"Waiting to Kill" article in TBM

[purehunter]

#4221

My hat’s off to Dave Petersen for this article. I haven’t read much that he’s written other than the posts on this website so I wasn’t familiar with his writings. I started reading and was sort of just enjoying the article for its “feel good-in touch with Mother Earth” tone.

Then I got to the end and the last line gave me a BIG smile! That line made it clear as a bell for me. I don’t hunt for the pleasure of killing…but I do kill, not “harvest”, not “take”, not “submit to taking”. For whatever reason, his words made me say “I am a HUNTER”.

Thanks Mr. Petersen,

Purehunter

PS
Now I have to get -Man made of Elk-!

[Patrick]

#28316

purehunter wrote:
PS
Now I have to get -Man made of Elk-!

You most certainly do! I’m reading it right now, and it is fantastic. I LOVE his style of writing. I’ve been giving away the books I’ve read that I didn’t care for. His will not be one of them. Besides, he signed it for me 8)

PS Buy it from his site so he makes the money, rather than Amazon.com, etc.

[purehunter]

#28383

Good point Patrick. I will make sure to get it from his website. Go straight to the source! DYI book buying 🙂

[bates777]

#29189

Petersen alway’s has it right. He speaks to my soul through his writing. Wish he would just sit in his outhouse and write for me but then he wouldn’t have all those great stories to tell. 😯

[T Downing]

#29552

I enjoyed Waiting to Kill as well. I am fortunate enough to have read all of Dave’s work and this piece ranks up there with some of his best writings. It was authentic and simple. Two characteristics that exemplify traditional bowhunting at its core. Oh, one last thing, for those hunters who love elk, you must read, Man Made of Elk. Easily the finest book on bowhunting elk I have ever read. True elk hunting comes alive within the pages and it will inspire you to hunt and love these wonderful animals.

[George D. Stout]

#37816

I like Dave’s writings. But don’t dismiss the word harvest; it is a different word with a different meaning than kill, and they can be used together or alone quite well.

You see you can kill without harvesting the animal, and that is something you want to avoid. You can’t really harvest a deer without killing it…unless you are trapping it and that is quite unlikely. Harvest is a term meaning you reaped what God has sown for us. You didn’t just kill it, you brought it home to use.

[SteveMcD]

#37971

George I have to agree with you there. But, I’ve also read enough of Dave’s writings to know. The “act” is killing and we should not dismiss that part either. There are some fundamental interpretations here that mean different things to different people.

My mindset is.. I don’t go out and set to “Kill”. Because, kill is not only so abosolute and final it just has negative connotations. Bad Karma, Bad Vibes. But, nor do I harvest, even on the farm, I “harvest” corn but I “slaugther” the cow.

I go out hunting to “TAKE” an animal. Because, when the gods are smiling and the stars are aligned. It is a GIFT. For hunting hard, abiding by the rules of fair chase, and demonstrating through conscientious thought and actions respect for the animal and it’s environment.

So I have a different twist. But that’s nothing new! 😆

[George D. Stout]

#38820

Steve, it’s about context. I don’t dismiss anything…especially the word kill. I’m not the one who hates the word harvest….or more likely doesn’t understand it to begin with . Some folks see the word harvest as some attempt to whitewash the kill concept. It’s not….and it has been used by the Pa. Game Commission for over eighty years to describe the annual deer kill.

If you didn’t harvest the meat from the cow you killed, then you simply wasted it. Different meanings and not mutually exclusive. I believe folks would be better to take the time to explain the terms as they apply, rather than get their shorts in a wad over semantics.

I kill and harvest my animals. Pretty simple.

[Mark Turton]

#38834

How about ‘taking a surplus from a sustainable resource’

Now if that were apples you would pick them but in the case of deer or any other animal you must kill it.

I guess the moral high ground is that as a hunter you have not delegated the responsibility of killing and butchering to someone else and in doing so you impact nature and the environment less than farming, transport, slaughterhouses, supermarkets and all else that goes into farm reared meet.

Might be going off on a tangent again, Mark.

[Treetopflier]

#38854

Well we seem to be harvesting, I mean hijacking, the original thrust of this thread, but that’s the nature of conversation. More than once in his writings Petersen has stated that he feels that the term “harvest” allows hunters to euphemize the fact that we are taking the lives of fellow animals, killing in fact, and that it’s important for us to “call it like it is” to ourselves as well as the public in order to gain the wisdom of strong ethics and respect for ourselves and our prey. Game departments like “harvest” because they feel it sounds better to the public. Petersen avoids the term, as I interpret him, because he wants to face and deal with the controversial issues of hunting, rather than euphemize them. George, I just don’t see it as that big an issue and really nothing to argue about. Discuss, sure, but twisted knickers aren’t called for. 😉 Snuffs

[Mark Turton]

#40166

Euthanize, now there’s a word that needs to be dealt with, just checked the spelling and found this ‘from the Greek meaning “good death”. Now if that’s not a word that’s used out of turn I don’t know what is.

Mark.

[George D. Stout]

#41441

Snuffy, shorts aren’t wadded, but thanks. We still tend to not understand why the term is used, but that’s fine I suppose. And the Pa. Game Commission was using the term before political correctness took over our society, so to say that they use it to make it sound better is not correct. They simply use it to define game harvested…killed and taken.

Now…you all go kill something. I will agree to not always agree with what my friend Dave Petersen writes. I love the guy, but I know he won’t hate me for disagreeing now and then.:wink:

[David Petersen]

#41637

No problem, George! That’s why I don’t wear knickers! 😀 I just came back from trying to kill/harvest/euthenize a turkey but as usual they have me outsmarted. Doesn’t take much. Dave

[George D. Stout]

#43605

Yeah, Dave…it’s amazing how something with a brain the size of a pea can look like Einstein in the woods. 😕 They have my number for sure.

[mittenm]

#48739

Whether we kill or exsanguinate with broadheads, I second your recommendations of Dave’s writing. I may not agree with every thing he writes (he may not agree with all that I say either), but he certainly challenges my thinking and gets me to change my behavior from time to time.:>) Dave has a purpose and I’m grateful for that. Mike

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