I don’t like to hunt, but I used to. I’ve eaten probably close to half a ton of venison over my life. I don’t have any problem with vegans who say we shouldn’t eat animals on moral grounds. I believe their position is highly consistent, moral and commendable.

But I have a big problem with people who eat industrial chicken and beef and then go all self-righteous on hunters.

If you want to find animals who suffer, look into any industrial chicken farm or cattle feedlot. Those animals live sad, stressful lives. The slaughter process is unspeakable. If you haven’t seen it, you wouldn’t believe it even if I described it.

So when people who eat typical American diets heavy with chicken and beef criticize me about hunting deer (which I don’t even do anymore), I think about the fact that hunters take the lives of deer who lived as deer, and who had a quick death not surrounded by hundreds or thousands of other terrified animals.

I remember somebody once actually had the balls to sneer at me about hunting while they ate a Big Mac.

They told me I must be a cruel person. I just shook my head and walked away.