Why do You Hunt?

[hoshour]

Today I shared with someone my excitement over signing up for a 14-day horseback sheep hunt, one I've dreamed about since I was a kid reading Jack O'Connor articles in Outdoor Life. (I didn't know about Gordon Eastman back then). If it actually comes to pass, it will be more money by far than I've ever spent on myself.

They did not share my enthusiasm.

So many times when I mention that I enjoy hunting people look at me with horror and ask how I could enjoy killing those wonderful animals, as if there is something sinister in me they just can't relate to. Do I put their heads on my wall, they ask? Shudder.

I don't enjoy killing. I enjoy being in the outdoors. So why don't I take up photography or just hike with the Sierra Club?

Because I'm a man and many of us men love challenges and sport with all of it's strategy and competition. I love growing in knowledge and skill and accomplishing something, whether it's gaining a client, winning at a card game or taking a big deer. While some women enjoy hunting, most just don't get the sport of it.

What they might get is the love of sharing the outdoors with friends and family. They might get the serenity of sitting in the woods, watching and waiting and observing the otherwise unnoticed details of the natural world with all the designs and natural instincts that form an irrefutable testimony to the Genius behind a masterfully designed web of interdependent life. Darting squirrels that jump from branch to branch or scurry along the ground a ways, sounding too much like deer. Birds that alight nearby and sing for a short while, ants carrying food back to their colony, geese honking and the sound of their powerful wings as they pass by, hawks that circle on thermals looking for prey, an owl that appears from nowhere and glides quickly and silently through the woods. A coyote that briefly trots through your world in pursuit of small mammals.

I like training for a goal and making it. I like months spent anticipating the pursuit, the strategizing and the preparation. I like the time away from the day to day grind, time to be spent in grand spaces that literally bring tears to my eyes. I love being worn out at the end of a day and feeling so hungry I'm almost sick, tasting food with a delight that only hungry men know and calming a harsh thirst with something icy cold.

All this and managing wildlife so that it thrives, paying for conservation and habitat improvement and good clean sport for future generations.

With the satisfaction of making my goal there is always some bit of sadness at the death of my quarry. Contrary to exaggerated opinion, we don't smear blood on ourselves, drink it or beat our chests and give out primal screams (well, ok, we might do the last two over a real trophy).

No one I know likes being up to their chin and shoulders in offal, or skinning, quartering and especially packing out a big game animal. I do like knowing I put down a mature animal late in his life with one quick, humane, well-placed shot.

I donate most of my game meat, whether I hunt in-state or out and I like knowing I am blessing people that could use a little help, especially with healthy meat free of all the who knows what that infects the meat with the USDA sticker atop the platic wrap and the foam plate.

When men enjoy the great tradition of hunting for those reasons, I understand where they are coming from, whether others do or not.

Why do you hunt?

 

[siwulat]

I hunt because it allows me the opportunity to unplug and be totally absorbed into the natural world. Some of my most memorable hunts did not involve harvesting anything at all. Sometimes it's seeing a unique and pristine landscape, other times it's watching other animals go about their daily routine. Hinting givese a sense of inner peace that I cannot find anywhere else.

I also hunt because of the people and the camaraderie they share. I grew up in a hunting family and I can remember waiting with anticipation for my dad to come home just to find out what he saw. Now that I am older, I enjoy hearing the stories of hunts long ago, and of other people's success and failures. Even strangers I have just met understand and can relate because it is a community. I think it's awesome to be apart of something that has been happening for millennia, something so primal, so pure, and so unchanged. Sure technology has come along ways but the root predator/prey dynamic remains the same.

Hunting is not about the kill for me but the adventure. If I do happen to kill, it is not something I enjoy doing per se. It is a very humbling and somber experience. However, I rejoice in the fact that the animal didn't suffer and will provide nourishment to my family and I for months to come.

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

Why do I hunt? Because it's my heritage. My whole family are hunters, from my great grandfathers down to my son. I suppose it all started because they needed what they shot for subsistence. I was taught from the beginning that almost everything we shot or caught (I fish as well) was to be used as food for our family. I said almost because we did shoot predators and such.

Today I really don't need to use everything for my subsistence because I can afford to buy everything I need for food. But I still hunt because I prefer the taste of game meat, wild birds and fish over store bought.

