A Hunter's Why

[long hunter]

I am a hunter, it is in my genetics, it was nurtured bye my father,grandfather and a few uncles, it was ment too be from my very conception, it is basic human instinct evolved over generations of past hunters, It is a brotherhood of other like minded hunters, it is the solitude of nature and gods creations, it is the beauty of watching the sun rise, it is the journey too new places, It is a awareness of the other creatures and there struggle too survive, It is a wet lab in the blind, it is the joking of your best friend over a missed shot on the goose that was 20 yards away on set wings coming into the decoy spread, it is knowing that you or your friend some day will not be there too rag each other, it is the memories of past hunts on a lonley night as you sit in the room looking at the mounts and those who were with you, it is knowledge that if need be I can feed my family and others as well. It is the awsome wonderment of knowing that the animal I just killed laying at my feet was alive a few moments ago, as I give it thanks for the ultimate sacrafice it just made, As I promise that animal that every part of it will be used too the best of my ability. these are just a few of the reasons I hunt, reasons that someone who buys there meat in a plastic wrapped container, living in a concrete jungle will never understand. We are a people that evolved as hunter gathers, somewhere that was lost too some but there will always be the drive in others too seek solitude in the high places,and woods and fields. Too be one with nature and its animals.

 

[AlaskaMark]

"Why do I hunt? It’s a lot to think about, and I think about it a lot. I hunt to acknowledge my evolutionary roots, millennia deep, as a predatory omnivore. To participate actively in the bedrock workings of nature. For the atavistic challenge of doing it well with an absolute minimum of technological assistance. To learn the lessons, about nature and myself, that only hunting can teach. To accept personal responsibility for at least some of the deaths that nourish my life. For the glimpse it offers into a wildness we can hardly imagine. Because it provides the closest thing I’ve known to a spiritual experience. I hunt because it enriches my life and because I can’t help myself…because I have a hunter’s heart."

- David Petersen, A Hunter's Heart: Honest Essays on Blood Sport

 

[schmalzy]

It's fun.

Sums up my thoughts as well.


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[ODB]

I've grown weary of having to be put on the defensive by answering 'why' I do something. I have never asked anyone why they play golf, race motorcycles, sew, or play poker. Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn.

The 'why' i want to know, is why others feel compelled to meddle in my business to the point it impedes my freedom to live the one and only life I have to my own satisfaction. And why, via bullshit initiatives, agitators are permitted to circumvent a representative government for the sake of mindless, leftists agendas.

 

[Bubblehide]

No you wouldn't. You would find another hobby and there is no such thing as a cheap hobby.


She turned into way more than just a hobby, and of course she is not cheap

 

[Opah]

The anti hunting group is not concerned with the WHY we hunt, never have been and never will be. So I say hunt be happy to hunt for what ever your reason, teacher your children to hunt and let them be happy for what ever reason they want to hunt. Just be Happy

 

[dlee56]

The anti hunting group is not concerned with the WHY we hunt, never have been and never will be. So I say hunt be happy to hunt for what ever your reason, teacher your children to hunt and let them be happy for what ever reason they want to hunt. Just be Happy

I like this a lot. The thing I was hoping would come from all of this is that if we have to dig to find reasons or make up reasons to legitimize what we do then it might be time to re-evaluate your thought process a little bit. That's a one way ticket to losing our voice at the table.

If you are forcing your mindset or values on someone else then I'd classify that as disrespectful. Anti-hunting groups have their mind made up and their attempt to sway hunters values is just as disrespectful as it would be for a hunter to try and do the reverse. The main lesson seems to be "live and let live" and "just be happy" like you said. Issues only arise when a group thinks so highly of themselves that they believe all others should think the same way they do.

That being said it all gets grey when someone's "live and let live" actively interferes with someone else's "live and let live". That open's a whole new discussion.

 

[5MilesBack]

I was born a killer......and hunting is the only legal way to do that.

 

[Antarctica]

Rick Bass said it better than I probably could in his essay "Why I hunt". Worth the read.

 

[Opah]

From all the readings and posts that I've seen, I've come to a conclusion that a lot of people hunt for antlers first and the meat second.

Meat first and foremost, now if I have a choice I will take the largest bodied deer before the size of the rack

 

[Rich M]

Some guys watch football and baseball, I hunt and fish. might watch a ballgame one weekend a year cause relatives do. Can’t understand watching guys chase balls around. Is what it is.

 

[Howdoyoulikemenow]

A Hunters Why.... I can offer up multiple whys for me. All deeply personal. Some have already been mentioned.

I've read all replies to this post. Someone mentioned being offended by being asked why. Although I've never thought about this, it makes sense. I don't think I've asked a single person in my life why they golf, play tennis or pickle ball, baseball, basketball, etc. Or why someone takes up playing a musical instrument or art. I could go on. I figure that they get some type of pleasure or peace, personal satisfaction and sense of accomplishment by so doing. Some people compete with others, some like to compete against themselves. The latter I've never understood. But I've never asked anyone why.

At the end of the day I just really don't care why they do what they do. Have fun with what you love to do. Just leave me alone to enjoy what I do, lawfully and ethically which also happens to be a family tradition.

 

[Kilboars]

To spend more time out in Gods beautiful creation.

Plus bring home some free range, non GMO, 100% organic protein.

Not sure my wife would be cool with me spending this much money and time if I was just a bird watcher.


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[CoStick]

Clean eating, enjoy having a meal of bread we made, vegetables we grew, and meat we harvested. Really elk is the only red meat we have in the house. Also fish we catch. I enjoy being outside as much as possible.

 

[dlee56]

This video resonates a lot with me and a lot of what's mentioned above.
The challenges, positive and negative emotions, those times when you're on the mountain but really want to go home, its all a microcosm for life.

Hunting is a time condensed way to experience a more raw and meaningful existence than the comfy and low risk life had in todays society.

 

[buckpro]

Some things are just in your blood, and i'm drawn to wild places. But honestly, I like kill'n

 

[SpringTom]

Its one of the few "real" things that is left in modern life. At least mine.

 

[Stubborn_bowhunter]

It's a compulsion for me. I go because it's the only thing that truly brings me peace.
I spend as much time as possible participating in nature. Rather than being a "voyeur" to it like most of the world seems to want.
To believe we're separate from nature is arrogant. Nature drives everything, and everything is nature.

Death is part of nature. It's the ultimate outcome for every living thing. Hunters embrace that, and face the challenge of the wild. A world that feels alien to many, but people seem to forget it was our species original home.

When people say "They were here first" about animals, I just hear absolute denial of what humanity is. Nature.

 

[Murdy]

Explaining the why of hunting has no value to those committed to opposing hunting, they believe they have an ethical cause and are mostly beyond convincing. The value in answering this question is for the people in the middle, those who are not anti hunting, but but don't engage in it themselves.

For me, I never feel closer to nature as when I am hunting. I am a participant in nature and not simply an observer.

 

[dlee56]

Explaining the why of hunting has no value to those committed to opposing hunting, they believe they have an ethical cause and are mostly beyond convincing. The value in answering this question is for the people in the middle, those who are not anti hunting, but but don't engage in it themselves.

For me, I never feel closer to nature as when I am hunting. I am a participant in nature and not simply an observer.

100% in agreement.