Can I Eat a Cow? Removing Its Skin and Guts

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the topic of slaughtering and processing cows, with participants sharing personal experiences and opinions on the emotional and physical aspects of the act. The conversation touches on various animals, including deer, fish, chickens, and clams, and explores themes of survival, sentimentality, and the practicality of butchering.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Personal experience sharing

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants share their experiences with slaughtering various animals, noting that cows are heavier and more challenging than smaller animals like deer and fish.
  • Others express a reluctance or inability to kill a cow, suggesting they would prefer to eat other food sources if starving.
  • There are humorous exchanges about the emotional aspects of killing animals, with some questioning how one could emotionally detach from the act.
  • Some participants assert that survival instinct would override sentimentality when faced with starvation.
  • Experiences with slaughtering animals from a young age are mentioned, highlighting cultural and familial practices around butchering.
  • Concerns about the emotional impact of visiting an abattoir are raised, with suggestions that it could lead to vegetarianism.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

The discussion features multiple competing views on the emotional and practical aspects of slaughtering a cow, with no consensus reached on whether it is an easy or difficult task. Participants express a range of personal feelings and experiences, indicating a lack of agreement on the topic.

Contextual Notes

Participants' views are influenced by their personal experiences and cultural backgrounds, which may not be universally applicable. The discussion reflects varying degrees of comfort with the act of slaughtering animals and the emotional responses associated with it.

wolram
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I mean kill it skin in it and remove its guts.
 
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wolram said:
I mean kill it skin in it and remove its guts.

I've done it with deer. Cows are just heavier.
 
wolram said:
I mean kill it skin in it and remove its guts.
You mean physically or emotionally?
 
Done it with rabbits and chickens, with stiff upper lip as survival teacher. But, it's no fun.
 
I've done it with a fish, but I didn't remove the skin, I ate it.
 
Evo said:
You mean physically or emotionally?
You women are all alike.
 
If I knew how, I'd make a game out of it.
 
Jimmy Snyder said:
I've done it with a fish, but I didn't remove the skin, I ate it.

I've done it to thousands of fish - I worked a salmon slime line in Alaska for a summer :biggrin:.

Seems a chicken would be a mess, with all the feathers everywhere.
 
lisab said:
I've done it to thousands of fish - I worked a salmon slime line in Alaska for a summer :biggrin:.

Seems a chicken would be a mess, with all the feathers everywhere.
Not in the hands of an expert chicken flicker. Two enter, one leaves. Plus a pillow.
 
  • #10
I have slaughtered cows (steers), skun them, gutted them and butchered them. Deer are easier to handle, but if you have a come-along or winch and a sturdy scaffold or tree to hang the steer from, the only real difference in the process is the size of the gut-pile and the weight of the hide. Fresh steer-hides are incredibly heavy, if you're trying to handle them with only one or two people.
 
  • #11
Ask a Hindu.
 
  • #12
berkeman said:
I've done it with deer. Cows are just heavier.
Yum. Marinated deer backstraps.

I've raised steers (grain feed) and took them to a meat market that took care of everything. Another Yum.

My father hunted, so there probably isn't much that I haven't helped skin, gut and eat. Lots of Yums.
 
  • #13
I couldn't do it. If the cow was alive and I was starving, I'd dig up and eat grubs before I would kill the cow. So I kill the cow and live another week before the meat rots and then I die anyway. The cow is superior to me because it will continue to eat grass and live.

So, that's why I would live on the ocean and eat the crustaceans which live in abundance.

And I'd gather and grow veggies. I read that in England 200 years ago that a wonderful wild asparagus grew along the sand dunes before asparagus was cultivated.
 
  • #14
the asparagus was probably brought in by the romans much earlier, and escaped.

yep, i could kill and eat, no problem. once you get hungry, sentimentality loses its appeal.
 
  • #15
I opened some live clams today so killing a cow shouldn't be much harder... :shy:
 
  • #16
Evo said:
You mean physically or emotionally?

How do you emotionally kill a cow? :bugeye:
 
  • #17
Four days without food and I'd be slicing it up and grilling steaks.

Becoming a coroner would be a lot harder than becoming a butcher.
 
  • #18
Evo said:
I couldn't do it. If the cow was alive and I was starving, I'd dig up and eat grubs before I would kill the cow. So I kill the cow and live another week before the meat rots and then I die anyway. The cow is superior to me because it will continue to eat grass and live.

If it was a case of starving, then Nellie would get it and I'd be having steak for tea.
 
  • #19
Antiphon said:
Four days without food and I'd be slicing it up and grilling steaks.

Becoming a coroner would be a lot harder than becoming a butcher.

I do not know how anyone could do that job.
 
  • #20
wolram said:
I do not know how anyone could do that job.

Survival instinct is a powerful thing.
 
  • #21
Killing and then eating a cow would be a lot easier than watching what our satan-cats do to their innocent little victims.
 
  • #22
jobyts said:
How do you emotionally kill a cow? :bugeye:
Show it packages of calves' liver and veal?
 
  • #23
Visit an abatoir and you will become vegetarian instantaniously.
And red is not the natural color of hot dogs!
 
  • #24
256bits said:
Visit an abatoir and you will become vegetarian instantaniously.
And red is not the natural color of hot dogs!
Sorry. I grew up from a very young age slaughtering hogs, steers, deer, moose, etc with my family and helping out whenever and wherever I could. Even as young as 5 or 6, kids in our family were expected to help out and learn the ropes. None of my cousins or siblings are vegans.
 

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