Hunting

By Brandon

Bang! The silent yet powerful bullet pierces the skin of the prey without leaving anymore than a dime sized mark; the animal drops silently and without pain and becomes a delectable food item for the hunter. This is the type of success that every hunter dedicates their life in trying to achieve and is for some reason frowned upon by many people world wide. To them the idea that someone can enjoy shooting an animal for the sake of meat, thrill, and harmonization with nature is preposterous and despicable. To those people I say picture this, the smooth, soft flow of the word continues day after day, sky ablaze and moon rising like clockwork, yet the balance of life is upset. Animals overpopulate without the work of the hunter; the sick and usually disposed of animals are left to roam around and infect the rest of the herds and packs killing off millions. The meat supply runs thin and humans resort to cannibalism throwing society into a chaotic chiasm of craziness and killing. This is how the great factory that is world would run if the nuts and bolts of the factory, the hunters, were to be loosened and disposed of.
The art of hunting is not just the killing of animals but is the idea of harmonizing with nature and reverting back to the primitive time of hunting and gathering when men did not work to become rich and prosperous but instead worked to survive. I seem to leave the present world behind when hunting and become apart of the grass, trees, animals, and other organic objects that surround my hunting oasis every time I step out into the real wilderness. People who do not spend time outdoors doing such an activity as hunting can not say they know the true meaning of living a life that becomes ripe enough to fall of the tree on its own and be devoured at the end of its time. With hunting comes this ripeness and a spiritual connection with the very core of our beginning and allows the words that formulate in there to be read aloud.


Unfortunately there is the person that calls themselves a hunter who truly does not know what the action really means. Using twenty first century technology like rangefinders, laser dot scopes, and automatic weapons take away from the effect of hunting and any so called hunter caught using these things should be in fact tried in court for murder. Real hunting is using natural weapons of the earth that after being used properly can be bestowed back upon the gracious hands of mother earth to continue living and growing. Real hunting does not mean taking a trophy status animal every time one goes on an expedition, the real meaning of a trophy animal is an animal that one can be proud of taking no matter what size and is taken by matters of fair chase. Real hunting is consuming of all parts of game taken and not killing for the sake of horns, tusks, or antlers. Real hunting is a way of life that is in touch with the most natural, most wild, and most ethical internal functions of the human body.

I believe that we must hunt like the coyote. Yet it is one of the smallest in the dog families and is thought to be a weak creature only capable of scavenging, I believe it is the greatest hunter in the animal kingdom. The coyote kills only what is needs to survive and does not make a stockpile of any leftover meat to save for later but instead consumes every part of its prey’s body including the bones. I have personally seen the coyote stalk a rabbit from four hundred yards away with only the cover of short tan grass and a few bushes in different locations. Only by keenness, stealth, agility, and patience did this coyote obtain his prize allowing me to give him the title of master of hunting. They are not greedy hunters and never take more than they can eat and also never attempt at chasing anything they know they cannot successfully kill. The coyote does not rely on the hunting of others for food as we humans do today and do not rely on foreign objects to power its will to survive. Humans have lost sight of this free lancing will which is why the state of the world is what it is today. Perhaps the studying of the coyote’s habits can restore the greatness of the world, a time of fighting and working for the sake of surviving and not for the sake of greed.



Living is not hunting but hunting is living. One can achieve the rank of living through other outdoor activities and hobbies but some of those activities have muddy depths that can be stirred up by the sloshing of the chaotic world. Hunting can surely be thought of as living without a thought of time, reason, or outside existence. When hunting one does not think about waking up early to go to work the next day or how well the stocks are doing on Wall Street. What really matters when hunting is hearing the soft purring of the dove, the silent swish of the sea like grass blowing in the wind, and the chiseling chirp of the chickaree who basks in the shade of the old oak. My words of wisdom are to go hunting one day without a gun or bow or any other weapon and do not hunt for animals, but hunt for yourself instead.