April 24 - Why I Hunt

April 24 – Why I hunt

So my Remington has been taken to the welder to “fix” the front base holes, freeing up my time to do a little “philosophizing”.

A number of my readers have emailed me to tell me that they really like to shoot…or are interested in learning how to shoot…but they just don’t think they would ever want to hunt..

My response to them is simple:  Don’t hunt.

I believe that for some of us hunting...and by hunting I am specifically referring to the thrill of being outdoors with a purpose.  The pursuit of game, and ultimately the consumption of that game is essentially hard wired into our DNA.  As we developed as a species some of us took on the roles of hunters, and some chose other endeavors.  Both were essential to the survival of our species, and both need to be honored.  As we left the idyllic state of nature both of these strands of human behavior stayed with us, and to an extent stays with us to this day. 

 I took this deer back in Oct.  For Southern California it's antler size is pretty good....for anywhere else on the planet I would be laughed at for taking a deer this small.....that said,...this deer represented almost 5 years of hard hunting.  Just because you hunt is no guarantee that you will be bringing anything home for the freezer!

I literally hunt, because it is part of who I am.  Make no mistake, I could still acquire protein and clothing through more efficient means.  It is a hell of a lot more efficient and cheaper to go to the grocery store and buy a steak then it is to go into the field in search of a deer.  But there is something pure,…something, spiritual about developing a relationship with your sustenance that transcends the commercialization of the meat packer. 

I am who I am, because I hunt for my food…..and in that same context the game I pursue is the game that it is because I pursue it.  The deer and the elk have developed a personality and a life cycle in direct context to their predators…of which I am one.  Without predation the game that we see in the field would behave, and look much different then it does today.  Likewise, our biology has grown and modified because we are predators.  We are who we are, because someone decided to pursue live game, rather than take the low evolutionary road as a simple scavenger. 

 My oldest daughter Carolyn with a Cow Elk she took a couple of years back in Central California.  The meat fed us for nearly 2 years.

I am also connected to the lands in which I hunt.  When I consume venison I am not just consuming a tenderloin from a deer that I shot.  I am consuming an entire ecosystem that supported the development of my quarry.  From the plants, that gave the game it’s nutrition, to the other predators that molded it’s muscles and literally helped in it’s development before I connected with it.

My youngest daughter took a bison this last winter in New Mexico.  As we eat the meat that she and the bison have provided for my family we can actually taste the grass that it fed on.  The harsh New Mexico winters forced the bison to grow thick fur which now keeps her warm as she sleeps on the skin (called a robe) at night.

 My youngest daughter Chaney with her New Mexico Bison.

This connection with the land and the animals that live on it is something that could never be achieved by walking the isles of a supermarket.