Why do you hunt?

When you are fed up with the troublesome present, take your gun, whistle for your dogs, go out to the mountain." -- Jose Ortega Y Gassett, Spanish philosopher and author of "Meditations On Hunting".

The Spanish philosopher had it right. He lived through war-torn Europe in the 1930s and 1940s, and those hunting thoughts probably offered some solace while the whole world was going crazy.

Hunters today live in troubled times, and we face problems more immediate than having to listen to political hype and the mind-bending thoughts of coping with complex issues such as the upcoming political spin just before an election. We face a world of increasing numbers of hunters, decreasing acres of land available to sportsmen, a global need for fuel and the anti-hunter's wrath.

For many, there is a very real fear of losing a job. For others, the high cost of medicine is a troubling issue. For some, finding enough food to eat or staying cool in blistering heat is a never-ending problem. And then there is the fate of our armed forces trying to keep peace in a land that has seldom known peace. I support our troops and hope you do, too.

Perhaps it’s time to define why we personally choose to hunt.

Each year, I deliberately confront myself with the question of why I hunt, and the problems facing hunters. Hunting seasons open soon, and this is a time when hunters should take stock in themselves. I ask myself: Do I hunt for the meat, which is invariably delicious, to pit desk-weary skills against a wild animal, or do I hunt solely for the kill?

Few hunters I know feel a driving need to personally address such personal questions. Many wander through life turning their back on delicate, psyche-probing questions in favor of immediate gratification with a bow or firearm by killing a wild animal.

For many, the quick kill -- to hell with hunting a week -- is more in tune with today's fast-paced society and is favored by many sportsmen. But, is the quick kill right?

That's a question best answered by each individual only after intense soul-searching and addressing the question of why we hunt. We must learn, as human predators of wild animals and birds, to look deep within ourselves to determine just what hunting is and what it means to each of us.

I can't answer those questions for you, and refuse to have you speak for me. Our reasons for hunting may vary, but only the more intelligent and far-thinking of us, will ever know and understand our personal motives.

Man’s social functions of family, home and work place greater demands on people today than ever before. Peers, whether we like it or not, can force many hunters into the world of the quick kill. Because of business and family commitments, for instance, many hunters don't have much time to hunt.

There are many reasons I hunt and they are outlined here. How about you?

The Department of Natural Resources caters, albeit indirectly and probably unintentionally, to that sort of hunter attitude. It has managed deer, in large part, for the sake of quantity rather than quality for many years while making a determined effort to keep whitetail deer within reasonable bounds of their environment, food supply and social needs.

Why you hunt or why I hunt is an age-old question that cannot be answered simply with a bland statement that “we like venison or enjoy a few days with the boys.” The meaning is far more deeply rooted. It is buried deep within our ancestry, and goes back to a time when hunting was accepted by those who wanted to eat and when hunting was something everyone did as a matter of dire necessity.

Today’s sportsmen seldom hunt for food (I do because my family thrives on a wild fish and game diet); instead, perhaps it's a prehistoric feeling or need in each of us to relive our ancestry by hunting for food, for pleasure and for the kill.

The pleasure of today’s hunt is an intangible thing; it's a mix of cool air, sunrises, snow, wood smoke, a hint of winter, being with friends, hunting alone, being outsmarted by a wise old buck, and the kill, although the latter is anticlimactic in most cases.

These are just a few of the reasons why I hunt, but the strongest of all is to pit my skills against those of a wild animal I deeply respect. Yes, I kill deer (I hate the current buzzword "harvest" because we're not harvesting a corn field); we're talking about killing deer and other game animals and birds each year. Although that animal or bird dies by my hand, it gives and sustains my life and that of my family.

I don’t hunt to kill but kill to have hunting.

I live through the animals I hunt. I learn about survival because of them. I learn to think more like the predatory animal I've become. I respect each animal and bird's life as much as my own.

Hunting should never be confused solely with killing. One can hunt without killing, although I'm not sure why anyone would choose to do so. We can hunt without firing a shot, but we can't be a complete hunter without killing an animal because all predators kill other animals so they may live.

Ortega said it best, and I thoroughly agree with his statement: "I don't hunt to kill; I kill to have hunted."

How about you?

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors