Junkyardfiction
08-10-2009, 18:06
This past Friday I got my first squirrel. It was after about nine hours of stalking and sitting spread-out over the previous 5 days that I bagged the tree rat, which fell like a sack of potatoes after one blast from my .12. Saying I was excited would be an understatement. I was shaking it was such a rush.
People who don’t hunt don’t seem to understand the true sportsmanship that comes with hunting. All that time spent walking through spider webs in the humid August afternoons, batting gnats away from my ears and wiping sweat from my brow, and all for one meal, because in the end it’s not only the act of hunting that makes it worth it, it’s the ability to bring home dinner.
For the price of a shot shell, I figure the actual cost of my dinner to be 28-cents: the time and effort involved are no more than exercise and the pleasure of spending time in the great outdoors. It’s a win-win situation. With my fresh kill, which I’ll be calling “fresh harvest” from now on, lying on the ground next to my bag, I looked up into the thick canopy of hickory above me, and thanked not only the squirrel, but the good earth for all her bounty.
This is not something you’d see a person do in the grocery store! When the meat is in a neat little package and it resembles nothing of its former self they are happy to take it home and cook it up, but I still hear folks who eat meat call the act of hunting barbaric. What gives, folks?
Of the hunters I know, not a one of them holds disregard for the freedom we have to hunt. I’m of the mind that hunters should take their non-hunter friends along for the ride once in a while. I recently had the pleasure of taking my good friend Charlie along with me on a squirrel hunt. He had never even shot a gun before and was excited to venture along. We had a great time, split between him helping me watch the trees in silence and conversation while sitting on a fallen tree; it was just as good, if not better than a night on the town as far as fun is concerned. We even picked some nice Chanterelles along the way, thus increasing his appreciation for the great outdoors even more.
Though I didn’t get a squirrel on this particular occasion, Charlie still had a good time and got to understand the process a little more. It takes work. Hunting is not joy-killing for the ethical sportsman, it’s a way of life; in fact hunting celebrates life if you ask me. Hunting celebrates life outdoors, the human life experience, and the lives of the animals we hunt and eat in order to conserve their populations and keep everything in balance.
To hunt is an innate human trait and one that I’m very pleased to be a part of. After I got my first squirrel I took it home and cleaned it (after putting the kitties in their pen!). The cleaning process is another thing that causes one to have a gentle reflection with life. It’s a humbling experience to clean an animal and prepare it for the skillet. I have cleaned a great many catfish in my day, as well as a few coons, so I wasn’t the least bit squeamish with the idea. Seeing an animal go from jumping through trees to the dinner table is something many folks don’t have the stomach for I reckon, but one I’m glad to experience.
In the years to come I know I will hunt and eat many animals, but this first squirrel will no doubt be in my memory forever. This is the opening of the door to a life of deeper respect and appreciation for the natural world. Though many folks will never understand “the hunt,” I am confident that hunting will only enrich my life and I will be glad to share it with all my non-hunting friends….as for this new organic craze….almost all the meat hunters eat is organic, without the fancy label! Drop that bomb on your non-hunting friends and they might pause, perhaps take out the grocery receipt, think about that 28-cent shot shell and shut their traps!
People who don’t hunt don’t seem to understand the true sportsmanship that comes with hunting. All that time spent walking through spider webs in the humid August afternoons, batting gnats away from my ears and wiping sweat from my brow, and all for one meal, because in the end it’s not only the act of hunting that makes it worth it, it’s the ability to bring home dinner.
For the price of a shot shell, I figure the actual cost of my dinner to be 28-cents: the time and effort involved are no more than exercise and the pleasure of spending time in the great outdoors. It’s a win-win situation. With my fresh kill, which I’ll be calling “fresh harvest” from now on, lying on the ground next to my bag, I looked up into the thick canopy of hickory above me, and thanked not only the squirrel, but the good earth for all her bounty.
This is not something you’d see a person do in the grocery store! When the meat is in a neat little package and it resembles nothing of its former self they are happy to take it home and cook it up, but I still hear folks who eat meat call the act of hunting barbaric. What gives, folks?
Of the hunters I know, not a one of them holds disregard for the freedom we have to hunt. I’m of the mind that hunters should take their non-hunter friends along for the ride once in a while. I recently had the pleasure of taking my good friend Charlie along with me on a squirrel hunt. He had never even shot a gun before and was excited to venture along. We had a great time, split between him helping me watch the trees in silence and conversation while sitting on a fallen tree; it was just as good, if not better than a night on the town as far as fun is concerned. We even picked some nice Chanterelles along the way, thus increasing his appreciation for the great outdoors even more.
Though I didn’t get a squirrel on this particular occasion, Charlie still had a good time and got to understand the process a little more. It takes work. Hunting is not joy-killing for the ethical sportsman, it’s a way of life; in fact hunting celebrates life if you ask me. Hunting celebrates life outdoors, the human life experience, and the lives of the animals we hunt and eat in order to conserve their populations and keep everything in balance.
To hunt is an innate human trait and one that I’m very pleased to be a part of. After I got my first squirrel I took it home and cleaned it (after putting the kitties in their pen!). The cleaning process is another thing that causes one to have a gentle reflection with life. It’s a humbling experience to clean an animal and prepare it for the skillet. I have cleaned a great many catfish in my day, as well as a few coons, so I wasn’t the least bit squeamish with the idea. Seeing an animal go from jumping through trees to the dinner table is something many folks don’t have the stomach for I reckon, but one I’m glad to experience.
In the years to come I know I will hunt and eat many animals, but this first squirrel will no doubt be in my memory forever. This is the opening of the door to a life of deeper respect and appreciation for the natural world. Though many folks will never understand “the hunt,” I am confident that hunting will only enrich my life and I will be glad to share it with all my non-hunting friends….as for this new organic craze….almost all the meat hunters eat is organic, without the fancy label! Drop that bomb on your non-hunting friends and they might pause, perhaps take out the grocery receipt, think about that 28-cent shot shell and shut their traps!