So many of you have excellent accounts. A couple mentioned this post making them think, reading the responses caused me to think about the question again.

Why do I hunt?

Hunting comes natural to me. So much so that I've rarely questioned why? As I think about it, I realize the drive to hunt is natural for human kind.

Who among us doesn't "hunt" for something every day? We hunt for: truth, answers, objects, desires, and happiness every day that we are alive. Its not that we are neccessarily even aware of it, its our nature. Its simple really, we are driven to set goals, to learn more, to find and obtain what is elusive to us, and once accomplished, to do better.

Some will ask "how can you relate this to hunting animals?" and it is a very reasonable question, yet the answer is clear....People tend to seek out what they enjoy, they pour their energy into finding, learning, and obtaining knowledge of the things that matter most to them. Once a goal is reached, new goals are set and the process continues. Hunters of wild game are no different. We enjoy the quarry, the environment, the experience, and even the quest itself. To many of us their is simply no place that we'd rather be.

It occurs to me that some might confuse "the hunt" with the killing of an animal. Make no mistake, the goals set by the hunter, usually culminate in the killing of their quarry. Yet, its not the death of the animal that makes us rejoice, it IS the hunt. As hunters, we make no apologies for reaching our goal. Every hunt is an experience that we draw upon for the future.

We share our love of the hunt with our freinds and family, we hope that they may have the same appreciation we do for the woods, and the animals we hunt. We gain an understanding for the natural world, that many people only read about. We become a part of it, rather than merely an observer.