I have been listening to a lot of podcasts over the years. This last year though I have been focused on podcasts that try to tackle hard topics around hunting ethics and the like. Through this time, I have been challenged on a lot of my own opinions and beliefs. It has made me reflect on my “why” and what it means to be a hunter. What it has done is made me dive deep into my own experiences, through my life in the outdoors, and made me open my mind about what the future will bring. There is so much information out there and I am trying to consume as much of it, from multiple sides of the equation, as I can to better myself. I challenge you to do the same.
One topic that continues to resonate with me, and I have discussed it on this blog before, is what makes a hunt successful. It can easily be argued that for many, a successful hunt is taking an animal, whatever animal it is that you are hunting. However, I argue that regardless of whether or not you do, it can still be a successful hunt. To me, regardless of whether or not the hunt ends in the death of an animal it should be a success. If not, then perhaps you need to take a step back and ask yourself what is it you are truly trying to get out of your hunt. It is called hunting and not killing for a reason. So let us be sure to get out there and enjoy the hunt.
I have spent much of my life involved in hunting. From an early age my father and his father alike too me afield to experience all that our wild places can give us. Unfortunately, my grandfather passed away when I was very young and I do not have more than fleeting memories of him. However, my father gave me the same experiences his father gave him. Long before I was old enough to hunt on my own, I accompanied my father on his hunting adventures. In doing so he instilled in me a deep appreciation for the experience that is hunting. There is so much more to the journey than pulling the trigger or releasing an arrow. What defines the hunt is what happens before that.
The adventures my father took me on have truly defined me. We spent countless hours and walked untold miles in the wilderness exploring. Throughout those adventures I learned about how to identified the sign of the many animals in the woods we walked. Not just the deer and other game we may have been hunting. We talked about the various trees and other fauna and it was always so amazing to me how much he knew about the woods. To me he was a great woodsman. It challenged me to want to be the same woodsman he was and to this day I am continually trying to learn as much as I can about the world around me.
Beyond learning about the flora and fauna as we journeyed through those woods, I learned about appreciation for the peace that exists in nature. Often, we could be found sitting on a rock outcropping looking over a river valley, not talking, just absorbing the scene before us. During our early season archery trips to northern Pennsylvania, we would explore long forgotten farmsteads imagining the life of those whose lives we were now intersecting. Sometimes finding an old apple tree, picking an apple and sitting on an old stone fence enjoying the tartness of its flesh as we quietly enjoy the silence of the forest.
If there is one thing that tops the list of lessons I learned during those years, and the years since, is the friendships the were honed during those adventures. Not only the friendship the bonds a father and son, but the deep friendships made with those you share the wilderness with. More often than not the hunt ends with an empty cooler. Today as a man in his early 40’s the only things that have defined my life and friendships more than my time in the Marine Corps are the friendships and shared experiences hunting.
Maybe there were opportunities on an animal that did not end in meat on the plate. Perhaps the days were filled with nothing but the views of the forest around you. However, what was always the case was the fact that our being was overflowing with a deep feeling of content with out spirituality. At least for me that is always the case. Not matter how stressed or overwhelmed with life I may be, the time spent in the wilderness was that which reset the soul and provided me the clarity in my life that I needed. Breaking the shackles of modern society and reminding me that there is more to life than the grind society expects of us. This is what defines a successful hunt, the journey.