But there is more to it than the food aspect. I enjoy being out in the field, woods, lake or stream. I enjoy the challenge of the "chase". As I have gotten older, it's more about this than filling my tag or catching my limit. Watching sunrises and sunsets, that certain smell of an aspen grove or the sound of a running stream are all part of it. Being by myself, away from all the "things" of modern life seem to bring me closer to my family history. I can remember my grandfather talking to me while sitting around the camp fire and my dad's excitement about taking his last elk at 90 years old. There is more to it than just bagging an animal.

I guess my tag line under my signature says it well for me.

 

[RICMIC]

The NEED to hunt is in our genes, firmly established there by thousands of generations of our fore-bearers. It is only in the relatively recent few decades where the majority of the people have become disconnected with the land. All food comes from a store, and there is no thought as to how it gets there, no moral decisions about life and death, no meaning or consequences to your decisions about what and how much to eat. I don't raise animals for food, because the killing then does become too personal for me. That is my decision, and do not criticize those who do so. In the wild, I am usually the loser, and even then after working my tail off trying to find my quarry, get close enough, make the decision to harvest (yes, that also involves killing) the animal, and then ensuring that the shot is true and you can get all the meat back home, only then does hunting become that ethereal, esoteric, deep rooted, life giving need to become part of the natural cycle again.
The adventure is not just the shot, but rather the imagination of trips that you hope to take, the experience of the past, the hopes of what the future may bring. We plan for months, and perhaps even years for what may only take a few days to full-fill. The focus is not on the seconds of the shot, but rather on all that occurs before and after. As I have gotten older, I try not to focus too much on what may never be again, but rather on the life's experiences that I have managed to do, the relationships that have entwined my life with others, and just maybe I'll be up for just one more adventure, one more time, again and again.
Hoshour, I am jealous of your upcoming sheep hunt. Forget about explaining it to those who question your sanity, or even your common sense. WE understand it....all of us on this forum, even if we can't fully explain it. Happy hunting.

 

[Gr8bawana]

I hunt because I enjoy it. A lot of hunting is hard work, it takes preparation and planning and staying in shape for hunting is good for overall health. I eat everything I hunt be it birds, rabiits, fish or big game. My wife and I have not bought any red meat since I got a cow elk this year.
No need to justify hunting to anti-hunters because they will never get it. If a non-hunter asks about hunting I am always happy to elborate because many have an open mind about it.
If hunting ever stops being fun and enjoyable and I don't get excited when I pull the trigger I'll know it's time to stop. I can't ever see that happening though. My dad hunted well into his 70's and he enjoyed every minute of it, I think I will too.

 

[dan maule]

I hunt because it is in my DNA. My father lived for it and took us kids whenever he went. I never really give it a thought. I hunt because of burning desire inside of my that I have not found a reason to question. It makes me happy.

 

[quicknick]

I hunt because for tens of thousands of years man and mans ancestors hunted. You wouldn't ask a wolf to stop hunting simply because someone else could provide for them would you? I also feel that if you eat meat in any capacity that you need to know what it takes to kill an animal and slaughter it for the meat, it's important to understand the brutal and visceral nature of eating meat. People go through their whole life eating meat and never having any clue of what had to happen to put that meat on the table. People are completely disconnected with the reality of meat.

I lose my mind when someone who is not a vegetarian looks at me like i am some brutal human mutation because i hunt, meanwhile they are stuffing there face with a plastic wrapped filet with absolutely no clue of where it came from. These people are hypocrites and need a reality check.

More simply, i like to be in gods country and i cherish the animals i hunt and have more respect and reverebce for animals than non hunters could ever hope to have in there disconnected state of reality.

 

[PlainsHunter]

I hunt because I like being outside enjoying nature and shooting and processing my own food. I know what I'm eating, how and where the animal lived, how it died and how it was turned into steaks, burger etc... Seems like a natural activity to me. It is also fun to spend time hunting with friends when I can. Planning for my fall hunts also gives me something do in the summer.

 

[ivorytip]

I don't know a life without it. don't want a life without it. I think most people when learning to hunt at a young age, is more about the kill and bragging rights. and even though bragging rights are still a lot of fun, these last several years ive found myself passing up on certain animals that I wouldn't have before. sometimes the moment you are in at the time is just to peaceful and perfect, and you decide to lower the gun and just take in the moment. the beautiful surroundings, the wilderness in its truest form. I hunt to be there, I hunt to be in that moment every chance I can get. I hunt because the wilderness is my church, its my sanctuary I go to find myself, to reconnect with who I am. I hunt because wild game tastes so damn good and nothing is more fulfilling then eating what you harvested yourself and knowing you played your part in the circle of life.