Something WIll Die

It may sound insensitive. Harsh, cold, uncaring, or sinister even. But, to the hunters that spend the off season conditioning, scouting, preparing, and dreaming, it is the most fulfilling yet saddening piece of the puzzle that is hunting. If all things go right, months of work can come down to an hour in the stand and one perfectly placed shot. And when we are “done”? We did not cross a finish line or complete a task. We simply just line back up at the starting line again. 

Hunting is a primal instinct. I believe there is a primordial piece in all of us, intentionally there, begging to explore what that means and how it feels. Some may not be as inclined to acknowledge it….until they have to. While others have a more natural interest in it that seemingly came out of nowhere. It may be rooted in generations of tradition for some, while for others it may expose itself as an instinctive reactionary cry. Knowing there is something greater beyond concrete and wifi. Ultimately it is in there, and there's nothing that can replace it. 

“Modern hunting”, so I will call it, has done quite the job polarizing the idea. While my public stand is so long as it is legal, I do not criticize it; my personal stance is much more critical. A lot of this responsibility falls on the hunters themselves. High fence, big game trophy, baiting, cellular cameras, automatic sights, naming deer, and more. There are many aspects of the conversation that the non-hunting public are disgusted by, and for legitimate reasons. A mix of lack of education (often due to disinterest) paired with the quick hot flashes of what makes the news. Poachers killing state record bucks and cutting off their heads or an african trophy hunter killing the last of a species. 

The perception, and unfortunate reality that at times it is the truth, that modern hunting has evolved merely into killing has plagued the idea. Apart from the dedicated community of anti-hunters, speak to most non-hunters and you'll get a response that aligns somewhere near the following. “I don’t mind hunting. I could never do it myself. But, if people are out there killing animals to hang them on their wall, I don't know if I agree with that”. Where did this idea come from? Unless someone is sending out flyers inviting non-hunters to their museum quality display of “trophies”, there is some level of truth rooted in the perception that has been built. 

When I walk into the woods I have one goal. I am going to hunt and something will die. 

I think the hunting world as a whole could use a re-set. We have lost the core idea of the skill. Go out into the woods, into their world, hunt them down, and succeed. I have no problem losing friends or followers for my position. As stated, so long as it is legal, I will not criticize it. But, from a personal standpoint, putting a corn feeder in the middle of the woods supplying unlimited corn 2 times a day for 6 months and then driving a side-by-side in one evening and shooting a deer is not hunting. 

Did something die, yes. But where was skill, emotion, respect and thankfulness for the animals life. That is what I mean when I say something will die. In many instances like the one described, if the biggest buck happens to not show up then that “hunter” walks out of the woods empty handed, even if there were other suitable options. They are not going out in the woods to hunt. They are going out so they can play show and tell with the deer or animal they just simply killed. 

Due to my personal hunting approach, I have had a lot of hunts that did not bear any results. But, the ones that do, man is it emotional. I think that is really the core of where we as hunters are standing on the edge of a very slippery and steep slope. That is not to say there is no emotion in truly scouting, patterning, and hunting a deer for 2,3,4+ years using modern hunting tactics. That very well can be just as emotional and fulfilling. But, when we have the scenario I previously described, I have to ask, what are we doing? 

Have we lost the respect, value, and appreciation for the lives of the animals we are taking in place of instagram followers and sponsors? As hunters we need to get back to the foundation of what it means to hunt. Do I like big bucks, of course. But, at the end of the day my goal when I walk in the woods is that something will die. I have had plenty of bigger antlered deer on camera and decided to shoot a smaller buck. Why? Because it was the 12th, 15th, maybe 20th sit that year. I wasn’t sitting over a pile of corn. I moved my stand for the third time. And an opportunity presented itself on a deer that fit the personal criteria that I have in place for whether I will shoot a deer or not.

At the end of the day, so long as it is legal I will not criticize or degrade someone individually. I will have my opinion on certain styles and methods, but if you want to show me a deer you legally killed, I'll shake your hand and tell you congratulations. The line of what is hunting is is not a line at all. It is an internal determination that I believe many hunters fail not only to self-examine, but also be willing to change. And truly, it just comes down to the why. I mentioned someone that feeds deer for 6 months and then goes out one evening and shoots a deer is not hunting. At the same time, if they travel for work, work 55 hours a week, and that is the only reprieve they have from their world, that's a different conversation. I know for myself, when I go hunting the end goal is meat in my freezer. 

When I go back into the woods this fall, I go in with the purpose not to play show and tell and not to carelessly kill as many animals that cross my path. I go in to truly hunt with the intention that something will die. That something will fill my freezer, I'll share it with my family and friends, and there will be no question as to my why behind this pursuit that we call hunting.