Hunting's a way to survive, a hobby, a lifestyle, a way to spend leisure time, to be with people, to eat organic meat.
It's the pursuing of game and so much more than the previous sentence lays out. I say "game" because to me I desire to eat what I pursue, and am anxious to cook game meat. After all, my ultimate goal of my hunting adventures to to bring food home. Remember, because it's called hunting, bringing home game is not always the case.
Hunting's intriguing to me because it allows me to go into the natural world and gives me a choice of how much technology I want to bring with me. Being in the woods reminds me of a time when the technological advances of today were yet to be discovered.
Yet, it's intriguing for another reason; the responsibility of a gun or bow, to load and unload, nock and un-nock, to know I have the chance to take a shot, and what shot is worth taking, or not worth taking.
I hope that when I do have a buck hanging at my place, my focus on hunting will still be in this raw state and not tied up with bragging over the animals I have taken.
As a sportsman most of my experiences, and expertise lie in fishing, in memories with family, and personal discoveries. I catch more fish than shooting animals. Over the years I have spent more time by the water than in the woods. So hunting is another way to enjoy the sportsman within me. It provides learning about new gear, and going after creatures moving on the land.
There's so much more to explore, like the responsibility to wisely use an animal. Animals have been given to us and why stewardship and conservation ought to be found in hunting and the sportsman, and why hunting is more than just killing.
It's good to explore what hunting means to you and how you can talk about it, and how you relate to hunting.
