Why we Hunt

I hunt and I am proud to be a hunter. I hunt because I descend from a long generation of hunters, from the beginning of time, human beings have hunted. We hunt for food, and we hunt for sport, mostly however I hunt because I am a hunter. That is part of who I am. It is a tremendous side of my life, I dedicate many hours in planning, scouting, target practice and actually hunting. And I do so proudly.

I hunt because I enjoy nature, I love watching undisturbed wildlife acting as if I were not there. I enjoy watching sunrises from tree stands and arctic tundra's, I marvel at sunsets over snow capped mountains. I sit in wonder at does and fawns, bull moose and black bears that magically appear when you least expect it. I hunt to be there, and to watch what is going on. I hunt to challenge myslef and my skills against the smartest and wisest of all game animals. I hunt to push myself and my skills. To test my woodsmanship and my ability to execute under pressure.

Sadly, we are loosing hunters in America at an alarming rate. Fewer and fewer young people are being introduced to this wonderful sport. and adults are turning in their guns for golf clubs. In my opinion what is worse is that many "hunters" are loosing their skills and becomeing excellent marskmen. The marketing of hunting has cause many to loose or never learn woodsmanship. THey are content with sitting in a box over a food plot and then brag about what they killed. Sure they killed the animal, but they never hunted the animal. Hunting involves the fullest aspect of the chase. It involves scouting the terrain, determining the best places to be and the best time to be there, it involves understanding animal behavior and then putting all of that knowledge into action to successfully and humanely harvest that animal.

There are many different types of hunters, big game, dangerous game, bird hunters, waterfowl hunters and small game hunters, hound hunters and others. We all are of the same mould, drvien by something inside that fouces us to put ourselves out there where the animals are to have a chance at bagging one of them. There are many different methods of hunting, rifle, shotgun, compound bow, traditional archery, handgun, muzzleloaders, and others and we all use these methods for our own reasons. Personally I hunt in the extremes, I love traditional archery and I love rifle hunting. I have harvested game animals with shotguns and handguns as well. But these are my preferences. What ever your preference that is fine. We all need to allow us to pursue game in our own way (as long as it is legal)

Hunting is a sport. As Larry Weishun says, there are only two sports, hunting and fishing the rest are just games. To be a sportsman is to participate in hunting and fishing.

I am a hunter, and my son's hunt, and I hope my daughters will become hunters, we hunt because we are hunters and we do so proudly and unashamedly.