[Deleted by Admins]

I hunt because it is one of the most if not the most relaxing things that I have ever done. I love the putdoors and I love the fellowship with the others in my club. I think god everyday for giving us the game to hunt and and for letting me live in a place that allows us to hunt it.

I hunt because it is one of the most if not the most relaxing things that I have ever done. I love the putdoors and I love the fellowship with the others in my club. I think god everyday for giving us the game to hunt and and for letting me live in a place that allows us to hunt it.

After regressing into my habit of lurking, I feel that I too, must jump in. All the responses so far have all been great. IMHO if you combine the responses of Fl. Huntress and Tazman, then really think about what hunting is, you also will realize that hunting is a primal instinct. It is a reprieve from our present day hectic world. It is a great sport. my $0.02

I am a animal and I choose to be a part of nature instead of seperating myself from it. I always ask antihunters why it is ok for a wolf or cougar to hunt, kill, and eat an animal, but not people. No one has ever given me a real answer to that question.

I do enjoy just being out in the woods, but when I am not hunting, I find myself "doing" things. When I hunt, I am still both with my body and my mind and can truely relax both. It is during this time that I do most of my quality talking with my maker.

I also find myself respecting wildlife and its habitat more because I hunt. I don't know how anyone who hasn't taken a life can possibly know the elation/sorrow over a successful hunt. I can't explain why I feel that way, just as no one can explain the emotion of love. It is just something so basic to my heart that it just "is".

I don't know who said it but "I hunt therefore I am" it's a quote that I have always liked. I hunt because I beleive its a primordial instinct that some of us (the more fortunate ones) have not evolved away from, that and the fact of being raised around hunting my entire life. I started at probably age 10 and have been hooked on not only hunting but fishing as well so badly that I am now even a part time guide. Hunting is not only killing of animals but getting out in nature, enjoying and pointing out to our children the little things in life that most take for granted. Such as a squirrel collecting acorns, a ruffed grouse drumming or doe tending her fawns. And it's not all the animals hunting puts us in the woods at times when the leaves are changing colors and the mornings are brisk with a bit of frost on the ground, these are just some of the things that keep me coming back to the woods and the waters time and time again. If I were to list all the things I would run out of space and time to express them all. One more thing, hunting to me is not to make up for some shortcoming in my life or to seem macho, it's much more than that. Hunting serves to put me at peace with things that may be troubling me and at the same time put food on the table for my family. And with all that being said I don't think I can express it any better without wasting alot more space. May the wind always be at your back and the sun warm your face.

Todd Dunlap
Ashland, WI

[Deleted by Admins]

<center><u>Why Do I Hunt?</u></center>

Why do I hunt? A good question, a question which has forced me to sit and think about a sport I love. Why hunt when I can just go down to the supermarket and buy meat to feed my family? Why do I hunt in this age where others think it is their life’s mission to stop me? Why do I every year spend time in the forest waiting for something to walk by so I can shoot it? Why do I endure my wife’s complaints every year about going to the deer woods? The one little question conjures many more!

I am a hunter! Yet this is not enough to answer why I hunt. I hunt for many reasons some of which will be understood by all while others will not be understood by any except a hunter. I hunt because I enjoy it. Not only do I enjoy the harvesting of a deer but all that surrounds the act of hunting. I enjoy the time I spend in the woods sitting quietly waiting for that trophy deer. I enjoy the time spent with my son and daughter where we are alone with no others but the citizens of the forest. I enjoy the time I spend with individuals who are both friends and hunting partners. I enjoy observing nature in a way that no television can capture. I enjoy the smell of the campfire. I enjoy sitting before a camp fire on a chill night listening to a friend pick at his guitar envious that I do not posses that talent. I enjoy the smell and taste of camp food no matter how bad it looks. I enjoy hunting because it arouses feelings that only come alive during this time of the year.

I hunt with a rifle that belonged to my grandfather. I did not know my grandfather as he died before I was born. But I do know a little of him. He was born on a ranch in Idaho and did not know how old he was when he died. The rifle was bought by him when he was but a teenager and used like so many in those days to bring extra money, (from local shooting competitions), and meat, (from hunting), home. Since this rifle had been used for competition shooting it now has a trigger that is light to the pull. He prized this rifle all through his life and I know of relatives, (now gone), that have hunted with him while using this rife. I know that he would feel pride knowing that his grandson is still hunting with his rifle.

I feel pride when I’m in the forest with my son or daughter. I know that I am passing on knowledge and family traditions. Both have observed wildlife going about their daily business of life and both have been excited about what they have seen. My daughter has expressed a desire to become a veterinarian. I don’t know if this is because of our trips together, but I would like to think so. My son has followed me many a time and he too has learned some of the ways of the forest. I too have seen wildlife while awaiting the buck. I will be forever grateful for those sights which I have been allowed to observe. I am proud that I have been able to pass these things along and that they will last for another generation.

I hunt for many reasons of which I have only expressed but a few. I can never fully explain why I hunt nor will I ever be able to satisfy every individual who asks this question. No one but a fellow hunter will ever fully understand why I hunt.

I hunt for many reasons. I hunt because hunting is the only sport that I relax in. To me hunting is better than a 1000 prozac's. I hunt because of the huge high I get just being afield. Its bigger than any high u could get from drugs. I hunt to spend time with family and friends. But Most of all I hunt because I can. It's really that simple.

Save the sport. Take a kid hunting twice and hook them for life!!!

Why I Hunt

The first time I went hunting at about age six I went with my dad. We were sitting in the tree stand when I heard my Dad say,&quot;Sit still here comes one!&quot; As she got closer we realized that it was a 1 1/2 year old doe. Dad knew he wasn't going to shoot it, and in a jokingly voice dad whispered,&quot;Do you want to shoot it?&quot; and my reply was,&quot;No, I will let it grow!&quot; And the doe ended up walking right underneath our stand. Every since that day I have been hooked. I will never forget the feeling I had when I saw that deer heading or way, I got the shakes all over.

When people ask me why I go hunting I tell them, &quot;I hunt so that wild game can thrive, so I can see animals in their natural habitat, and simply because I cannot get enough of it. There is something that keeps me wanting more whether its the thrill of the kill, seeing squirrels play, getting to relax in a deer stand, or its just getting out and spending some quality time with my dad.

If man didn't hunt their would be severe overpopulation of game. Farmers crops would constantly be damaged, cars and trucks would constantly be hitting game, and game would suffer because they would have nothing to eat because of overgrazing.
An ethical hunter never wastes game, they will properly dress the game, and eat it. If they don't like the meat they will give it away to a needy family, a Hunters Feeding the Hungary program, or a friend that will enjoy the meat.
Ever since that first day it just runs in my blood, and those listed above are some of the reason I hunt.



Edited by - huntinfool14 on 02/21/2002 18:01:11