I’m A Hunter!

At least in my heart I am. I have never actually been hunting, but I have wanted to for a year, longer really.

I have always known where my food came from and I have never had a problem with it. Well, once when I was about 11. I decided to become a vegetarian because I saw something on TV about the killing of animals and it made me sad. I was not very committed though because on the third night of my conversion my mom made tacos and the smell of the hamburger was too much for me to handle. I am not a big portion eater, but I think I ate 4 tacos that night and have been a carnivore ever since.

When I was younger I did a lot of camping and fishing with my dad. My dad would catch a fish, gut it, clean it, and then cook it.  That never was a problem for me. I wasn’t grossed out. We ate a lot of trout from the Truckee River

On my journey this year I have tried to pin point my thoughts and how I came to be who I was.  I also wondered why I so quickly fell in love with shooting and the life style that surrounds it.  The bad guy thing aside, I am a full fledged gun enthusiast.  A few people have said to me that they are waiting for this gun phase to pass.  They have been thinking once I got over the ordeal of the parking lot, I would slide back into the routine of my life and guns would not be such a central focus. I have bad news for them…Not. Gonna. Happen. 

There is a sense of calm and peace about me now that is separate from feeling like I can defend myself.  It is more like I found a part of me I lost. As a kid, I loved to hike and be outside. I don’t remember being afraid of guns.  I don’t remember it becoming an issue in our home until I was a little older. I think that I allowed myself to become something I really wasn’t. 

I loved my life.  I was happy and confident and didn’t feel I was missing anything.  I had no longing to find a missing part of myself.  I thought I knew who I was and I liked it.  I liked being delicate and soft.  I liked being taken care of.  I identified with that person and I liked her.  I liked her so much it took me sometime to let her go, but I think I have always been more.  I think over time between my violent childhood and the brainwashing of my family, I buried a part of me. I think I am fighter.  I think I am a survivor. I think I am hunter.  I think I always have been.

Once I got over my aversion to guns and all things associated with them, I immediately  said, “I want to go hunting.”

Problem was I didn’t know anyone who hunted. But, now, I do.

The other day I was reading a post by Weer’d and read a comment left by Zercool. He was talking to Weer’d, “Come hunting with me this fall” or something close to that. I then left a comment saying I wanted to tag along. To my surprise and delight, Zerccol said, come! I sent him an email saying I was serious and he said great and sent me a link to his blog where he talks about preparing for a hunt and all that goes into the actual day and what happens afterwards. Very interesting! Beyond excited.

The next day I get a call from my husband telling me his has good news for me. He was talking with a friend who asked about me? How is the wife kind of thing. My husband tells him I very well and that I am a now a gunnie. He tells him I am all pumped up to go hunting later this year with new friends. My husband’s friend is completely blown away because we haven’t seen each other in years and he remembers me fondly, but he also remembers me as a “delicate” prim and proper, not a violent bone in her body kind of gal.  Anyway, he tells my husband, “I will take her hunting.”

He has some books on hunting he wants me to read and then his plan is to take me along with him on his hunts.  I think my husband is going to come too.  He says we can hunt for turkey and deer, which apparently are much smaller than the deer where I will, hopefully, be hunting with Zercool. He says a person has to shoot 6 Virginia deer just to make a sandwich. He also hunts dove and black bear. Don’t know that he has ever shot a black bear, but they do have bear on Quantico and it is legal to hunt to them.  I think it would be hysterical if the first year I went hunting I saw and shot a black bear. Don’t laugh…I dream BIG people.

Now, I need to sign up for a Hunter’s Safety Course, get my licenses, get a gun or two and do lots and lots of reading.  I am living the life!!

44 thoughts on “I’m A Hunter!

  1. Hunting is more than likely an area of guns and marksmanship I’ll never venture into – I have a hard time justifying the sport in it. I truly believe and understand God put animals on this Earth for us to consume. If I were dependant on hunting to feed myself and my family, I’d do it in a heartbeat, without hesitation. But killing for the sake of marksmanship? Killing for the “sport” of it? I don’t understand, and I don’t believe I ever will.

    I remember many years ago – seeing my husband off as he was headed out in the middle of the night to go goose hunting on the Eastern Shore. He had to be there at sunrise. This was well before I became interested in guns and shooting. I said to him “Have a great time; don’t kill anything!” This phrase stuck with him. To this day, he’ll occasionally say it to me as I’m headed out the door to the grocery store.

