I write this article reluctantly and with an apology because I take no pleasure in sharing this with you, nor am I able to offer a solution. My only satisfaction is in knowing that some day we will become aware of our aberrant behavior and stop, but unfortunately not yet.
The topic is hunting, which I dearly love but no longer do because of my age. From hunting I have learned much about animals, both human and nonhuman, surprisingly since the difference between the two may not be as great as we think. That alleged difference is worthy of a separate article.
I have never hunted turkey, but that’s about it. Everything else found in Mississippi, including snakes, ‘possums, racoons, squirrels, deer, dove, quail and people have been, at one time or at another place, fair game for me.
Rusty was a young boy’s perfect dog, part Collie and part unknown lineage. He intuitively, enthusiastically chased rabbits and treed squirrels during the day and ‘possums at night. He was absolutely wonderful, but I learned far more about hunting when he was not with me.
Some hunting, as currently performed by a few, is fair to the game hunted. I have in mind being completely attired for still-hunting in soft cloth of moderate color, mostly gray with some brown and green; armed with handgun, rifle or shotgun. I am not only in but a part of the woods; perhaps sitting; perhaps moving slowly, quietly, aware of my every step and what is beneath my feet; keeping track of the breeze and certainly the wind; staying in the shade of or behind a tree; not disturbing briars and brush; listening, looking and being one with my environment. It is work--hard, enjoyable work--and I love it for being totally different from everyday, conventional life.
I recall being on our farm early one morning in the bottom behind the pond dam. There was a big hickory nut tree about 30 yards from a hollow den tree that had an entry hole about 10’ up. I was underneath that hickory with daddy’s single-shot .22 Remington rifle before school one fall morning, eagerly awaiting daylight. First the rustling of leaves and the shaking of small limbs in the tree, then a squirrel way up high sitting on a limb in plain view, cutting into a hickory nut. A hurried shot with my .22, but the uninjured squirrel and two others bolted and headed straight for that den tree. Running just behind them I saw all three squirt safely thru that hole. In frustration I stood there and put about ten carefully aimed shots into that hole, rode my sister’s bicycle back to town, dropped everything off at Daddy’s meat market and walked a block to school, sorely frustrated but highly motivated to learn how to shoot.
Mastering any skill requires a minimum of ten years of concerted, dedicated effort, child prodigies exempted. It is fairly easy to become competent in anything, a bit more difficult to be a professional, but absolutely all-absorbing and totally demanding to become a master. Most of us happily settle for less than our ability will allow. I didn’t!
As a young adult I participated in deer hunting with dogs, except that it was only the dogs who hunted. It was fun, but dogs chasing deer through the woods is not a practical way to get something good to eat. My father, who also owned a slaughter house, would require steers to be delivered a day early so they could stay overnight with nothing in their stomach, only water to drink, and time to recover from the stress of their trip.
While on a hunt I remember my father, after overhearing a comment about the small size of the antlers on the buck he killed, replying, “I’ve never eaten a good set of horns.” The listener should have interpreted his comment to mean that an old buck with a huge rack was never as tasty as a young buck with a small one. Since that is true, is it really important for us to emphasize the size of the deer we killed or the number of points on its rack?
There were American Indians who held services to honor and thank for their sacrifice the animals they killed. How far we have fallen from such a sensitive attempt to express appreciation for what was provided us!
As a mature adult I once reconned, alone and in the dark of night, a blown ambush on a narrow Vietnamese jungle trail. All of my learned hunting senses were put to an extreme test that night. Had I been without those skills, I would not have voluntarily gone on that mission, nor would I have survived a fight.
I plead guilty of doing some of the unsavory things discussed in this article including killing deer chased by dogs or feeding on food plots. I also wounded and lost one deer because I used buckshot without patterning it and another because I made a poor rifle shot in fading light. Both losses disturbed me greatly because I knew I had caused unnecessary suffering.
Are we actually hunting when we sit in a box overlooking a field planted with food that deer love to eat. In most instances the box just shields us from the weather, but sometimes it give us the comforts of home including food, water, cell phone and perhaps a small TV. The box usually has a window with a platform for our rifle which has already been sighted-in at several likely distances where our quarry may feed. We shoot and kill with one shot, but sometimes, even under perfect conditions, we shoot and our quarry bolts and runs, hit and hopefully dying shortly thereafter but perhaps lingering for days. No problem. We wait until another one comes along, and shoot again.
We should remember that at least 200,000 years ago we were all hunters and gatherers with basic survival skills. Some of us still have hunting in our blood, even though we seldom need that skill. So now we hunt for fun rather than for survival, placing far less value on the use of the meat than the bragging rights it may provide. Another, less recognized, negative effect of killing the best animals just for show is that we are inadvertently removing those finest animals’ exceptional qualities from the group’s gene pool. Perhaps it is time for all of us to put the “hunt” back into hunting.
Another article will follow that addresses the critical loss of animal habitat and the exploitation and pollution of our streams, rivers, lakes and oceans. Excessive hunting and fishing are only one of the threats to Earth’s creatures, and without those creatures humans will also cease to exist! If for only that reason, I wholeheartedly agree with those who say we should and must leave our World better than we found it! Amen!
Clyde H. Morgan lives in Crossgates in Brandon. He owns Precision Shooting Center at Forest.
