RE: Another Question - Responses Needed
I'll jump in also.
1. Politics. I vote almost entirely republican. I find that far less financially painful. BUT, I always look at the candidates record on hunting and outdoors. The NRA is the first place I look for their rating of the candidate.
2. It has effected me this way...we should ban banning. To each his own. Why should I ram hunting and killing as a way of life down anyone elses throat? I love it, I live it but if you don't leave me and mine alone. As long as what you do does not effect the health of me or mine, go for it. This is an opinion directly resulting from all the attacks on hunting and indirectly on me.
3. Hunting is practically a religion. It allows me time to reflect and to absorb all that goes on in my life. I become part of what keeps me alive. I feel grounded and I feel close to what makes me tick. It is theraputic and yes there are days when I want to just kill something and there are days when I want to let that deer walk for whatever reason. This is a stage of hunting you evolve into after years of hunting.
4. My clubmates are all into hunting and archery. So that group is a direct result of my interest. Also, I am drawn to hunters and fishermen at little league, at school (where I work), at social events, and at functions with my wife who works for our local chamber of commerce. When I find the hunter in the group, you can bet that is where I'll be. I really don't care to talk about where people went to college or how much money they make. Those are times when I find the ice in my drink very facinating.
5. Funny, I am a teacher. Actually a guidance department head. I teach directly in environmental science classes about the hunter, game management, and hunting philosophy. I also teach in what I consider subtle ways. (my wife doesn't think they are subtle though) I coach both of my children in two sports each season. I also coach ten to twelve other kids from our community as well, that is a lot of aprent and kid contact. I talk about hunting, wear hunting realted clothing and such. Most others do not hunt and they see me positively so they may have a positive image of hunters just because they think I am OK. I also teach directly through the cub scouts, often volunteering to teach about nature, conservation, and such.
6. Problems? I guess slobs are a big problem. Poacher is used synomously with hunter and that irratates me. We all get painted with the same brush and when some jerk does something to make us look bad, I take that personally. I feel it is robbing my children, one hunts now and the other will in three years, of the opportunity to see, feel, and live all that I said in # 1-5.
I never appologize for eating animals and for having to kill them first. So I do not keep my identity a secret. Because of this opinion, I don't like it when someone has to whisper about the fact that they hunt. These are all problems of hunters constantly being under attack. It is easier to just not tell someone that I hunt than to have to defend myself against someone who has no first hand knowledge of what I do. I guess it is...Walk in my moccasins and then we can talk. It is kind of the same way about school. I seldom tell anyone at social gatherings that I am a guidance counselor. All day long I talk to parents about drugs, sex, parties, college, and study strategies, class problems etc. I don't want to get into it at night.
Those are just my thoughts. They have evolved over thirty years of hunting. I began as we all did, wanting to kill everything that walked. The more the better. I moved through the other stages of the hunter with trying more challenging equipment or methods, I never got into the trophy stage as I am a meat hunter. I like trophies and sometimes I hunt a property for the trophy, but if I need backstraps, I can try another piece and collect one for the freezer. One of the coolest things is when I tell my daughter about some animal and the first question she asks me is "can we eat it?"
Now, the wind and the rain, the challenge and the frustration, the effort and the reward are what is really cool. Now that my son is old enough to hunt, passing it all along to him is all that matters. Every second with him is precious and although I forget sometimes, I try to appreciate every single minute we have together in the woods and out. You'll see someday.
Greg