Last weekend was the opening weekend of hunting for whitetail deer in my neck of the woods. While the season for various other game has opened already, the opener of deer season is always met with a great deal of excitement and anticipation. All of the planning and strategizing about how to most efficiently attract and harvest a deer is about to be tested.
I am particularly excited about this year. For deer, I purchased a new cellular game camera and built a permanent blind that sits about 10 yards from a feeder. With any luck, as food sources disappear with the fall, the feeder will become a bustling haven of deer activity in the later season.
But this year, I am particularly excited about trying to add in waterfowl and upland birds on my list of game. Both are new and different hunting opportunities. Both require different gear, planning and tactics.
I have received mixed responses from people when I talk about hunting. In my circles, many of my friends are fellow hunters. Some are indifferent to the idea of hunting. But some repeatedly respond to social posts about hunting with a tear faced emoji. This post is in no way designed to disparage those who don't share my interest in the hunting sports. But what follows are a few of the reasons that I appreciate the hunting sports.
It gives you an appreciation of nature
Hunting forces you to be out in nature. I find that (despite living in a more rural part of town) my lifestyle is all too often characterized by suburban business. It's amazing to me that as I go throughout my day, I actually have to work to find ways to get outside. This indoor lifestyle has created a disconnect from our lived reality and the natural world around us. I am more familiar with the nuances, daily routines and sounds of my appliances and local traffic patterns than with the with the natural world around me.
Hunting forces you to get out into the natural world and live on its terms. You can't simply decide that you are going to get up on your day off to hunt whitetail and expect that you will come home having filled your tag. They don't work that way. They have their preferred times to be up feeding and bedding down. They have their preferred habitats where they feel save and not vulnerable. They even have their preferred weather patterns. To be successful as a hunter, you have to be more than just interested in the animal but attuned to the surrounding environment that affects their behavior. You need to really learn about your quarry.
It gives you an appreciation for the food you eat
Unless you are vegetarian, you eat meat. For those of us who eat meat, we all enjoy a good summer burger, Thanksgiving turkey or Easter ham. In our current society, obtaining meat is as simple as going down to the local grocery store and choosing which size package of meet you want. And most are even boneless. But, have you stopped to think about where these tasty foods come from? Don't get me wrong, I certainly enjoy frying up some bacon in the morning or smoking the perfect chicken. It's tasty and easy. Being able to simply add these items from my grocery list to a cart provides a degree of separation from the production and consumption of these meats. In the process, something is lost.
That something may not be extremely noticeable. But purchasing rather than harvesting meat leads to a disconnect in understanding the source of the meat. When you hunt, you spend an incredible amount (and even expense) of time preparing and planning. You learn about the game, its habits and habitat. And when the shot is made, you still have to process and package the meat. The entire process takes effort - effort that provides and appreciation for the meat that you see on your plate. This gives a new appreciation for the food on your plate.
It forces you to slow down
As busy professionals, we are accustomed to keeping a tight schedule. Between work, kids activities, normal household chores, there are certain narrow windows of time that I can get out in the woods. Like it or not, I feel a considerable amount of time pressure even in the woods to hurry up and fill my tag so I can get back to my day. But one of my favorite aspects of hunting is that animals don't carry watches or day planners. They operate on their own schedule. There is a natural rhythm to the day. As we discussed above, there is a beauty to the order and operations of the natural world, but we need to slow down, break away from our frenetic life, get out into the woods or field and just sit. Fidgeting will disturb the not only your desired game but all the other animals that can serve as an alarm that something is new. Hunting provides an opportunity for me to slow down and sit still. It provides me with the time and space to get out my busy life to appreciate and enjoy the world around me.
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