Hummm...Why do we hunt?? Well, as I read the posts I realized we do things for different reasons..I like all of you have been hit with this question on many occasions..

My past has put me in the surrondings of executives from corporations and a lot of anti-s...Most times the question is related to a general lack of understanding of the whole premise of hunting. You know what I mean, the folks that ask: "Did you catch anything"?? Oh, how I hate that..

I usually start by asking them what they see hunting as??

Most see it as a barbaric ACT not sport that is associated with drunken, half camo clad individuals with blaze orange hats...Thus, I relate stereo typical ideas to curb this stance...

I ask a sensitive question generally regarding something like: Yes, that is not a good picture of hunting, but would you associate racial issues to the actions of a few who make the news.???

Generally, they say no...Then I head this direction..

We as Americans are weak regarding death or blood or anything that is not anti-septic...Our food comes in packages, pre-cooked, etc... Many people, men and women alike, are unable to cook real food these days..

So, relating this fact, I pose this question:

What is it exactly that you are against regarding hunting?? Most say it is inhumane..To which I ask if they are familiar with slaughtering operations?? Of course most are not.. A brief description of how animals are dispatched, along with the idea that when an animal arrives it knows it's fate as it has senses that we have long since lost..They are able to detect death in the air...So, once they arrive they know their fate as it is inevitable..Chickens or cattle are treated much the same..You can relate this also...

Some say we only eat fish... So, I generally ask if they would put a plastic bag on an animals head to kill it??

"No, of course not, that would be terrible..." Then I add that a fish needs water to obtain oxygen and most are thrown into the hold into ice to die...

Many are caught off guard with this approach...Then I realate the fact that a deer or elk or whatever has a chance..As it can detect me using it's natural senses and go another direction..Unlike the animals in the pens at the slaughter house...

Many become intrigued by facts not my emotions...I now relate the traditional aspects that I grew up on a farm and started hunting as a young boy after school..

When other boys were getting in trouble I was walking in the woods, spending time with nature and my Springer Spaniel...

I learned many years later that what makes me hunt is the fact that in our lives we do many things that are structured and routine..Hunting is not.. Each encounter is different..Over the years I have made many kills, but these days I spend more time waiting during hunting...The kill is relatively unimportant... I will admit I am a trophy hunter these days...Does go in the freezer, and bone on my wall...

My mind wanders while out..I dump the office gossip and general back stabbing.. My brain cleanses and reverts to finding those senses long lost.. The movement of the wind before daylight..That moment of stillness just before the woods come alive..That stillness and the wandering of my mind tend to go hand in hand..As my senses adjust to each change my mind takes me to a time long past that allows me a primal relationship with nature..I think of my family and friends and how good it is to be alive...The added benefit is when all my actions were right and I am presented with the prey..Will I act right, not rush my actions, control my breathing, will the stand make noise.?? That is why I hunt...Thanks for the moment..

Oh, my wife was not a big hunter either, now she has watched me for many years and we now make trips which are mainly for us to spend some time out...