I’m a hunter who doesn’t kill things

[OnewiththewilD]

I had a thought, what’s in word? And why do we use certain words when a lot of words have similar meanings. I was talking to someone the other day and I mentioned I’m a hunter, and of course the next question to me was” have you ever killed anything?” Well yeah I said, but I harvest animals when I hunt them. The guy I was talking to (who isn’t a hunter) laughed till he realized I wasn’t just using a fancy word as a joke, I said No think about it,you don’t just chop down a tree,you harvest it,you don’t kill a vegetable, you harvest it. Your not taking the tree or potato’s or deer life just cause you want it dead, your taking it from the earth knowing your going to use it to the best of your ability and with purpose, there’s a big difference between saying your killing something or harvesting something. Killing is what you do to the guy who harmed your children,harvesting is what you do to things your using in accord with nature.no different than the beaver who builds the lodge,the deer who eats the plants,and the bear who eats the deer. I’d like all of my fellow hunters and fishermen to refer to things that way. It sets a better example to the younger generation when put that way and to those who in today’s day and age don’t understand why people like us choose to continue these traditions “ when we have grocery stores now” as I’ve heard so often, lol.
Dont kill your animals and fish from now on, Harvest them. 😉

[Ron Kelley]

Hey Jay, I have been using the word harvest. I think it's a frame of mind. I have taken more deer than most but was never a trophy hunter. My father had ten siblings and he harvested more deer than anyone else in the family. We harvested twenty bushells of spuds every fall too. It's what we ate. We ate rabbits too. Uncle Andy, Uncle Al, and My Father Ben.
Ben was home on leave before shipping out during WW2.

[OnewiththewilD]

Thats a great photo Mr.Kelley thank you for sharing it.

[Scorpion68]

Man - does this picture ever bring back fond memories and them be some plump rabbits. UMmmmmm ummmmm - them would go good with biscuits and gravy.

[BabaORiley]

Really cool nostalgic pic Ron. We used to get rabbits all the time. My friends family was full blooded Italian and his Grandma used to make them up in red sauce with polenta....that pic brings back memories...

[2ndoldman]

I like your train of thought. If you hunt to eat you are harvesting.
If you are a trophy hunter you are killing.

[OnewiththewilD]

If your a trophy hunter your only feeding your ego

[JoshinMO]

Jay, I Like The way You think.

[CMD]

I've never been a hunter. But despite my overly rational nature, and some background training in Western science even, I enjoy relating to the world in a sort of animistic manner. I enjoy mythologizing events in my own life, and don't give a rat's petoot if such an approach is frowned on by modern civilized man. It's essentially harmless and in some cases, I believe it and accept it. Accepting signs as it were.

I'll cite this Wikipedia page, and then describe what could very well be an overly idealized idea of how Native Americans hunted game. And if I hunted, this is how I would go about it.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animism

Not long ago, I took a niece on her first arrowhead hunt. Just as she found one, three crows arrived. They landed in a tree and watched us, calling out. Since the crow was the creator god Cantantowwit's messenger, I told her, fully believing it, that this was a good sign, a sign of approval at her and our success. And who's to say it was not? I mythologized an event in my life, and gave the event more meaning.

So, if I were a hunter, I would find meaning in how I believe Native Americans approached this. I would know each animal has a spirit. I believe they felt each species had an overarching spirit. Thus there was spirit of deer, spirit of moose, spirit of each type of life. I would offer a prayer, explaining "I am going to take the life of one of your children, that I may live. I do this with respect, I do this with your blessing, and thank you for my success". Something along those lines.

From the above Wikipedia link:

"Animism entails the belief that "all living things have a soul", and thus a central concern of animist thought surrounds how animals can be eaten or otherwise used for humans' subsistence needs.^[64] The actions of non-human animals are viewed as "intentional, planned and purposive",^[65] and they are understood to be persons because they are both alive and communicate with others.^[66] In animist world-views, non-human animals are understood to participate in kinship systems and ceremonies with humans, as well as having their own kinship systems and ceremonies.^[67] Harvey cited an example of an animist understanding of animal behaviour that occurred at a powwowheld by the Conne River Mi'kmaq in 1996; an eagle flew over the proceedings, circling over the central drum group. The assembled participants called out kitpu ("eagle"), conveying welcome to the bird and expressing pleasure at its beauty, and they later articulated the view that the eagle's actions reflected its approval of the event and the Mi'kmaq's return to traditional spiritual practices.^[68]"

[BabaORiley]

We share some common beliefs....great post...

[OnewiththewilD]

Thank you for the great responce Charlie. I hold many Animistic views myself. I feel if you are in tune with nature the correct ways you should be able to tell if your actions are either right or wrong, nature is indifferent after all, it’s not good or evil, nature is all of it, the flow and balance and the binding that allows everything to be, as everything on earth is apart of nature. We humans bear the blessing and the curse of realizing and placing an emotional attachment to the actions we witness or produce, as many of our actions are unnatural to nature, thus it’s up to us to be ethical and caring in what we do and what we do with it.

[BabaORiley]

There is a hunter and there is a killer. There is a difference...a tremendous difference.

[Tam]

Actually , yes like the thought . The 2 bucks we got this year had so many scraps we didn’t keep the horns . Calcium for the forest critters .
Just food for us . I hope to find the big sheds .
Great pic and like Chuck said yummmmm rabbit .

[sailorjoe]

Hi Jay. Well spoken and I agree but hunting is more than just harvesting for most hunters. I use to hunt but old age and changing interests crept up on me. Lots of hunting that I and my hunting friends that I knew was not just about getting something to eat. It's usually much cheaper to go to the store and buy a duck or goose to eat. With what I spent on training dogs, dog food, vet bills, decoys, blinds, and trips to places far from home, etc. not to mention the special clothing I could have bought several truckloads of food. Then there is moose and other big game. The same can be said for that. Non hunters usually will never understand. Hunting is getting food but it is much more than that. Same for fishing. And yes I harvest if I'm lucky enough or skillful enough. The fun of it is in the pursuit. Pulling the trigger is almost antclimatic.

[OnewiththewilD]

Well that almost goes without saying , the chase is always better than the catch!

[rock ON.]

Great thread about hunting My family and I find great satisfaction in harvesting much of our food from the wild, be it meat or vegetable or fungus or fish as it is natural and untampered with, in fact venison is our beef and if we are lucky to harvest enough, we virtually buy no beef unless we run out, same with fish as we are often lucky enough to catch enough in the winter and spring to last all year. And yes depending where you live it can be much cheaper to buy food at the store, when I first started deer hunting it was so many years before I got my first one that I estimated it cost around $200 a pound after expenses. But now I live in a rural area and harvest food from my own property inexpensively. I too believe that animals have spirits or souls. And on the lighter side if there is reincarnation I would like to be reincarnated as my dog or cat.