Last week, thanks to a birthday gift of time and a guide, I went elk hunting for the first time and clipped my tag at the end of a long, frigid day with biting winds. After nearly nine hours of following a herd across steep terrain, my legs felt stiff and incapable of one more step, my toes had long since lost all feeling, and my fingers only functioned thanks to the ample supply of hand warmers I’ve learned to pack when hunting.
This is beautiful, Nia. I received a hunting rifle years ago determined that, if I am going to eat meat, I need to kill it myself. I've never aimed it at a living thing. Now as I get older, and my friends who do hunt tell crazy stories every year of growing crowds at the places they hunt, I begin to think I never will. It is just another of the deep sadnesses thrown onto the heap of ones I carry around.
Also, thank you for not posting the obligatory, "Here is me with my dead animal" photo. I hate those.
I love this so much. I went elk hunting - once - in Southern Colorado a little over twenty years ago. It was a wild and wearying this, but I really do think a lot of the overall lessons learned were incredibly important. I don't know that I'll ever hunt again - it's hard to find what I would call "ethical" hunting in Arkansas - but I also don't know that my appreciation of the Earth and the creatures that we eat would even be possible without that experience.
This is beautiful, Nia. I received a hunting rifle years ago determined that, if I am going to eat meat, I need to kill it myself. I've never aimed it at a living thing. Now as I get older, and my friends who do hunt tell crazy stories every year of growing crowds at the places they hunt, I begin to think I never will. It is just another of the deep sadnesses thrown onto the heap of ones I carry around.
Also, thank you for not posting the obligatory, "Here is me with my dead animal" photo. I hate those.
This story is lovely and amazing. Thanks for writing it.
The hunting part is foreign to me -- something that I'd never think about nor truly understand, but you've spun gold here, and I appreciate it.
I love this so much. I went elk hunting - once - in Southern Colorado a little over twenty years ago. It was a wild and wearying this, but I really do think a lot of the overall lessons learned were incredibly important. I don't know that I'll ever hunt again - it's hard to find what I would call "ethical" hunting in Arkansas - but I also don't know that my appreciation of the Earth and the creatures that we eat would even be possible without that experience.