The ones with spots taste better...at least that's my excuse.
I hunt because I'm drawn to it. But it's not just the hunting, it's the totality of the adventure. I'm drawn more and more to the context of hunting and the actual killing part of it grows a little bit smaller each year. I love being out in nature, I love the unknown of every morning and the questions that reside behind every hill or unexplored part of a property. Trophies outside of big or rare animals exist and they are the texture of the adventure. Without those even the biggest animal would be bland and dimensionless. The simple fact that this land was here long before I set foot on it and will exist long after I'm gone tells me I'm part of a great story. I want to know as much as possible about that history and I want to involve myself as much as possible in the writing of its future.
There is so much to be seen and learned and hunting gives me a chance to participate on my terms. I'm away from my desk, my responsibilities, and not moving at 70 mph. I take a gun to insert myself in to this world in a consequential way. The ultimate goal is meat or even a trophy, but despite those tangible gains benefitting me directly, they really serve to extend the adventure beyond the present and that allows me to last until the next season begins.
Hunting used to be about survival, and now with our grocery stores and "solved" lives one could assume we have rendered the survival aspect null and void. However, I don't know if I could survive without it, let alone thrive. It's so necessary to my existence.
