So you "harvest" or "kill" gobblers when telling stories

[Turkeyman]

I never say harvest....that's for vegetable gardens and such. Just about any other synonym though.

[kjnengr]

When you feed, selectively cull and photographically monitor your deer herd to the point you have pet names for them, then 'harvest' is the correct word just the same as any other kind of farming. Turkeys where I hunt, on the other hand...

I completely agree.  I think it started with the TV deer hunters for this very reason.  It has since spilled over to the everyday deer hunter and turkey hunter.  I personally never use the word "harvest".  I either killed or got my turkeys, deer, etc.

[BTH]

Kill meat, harvest fruits and veggies.

[tha bugman]

kill...I harvest my garden. 

[Big Jeremy]

I probably use the word "got" more frequently than anything else. Either that, or killed.

[Gooserbat]

I use about every phrase except "shoot em n the face".

[the Ward]

I never use the term harvest to describe the taking of game. I have used "got" or tagged, bagged, killed or shot. I do notice that a lot of people I know around here that don't hunt use the term, "catch." They will ask me "did you catch one?"

[outdoorsmen]

I say that "i shot him in the face"....if you dont like it i dont need to be talking to you...

[GobbleNut]

Once again, how I speak about hunting is totally based on who I am talking to.  Among my hunting friends, we use terminology that none of us would ever consider using when talking about it in a group of non-hunters.  Among those non-hunting folks (and, heaven forbid, among anti-hunters), it is imperative that we portray a respect (a "reverence", if you will) for what we do and the act of taking an animal's life.

So, why use the term "harvest" as opposed to "kill" in certain situations?  It is all about the perception you give to those you are talking to,...that is, how they mentally interpret the two words. 

Whether we like it or not, our numbers are shrinking, while the number of those that oppose what we do is steadily rising.  In the middle is the vast majority of folks that have no real problem with hunting, but they expect hunters to show the proper respect for the act of taking an animals life. 

Sometimes that respect is portrayed by simply using terminology like "harvest" rather than "kill" when speaking to them about it.  I totally understand why, as hunters, we disdain the use of words like "harvest" to describe the act of "killing".  However, it is not about how WE feel or think about it,...it is about what those folks that control our destiny think about it. 

Anybody that does not "get" that reality is doing a disservice to the hunting community and the future of our way of life by not understanding that the terminology they use can, and most likely will, have an impact on whether or not our kids and their kids will even have the chance to hunt. 

Sermon over for now....

[THattaway]

Probably use "kill" mostly but "harvest" simply means you are going to eat what you killed or caught. Kill means just that, kill. For those that take issue to whatever term is used, well, just go look them up in a dictionary. Never used either term intending to lessen or magnify the event and never with regard to whomever I was talking to at the time. If you say "smack down", "shot him in da face" or all the other trendy catch phrases then you are just a pot calling the kettle black, one end of the spectrum griping about the other end's extremity.

[stinkpickle]

I say "shuttled him off this mortal coil".

[THattaway]

Stinkpickle,
Good to see you on here. Was hunting the other day and wondered how you were doing, "milk was a bad choice".

As for kill terms, well it is hard to top "limb whoopin" a turkey.