When in casual conversation with strangers or other people that don’t know me well the topic of hunting comes up, inevitably I get asked the question “Why do you hunt?” This can quickly be followed by other, often intentionally provocative statements, such as “Can’t you buy meat at the store?” or “Are you one of those trophy hunters?”
There are many ways of answering these questions, assuming you have the gumption for a potentially lengthy and volatile conversation, each with a different angle: wildlife management, food acquisition, and personal motivation being a few of them. And though invariably the asker wants to know about the latter, I like to start from the broader perspective and talk about the role that hunting plays in the conservation and management of wildlife, and maybe follow that up with the healthy food angle. If we can get through that without calling each other names, there is a chance that the more nebulous drivers behind my motivation to hunt will find an open-minded audience.
Conservation and Wildlife Management
Wildlife needs to be managed. The concept of all animas living together in a dynamic equilibrium stopped being a reality when humans started expanding their footprint across the globe by other means than just their feet. Increasingly large tract of wildlife habitat was lost to development, and what is left is often fragmented by infrastructure such as roads, railroads, intensive agriculture and so on. Some species have adapted (whitetailed deer), other species suffer (grizzly bears). There is no room for predator-prey relationships to play out like they did centuries ago except for in the most remote regions. Animals are no longer free to migrate away from predator pressure, and often already live in habitat that is far from optimal for the species. Some people seem to think that if we humans just keep our distance, things will be OK. They are not in touch with reality. Hunting is an indispensable tool for managing wildlife numbers of both prey and predator species, to minimize damage to crops or reduce the number of collisions with vehicles, or curb disease outbreaks or starvation by keeping populations in check with the carrying capacity of their living environment, and avoiding excessive reduction in numbers by unchecked predation. It is not the only tool. Management of access for development or recreation, as well as attention for conservation or restoration of habitat is equally important. But it is an essential part.
Healthy Food
If the individual that asked the original question is still listening, and maybe even nodded a time or two, I like to bring up the food angle. Getting meat has been the predominant reason for hunting for time immemorial. The taste and quality of wild meat beats anything store-bought. The wild animal lived a life of freedom, and its death is swift and without the stress that cows, pigs and chickens are exposed to before they are killed and butchered. Nobody who eats meat, or uses animal products of any kind should have any argument against hunting. If you buy a steak, you pulled the trigger on the pin gun that killed the cow. Eat McNuggets, and you hung the chicken in the butchering facility. Your leather shoes did not grow on a tree; it used to be the hide of an animal that was killed for you. Even if you are a vegetarian or vegan, your hands are not clean. Many animals are killed on your behalf, accidentally most likely, but still killed, during the production and transport of your vegetable and meat alternatives. We all leave a footprint. The only difference is that the hunter doesn’t delegate the responsibility for the killing to someone else.
Personal Motivation
Most often however the poser of this question is probing into personal motives. “Why do you hunt?” There are many facets to my motivation for hunting, and not all are equally easily explained. Donnie Vincent, in his short video “Who We Are?” (https://vimeo.com/105686970) gives it a genetical spin. The fact that you are here on this planet, means that you are a descendent of strong hunters. If your forebears hadn’t been good at hunting, your line would have ceased to exist. It’s in our blood, there is no denying.
Despite the venomous attempts of the anti-hunting crowd to convince the world of our bloodlust, hunting has little to do with the desire to kill something. If that were the case, everybody would always use the most efficient weapon available and shoot the first legal animal they encountered. While I have certainly done that, I have also let animals walk that were mine for the taking, if only I had pulled the trigger.
When I am hunting, away from our digitally connected world, I am a part of nature, not a mere observer. The purpose becomes singular, the mind focused, relying on experience and skills; decisions are mine, the burden or pleasure of having to live with the outcomes of those decisions is also mine. There is a deep satisfaction in traveling wild country, relying only on your wits and the gear you can carry on your back. You are not just camping or hiking, you are searching for prey. Movements are determined by the necessity to stay out of sight, by the seemingly erratic but sometime predictable patterns of the wind, by your knowledge of the terrain and the needs of your quarry. It is a puzzle, and successfully solving it will put me in the same place at the same time as the animal that I am after.
Whether I kill anything or not is of lesser importance. It has to be, because the killing only happens a few times per year in a good year, but seeking those few moments goes on year-round.
Working out to stay in shape, optimizing gear, practicing shooting, visiting new places or old haunts to check for sign of animals when no hunting season is open, learning about animal behaviour, studying maps and satellite imagery, planning time off to hit best seasons; there is not a day in the year that hunting is not on my mind. It’s is not a hobby, it is not casual, it is something that is part of me, like breathing.
“So are you a meat hunter or a trophy hunter”? This seems to be a popular question these days, a loaded question, and judgement is looming. To me, there is no such distinction. The animal is the animal. Some parts are edible, and everything that leads up to putting the meat on the table is something I enjoy doing. A glimpse at the neatly stacked freezer makes me feel very accomplished, happy even. And I feel a little proud when I can cook up and serve this meat to my family, and share some of it with friends.
Some parts are not edible or no longer have the function that our ancestors were able to give to it. Some of it stays in the field, for other creatures to feed on. Some of it comes home with us, alongside the meat. Often I clean the skull and antlers or horns or fur, and sometimes those find their way onto a wall. Only when the experience was something special I pay a taxidermist and the animal’s head and shoulder become a permanent part of my home. They bring the mountains or the woods into my daily life, they help me remember the good times spent outdoors, the smells and the sounds and the friends, the effort and sometimes physical hardship that went into the hunt, and they brighten up my day over and over with their beauty. Is that a trophy? You call it what you want. To me it is all just part of hunting.
F.