Reply To: Why do you hunt?

[David Coulter]

#36449

Firehawk,

This one is easy to know and maybe not easy to explain. I’ve always hunted. My father taught me to hunt and I just loved it right off the bat. The searching, the looking, the seeing and finding. I love all the skills involved. When I was a kid there were no compound bows. You hunted with a rifle, shotgun or a recurve. I don’t thing I actually knew anyone who hunted with a bow, except my buddy in high school, and we didn’t have a clue. So I put my Browning Wasp recurve in a corner and forgot about it for thirty some years. When I ran into a guy I knew and didn’t know he bowhunted he invited me over to go stumping. Out came the Wasp and I got a couple of arrows and judos and we hooked. I thought briefly about getting a compound. It looked more accurate and maybe would get me ahead of things quicker. That thought faded quickly. A bow is a stick of sorts and a string. I live surrounded by technology and just didn’t want it following me into the woods. Ironically, I use a laminated r/d longbow and ufoc arrows, so I suppose I’m not a purist.

I pull the bow and it pulls me. It’s quiet. I love quiet now more than I love noise. With a trad bow it has to be close. I still hunt with a rifle some, but it’s not the same for me anymore. That stick and sting thing is a passion. It’s something you can learn well enough to enjoy in an afternoon and it’s also something you can spend a lifetime learning more about.

The venison is a wonderful bonus. Living the traditional way has also helped me appreciate the value of the life that gives the meat. I’ll take a fresh road kill now and never would before, because we can use the meat and I feel it’s a disrespect to let it go to waste. Of course, the worms gotta eat, too.

Thanks for this thread. Let’s hear your thoughts, too. best, dwc