Hunters Beware

For the purpose of the book fishing will be dealt with as hunting since they are same.  The reasons people fish are the same as reasons people hunt, only the prey is different, as its habitat is water.  The equipment used to harvest them is different also; rods, reels, lures, and nets instead of guns and decoys.  While most so called gun hunters fish not all so called fishermen hunt.  When a group of so called fishermen are asked, “Do you hunt?”  Some will answer, “I don’t like guns, I couldn’t take a gun and shoot a pheasant or a rabbit, but I like to fish.”   “But sir,” I would respond, “you are a hunter; you seek out the prey (fish), lure it in close, subdue it, kill it and hopefully eat it.”  Admit it, we are all hunters and we do it because we like it.  When hunters are asked, “Why do you hunt?”  They usually reply, “I don’t know why I hunt but I know I like it”, then after a brief pause they will begin listing reasons for leaving a nice warm bed at the break of dawn and often face cold weather and discomfort to satisfy their primeval urge to survive and bring home meat for the table, clothing and protection.  Some of the reasons given are;

I like the taste of wild meat: This is a good excuse to go hunting, but is not a good reason to hunt.  You can buy better tasting farm raised game at the meat market.  Sometimes wild meat does taste good but more often than not it doesn’t.  Wild meat can be tough, stringy and tasteless, usually because the housewife who has to prepare the game has had little experience in cooking meat that is often lean and tough.  But don’t blame her, you’re the one who brought home the tough old buck or the goose that had been flying back and forth from Canada for the past 15 years.  For guaranteed good eating bring home a tender young doe or the small goose that was flying at the end of the formation. It is probably his first flight and he is still tender.  The old ones are out in front breaking the air currents for the youngsters in the rear. They are the tough ones.

The “Macho man” excuse: To prove his masculinity in a sophisticated world. This is an attempt to prove his ability to protect his family and maintain his standing in a society which no longer needs physically strong protectors.  He hunts for trophies to hang on the wall and has pictures of game in his wallet, usually taken when he was a young hunter or fisherman.  I know this because my den wall is full of trophies and photos.

 The camaraderie excuse: This is a rapidly growing excuse to hunt.  Men like to join with others with the same interest.  They get together to drink, tell stories, joke and make fun of one another and other manly things.  Very often this means getting away from it all, the pressures of the demanding or boring job, bad boss, nagging wife or just to recharge the old batteries.  

The “Big Brother” excuse:  “An older brother or father was a hunter so I became one.”  Getting started in hunting very often is a learning experience and we copy others.    That is how I got started.

Love of Nature: These people like to get out in the woods and observe the animals and hunt with a camera and, if fishing, they release the catch.  They pick the occasional wild mushrooms, huckleberries and herbs.  This is a good reason.

I like to kill:  This is a poor reason to hunt, but it is there.  Rarely will a man admit it, but some do.  This type becomes very apparent when you are in a hunting situation like a duck blind or any shooting situation.  They will shoot first, shoot at anything that moves and shoot at game out of season.  True hunters shun and avoid this type of personality.  He is an explosive type, releasing pent up frustration and anger in the only way and place he is able to.  He certainly cannot do this at his home or in his work environment.  This is a poor excuse to hunt.

Customer relations:  Many firms use hunting and fishing as a form of entertainment to further their business aims. Nothing softens a customer or a potential client like an expense paid hunting /fishing trip.  It worked well for me.  Since hunters have a difficult time explaining their reasons for going hunting just imagine how hard it is for the non-hunter to understand why he does it.

In the beginning God created all living things.  On the 6^th day He created man and said “Bear rule over the animals of the earth, the birds of the air and the fishes of the sea.”  With this admonishment man’s dominion over the animals of the land, birds of the air and fishes of the sea was established and is in effect to this day and cannot be changed.  It is God’s Law.  In plain words man can do what he wills with all the living creatures.  He can hunt them for food, use them for work, keep them for pets and yes even use them for research.