and cougar. Elk for overpopulation, and cougar so they don't eat the horses or the kids. And they eat all they shoot. He also said the first time he ate beef on the east coast he got food poisoning. It was so different from the free range beef he was used to.

Then he BBQs the elk with a brown sugar rub and rolls bacon in, and I hope they remember I exist.

Chicago Restaurant Week. 3 course meals, $32 bucks. Any Chicagoistas interested in checking any of them out?

Sounds interesting. I'm currently free for most of that week.

One of my family holiday traditions is venison mincemeat pie, and we usually got the venison from a friend or relative who'd killed the deer. When I'm feeling like annoying my family I'll refer to it as Bambi pie, just before taking a big bite and making "om nom nom" sounds. However, the venison is so finely ground, cooked, and mixed with the other stuff that it's more of a savory flavor than a distinct meat taste.

I've had rabbit, deer, and fish caught by friends and family. I've also eaten fish I caught myself. As my paternal grandparents lived on a farm and raised both beef cattle and chickens, I probably met some of my meat before dining on it, but I was too young to make the connection at the time.

My dad had a decent sideline in venison during the latter part of the Great Depression. He was a kid who knew his way around Granddad's back 40s, so he'd guide deer hunters there. They'd pay him money for helping them bag their buck, and then after removing the head for their trophy, they'd let him have the rest of the deer. He got cash and fed the family for a month.