This past week I finished an excellent book that illustrates the dilemma that I'm feeling at the moment. I'm keen to get into hunting both as an addition to my other outdoor activities such as canoeing, fishing, and birding and as a means to provide a natural form of protein in my diet, but finding ways to start is often daunting. From various hunting related articles and shows that I've seen I'm keen to experience nature in the closer forum that hunters engage in, but also to be a part of a natural process that we are increasingly becoming estranged from as time goes on.
"Call of the Mild: Learning to Hunt My Own Dinner" by Lynn Raff McCaulou is just the volume to help me with my small plight. Having gotten my hunters education squared away, finding opportunities to be able to go out and experience the hunter's point of view has proven to be my primary sticking point, as well as not having legal arms to pursue game with. (What about that bow you mentioned in OUT!! #1 you might suggest? Well that was sold for gas money so I'm in a bit of a hole at the moment.)
Ms. McCaulou's journey started after moving to Oregon for a change from the NYC urban life she was living as an assistant in the Indie film industry. She picked up a reporting job where she began to meet hunters who would talk about how much their sport means to them and how they care about the animals they seek for sport and food. This led McCaulou to look into her own views about the environment and how they fit in with a viewpoint consistent with the agenda the hunters put forward as well as her own beliefs about the environment we all share for recreation and resources alike. This doesn't mean however that she accepted hunting outright after hearing a few good stories from local hunters. She did what anyone would do if shifting to something that is different from ones prior experiences and goes through a process that includes her assumptions about herself, her confidence to pull through on her goal to hunt, and her belief that she had the strength of will and spirit to be able to pursue this blossoming dream of hers. What she wrestles with most is the idea of taking the life of an animal. She references Bambi as a point in her childhood where she makes the connection that the reason hunters hunt is because they hate their prey and want to destroy them. As she thought about what taking the life of an animal means to her, questions like "Is it justified?" and "Will the guilt drag me down?" feature prominently throughout the book and her thought process. She eventually learns to manage the guilt by coupling it with the idea that by selecting one animal to be killed for food, it allows others to survive and perpetuate the species for future hunters to enjoy.
As her confidence grows, she finds that she is reclaiming or even resuming a once forgotten place in the natural world as a creature surviving on the meat of a fellow creature. She also recognizes her role as a hunter ensures money is provided to conservation efforts to purchase habitat for game and non-game alike, as well as, providing funding for research and monitoring on wildlife populations on both state, federal, and where applicable, private lands. As I finished the book, it reiterated a theme that I feel not only in my own life, but have seen elsewhere as well. The more technology one surrounds themselves with, the further they are from the heart of this world. We can hide ourselves from the soil and leaves and trees and animals, but we are still part of this big, wide world that we call home. We can claim human privilege and uniqueness, but ultimately we are organisms that need food, shelter, water, and sunlight for survival, but these are but basics. If we are to survive, we need to focus on the planet and how our needs reflect sustainable use of those resources we need to survive.
Personally, I see hunting as a method as surviving in a world that's plagued by meat of questionable origin and treatment before killing for our consumption. It also helps to know where ones food comes from and through that virtue, being able to provide that essential food for oneself and others who desire it. After watching several episodes of Fieldsports Britain on YouTube, I've become enamored with air guns and their simplicity, as well as effective use to dispatch a variety of pest and small game species. I want to start off slowly, with smaller prey that will allow me to hone my skills towards something larger or quicker, like ducks, or turkey, or deer. Hopefully, I can get myself on the next step towards hunting proficiency and be able to effectively take game safely and fairly. After reading this account about a fellow "adult on-set hunter", I can only hope for the best and learn the skills that will help me assume the mantle of an ethical, but effective hunter.
No comments:
Post a Comment