    Have a good time, AGirl. Don’t kill anything! *hug*

    • Maura, I intend to eat whatever I shoot. I can’t imagine that I will actually shoot anything, but I thinksnitnis important that if I eat meat, I take responsibility for killing it. I think it is rather selfish of me to ask someone else to do the dirty work. I am in no way saying that anyone else is selfish if they choose not to hunt, but for me, it’s important.

    • “but I think it is important that if I eat meat, I take responsibility for killing it.”

      This is definitely something I respect, and even understand to a large degree. Taking responsibility for what you do and how you go about doing it is the mark of a strong human being.

      There is a famous Robert Heinlein quote:
      “A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly.”

      I would say your next step into hunting your food qualifies you…

    • Not a big fan of hunting for trophys’ sake, either, but most of the hunters I know hunt for the food, fun, and fellowship. Nuttin quite like sittin around a campfire, reenacting the “beans” scene from “Blazing Saddles”, scratching that which itches, and just having a great time, and bringing home some choice cuts (hopefully) at the end of the weekend. I’ve had some SERIOUSLY good deer and boar sausage that was brought in to work by one friend. Hunting to help supplement the grocery list I can respect.

    • This is the second person to talk to me about scratching myself in public. Since I am not a boy, I think I will skip this bonding ritual, but I am on board with the rest of it.

    • Maura: I absolutely respect where you’re coming from. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: you can’t eat antlers. 😉 That said, I do have a deer head in the kitchen; it’s not about the trophy so much as the memories that went with that particular evening in the woods.

      I’m fortunate enough that I can hunt for sport, and don’t HAVE to supplement my diet with wild game – but the truth of the matter is, I much prefer how game tastes over anything I can get in the store. When I take a deer, I KNOW what its last meal was – because I can open the rumen and find out. I KNOW it hasn’t been treated with growth hormones, antibiotics, been standing knee-deep in feces at a feedlot… So yes, I am, to a certain extent, hunting for sport – but there’s a lot more to it than that.

      I hunted as much as life allowed last fall – dozens if not hundreds of hours in the woods over the course of the season – and brought … nothing. Burdocks, bug bites, tired feet, a lot of mud, and not an ounce of meat. But I wouldn’t trade it for the world, because that time in the woods belongs to me. I know (anecdotally) of guys who “went hunting” with their group for years, and never got a deer … he finally got found out: he never took a single round of ammo with him. He just sat in the woods and watched the world go by. God bless him for it.

      (All that said, I’ll reiterate: I understand where you’re coming from. Being able to pull a trigger and take a life is a difficult decision.)

  2. Good post! I’m not meant to take animals lives. However I’m prepared to if my life or my family’s lives are threatened. I’ve always had a really huge soft spot for animals. I am very surprised I do eat meat. But the thought of being a Vegan doesn’t sound like it would be fun either but a person has to eat. So I’m sort of stuck in a rock and a hard place when it comes to all that. As long as I don’t see it or hear about it I’m fine in most aspects.

    Have you ever thought about taking up Archery. Now I know it doesn’t go BOOM but it’s a pretty fun sport also.

    • I actually am not a big animal person which is rare. Most hunters are.(not that i am really a hunter) They love them. I would never abuse an animal or kill it for the sake of killing. If I see a dog or cat, I love on them and I think animals in the wild are beautiful, but I am not a zoo kind of person. I don’t really care if people wear fun or leather and I am not really against animal testing. I think it is cruel to test say perfume on an animal, stupid, who cares, but life saving drugs for people, I don’t have an issue.

      I would love to learn how to do archery.

    • Good luck in your journey down this road. Now I’m thinking about learning how to knife throw haha (I know your learning to fight with a knife but throwing is also interesting to me) Saw that on Top Shot and it really caught my attention. Your a bad influence on me haha just joking.

    • Or do it my way: get lots of good warm layers of whatever color and then a cheap blaze orange vest that you don’t care if it gets torn/stained/bloody because replacing it is about $9 at Walmart (and those things just add character anyways). 😉

  3. Old NFO is dead right. a hunting course is a must! it’s one thing to know how to shoot a couple of targets with a glock in your hand – it is totally another thing to hunt and to fire weapons at an animal that you intend to eat. do you know how to field dress an animal? Zercool can teach you all of that but there is way more to hunting then just shooting something. and once that something is shot – you need to know what to do in order to not let it bleed out too fast to be of any good to you. i am getting in to all kinds of things here that a good hunting course, and a good friend like Zercool can help you with.

    oh and i hate to brag – but my jambaloney can fire a ben pearson cougar re-curve from both the right and the left. trust me – that’s impressive! and his aim is dead on! makes me so proud, he does!

    your friend,
    kymber

    • No. No I don’t know how to do any of it and be safe and responsible is why I haven’t gone hunting. I will definitely take the class and read and ask questions and do what I am told to do, so that I am being responsible and safe for myself and every one involved.

