Question?
 

For as long as I can remember whenever a member of my family, including myself, killed our first deer the other person we were with at the time would dip three fingers in the blood and smear them across our cheeks.
Is our family the only ones who do this? We'll be taking my little cousin on his first hunt soon and if he does get anything I'd like to be able to explain fully to him why we do this as I put it on him.
I've always just thought it was a way to say thank you to the animal for the food, because to myself I'd always say a prayer of thanks as I did it in my head. Is this not actually what it is? I don't want to give him false information.
And on a side note, nothing has ever happened to any of us, but is this unsafe now? Because if it is maybe we should stop.

Nope, sounds like the same family tradition that my family has always had. I hope he gets one!

I think it may have become unsafe about the same time all the neighbor kids started wearing bicycle helmets.

I think the prayer and the blood stripes make a healthy impression on a kid. We also cut the shirttail off for a miss.

My upbringing was not very PC.
Thank God.

C. Davis

Never heard of that. We just take a picture....

In my opinion, hunters need to be more respectful to the surronding community. Especially, to the ones that don't hunt. What do you think people are going to think when you pull up to the gas station or convience store with blood smeared all over your face and truck? This is one of the topics that was touched on when I went through hunter safety class. The instructor told us that he once saw some hunters driving down the road with "WE GOT ONE!" written in blood. It's behavior like this that give hunters a bad name. Just my opinion.

As pc and annoying as that is, you are right,
Hunting groups have worked hard over the years to protect our rights,
Big strategy has been to clean up the image of the hunter with the general public,
One can make fun of pc nonsense, but when it comes to politicians making laws and regulations on hunting pc aspect has a lot to do with it

It a pretty big leap to go from a prayer and a little blood on the face to driving around town with "got one" written in blood on your truck.

I think that as long as you don't tell anybody that you prayed, you will be fine.

C. Davis

Ceremony
 

and tradition have their roots in ancient times.
Something to be said for honoring the Hunter and the Hunted.

My indoc. into my first kill involved a quick meal of the heart with onions, peppers liberated from a neighbor's abandoned garden and butter on a camp iron over an open flame at the campsite.

It was also accepted practice to dress the deer on the hood or roof of the car for the trip home. Stopping in town for a coffee usually drew folks to come admire your kill along with words of encouragement and congratulations.

Nowadays, I'm sure the same display would involve looks & words of scorn. I don't really care what others think in that regard. I do not think it a misrepresentation of hunting or hunters to do so either.

Being PC is not a joke either. Some people choose to honor that while others choose to embrace time honored traditions.

It comes down to what's important to you.

I would like to point out that this would not at all be something to be paraded around in public. It's simply something the person would have for the remainder of the day It is not at all an every time one of us hunts thing, this is only for the first time that a person gets their first deer.

When I got my first buck my dad and uncle just smeared the blood stripes on my face. I left them on while we dressed it, but then washed them off when we started cleaning up. It's not like I went out to eat like that, LOL. I still have the picture of me holding the rack up in the back of my uncle's truck.

My dad said back when he was young and someone got their first they did the same thing, but they would also cut the testicles off and hang them around their neck. When I got mine he said he wouldn't make me do that because he always thought it was kinda weird.

Cultural practices vary. For some it involves offering deer a drink of water or last bite. For some tobacco and a prayer offered. Thanks for deer gifting itself. In Europe a branch tip dipped in blood and worn in hat(some interesting ceremonies with some of their hunts too)seems closest to blood on cheeks here.

I'm pretty sure the blood smearing thing comes from the Indians. Everybody wants to be an Indian. :s2:

Back when I started deer hunting in the early 70s, it was the "norm" to have your buck tied to your vehicle in some fashion for folks to see on the way home. It really was a different mind-set back then.

Diving into those warm guts and blood with both arms seems to be enough initiation for most. Generally, I end up with plenty of blood stripes without even trying to put them on.

But traditions are cool!

Forever as I can remember, when someone from my family kill's a deer! We gut, drag, butcher, and eat? Nothing complicated! After all, it's delicious & nutritious.

If that's your tradition....I say stay with it...I always thank God for my harvests. I do my best to never take a shot that I cannot make....but everyone messes up sometimes....I don't have a truck anymore so my deer ride home on a hitch rack out there for all to see. I have never had a problem...in fact I have had many people taking a look or two...it does help I live in the country.

As for the blood on the face...its similar to the movie Red Dawn...they do that and drink the blood....nope not gonna drink the blood but for a kid to get some blood on them...I think that is a good thing...kinda brings things full circle as to what just happened...you took a life...The deer died...it is a happy and sad thing...but if it makes it understood that it is ok to be happy about a kill and still respect and use the animal you just killed, then I say go for it.

that's my 2 cents lol

+1

What more can you say :confused0024:


BTW C.Davis ~ Great Avatar

Our tradition: Once the deer is hangin', dann ist es bier und gemütlichkeit.

no thanks...

our right of passage is you get to gut your first deer and get your hands bloody.