Even as a "newbie" hunter at age 12, I felt kinda sorry for the first rabbit I ever shot... and as the years piled up and I hunted big game, I never liked the killing, but rather I liked the good (very accurate) one-shot kill. However, once the game was "down", I wished it was alive again and could get up and run away.
Then I took a fly-in moose hunting trip into an unnamed lake in the deep Canadian bush where I shot a very large bull moose with a 5-foot+ antler spread that stood 6-foot+ at the shoulder, I stood there looking down at that magnificent animal and mentally questioned "WHY?"... i.e., what was gained by this death?
As I stood there, looking down at this beautiful animal, I began to realize that this big fella had survived at least 7 or 8 frigid Canadian winters plus 'most likely attacks by wolves and possibly even attempts by a "Mr. Griz" or two to make several "meals" outta him... and then this guy (me) from Ohio, USA dropped down on the lake in a float-plane, stepped off on the shore at a hunting camp by the lake and, the next morning out of a canoe, shot & killed this moose... it suddenly all seemed ridiculous and for nothing!
I stopped hunting for several years after that... and never shot another game animal even though, 20 years later, I trekked 350 miles for the next 15 years over to my good friend's deer camp hunting out of his cozy cabin up on the High Plateau among the mountain laurel in the Moshannon State Forest in north-central Pennsylvania.
I saw a good many deer during those 15 years of going to deer camp, but never fired my rifle even though I looked through the scope at several deer, but only whispered "
BANG!", but never touched the rifle's trigger.
I don't mind if other fellas still hunt and kill deer or other game... but after the moose, the killing stopped being something I wanted to do although I truly enjoyed my time-in-the-woods and the camaraderie of hunting camp.
Strength & Honor...
Ron T.