      Thank you for your advice and I bet your husband is mighty impressive!!,

    • oh on – i just re-read my comment and then your reply and it sounds like i am coming off of some high and mighty ground and that is not what i meant at all. i meant that a hunting course can teach you so much – just like a self-defense course or a weapons course. i meant that think of all of the stuff that you have learned and how much of it that you weren’t even aware of prior to the course – a hunting course is just like that! and Zercool is going to be able to give you practical, hands-on, first person experience and there is nothing in the world better than that.

      seeing the way you took to carrying – i think you’ll be takin’ down a bear or two in no time!

      your friend,
      kymber

    • kymber! I find you to be one of the most geniuon and thoughtful people around. I did not take offense to what you said. I just wanted to ensure you that I would take it serious.

      I am thankful for the advice I get and if ever you tell me something, I will be listening!

      I am beyond excited to have someone like Zercool willing to teach me and others. I am a very blessed woman.

    • teehee. you sure are lucky! you’ll start with bears and move on to mountain lions and black panthers in no time…and you’ll be able to field dress ’em on the spot!!!

  4. I am not a hunter. I know a few, all fine folks, including a couple of women. I understand it, and the whole food chain thing.
    You state ‘I liked being delicate and soft’. I’m certain in the correct circumstances you still are! Ask your husband. This doesn’t mean you cannot become a skilled, knowledgeable hunter. I say go for it!

    • Nothin sexier than a soft, delicate woman who isn’t afraid to load her own mags and carries her body-weight in meat/hide. Keep your emaciated stick-figure supermodels, gimme that “girl next door” with the wicked rifle any day!

  5. You are right. She is soft and delicate. Mr. AGirl aka The Husband, the Marine, #1fan.

  6. This makes me so happy, Agirl. It’s like you’re growing before my eyes. I’m so thrilled you will have someone to show you how and are also planning on taking hunter education courses (that’s required now in Texas). Having taken out many new hunters, including women and children the best piece of advice I can give is not to push it. Even when the deer is in your scope, if you think it’s not ok for you, don’t push it. If you’re ready you will know. I bet you’ll do great. I know Zercool will have this covered, but my email is always open if you have questions.

  7. I’ve been hunting, but I haven’t actually gotten anything yet. I skinned a squirrel though, so there’s that. It was still warm and everything. I got tickled at the thought of someone driving down the other drive as I came out of the woods with a hunting knife in one hand and my hands covered in blood from disposing of the entrails.
    We ate it too. Teenbot, apparently, loves grilled squirrel.

    • I’ve only taken a few squirrels, and have quickly decided that .17HMR is too much gun. Stick to .22LR or small birdshot. I *did* eat what I took, though – by turning them into stock. A squirrel carcass in a large stockpot with the usual assortment of onions, carrots, celery, etc makes for a phenomenally rich broth.

  8. Yay for Hunting! I’ve been hunting since I was in my late teens, and it is an experience literally unlike any other. A lot of people find it hard to understand. Good luck!

  9. This is gonna be good. Can’t wait for this fall.

    Good luck.

    (and yes, VA deer are relatively tiny)

  10. One of the books you might read is “Meditations On Hunting”
    by Spanish philosopher, Jose Ortega y Gasset.

    Another is “Horn Of The Hunter” by Robert Ruark.

    I spent a lot of time hunting ruffed grouse last fall and killed
    just one bird. Would still not trade the time spent for anything.

  11. OMG! I want soooo bad to learn to hunt. Not for the sport, but to be able to put food on the table for the family. One ambition I have is to learn to bow hunt..archery is on my short list of things to do….

  12. Well when you’ve done all of that you can come shoot roos with me 🙂 They’re great eating too (don’t believe anything OldNFO tells you)

  13. Ooooooo….’roo is good! Hit Perth once, waaaaay back in my Navy days, found some BBQ’d kangaroo on the menu at Rosie O’Grady’s (receipt even called it “Skippy”, so it had a name! Makes it feel…personal, ya know?). Some of the best meat I’ve ever had!

  14. c’mon down to Lower Alabama for some real hunting. the deer horns are wonky so there’s not many trophies, per se, but you can stock up on venison in short order! oh, and for the ladies, scratching is optional.

  15. Started hunting about a year after I picked up my first gun, so about two years ago. Got porcupine and grouse and ptarmigan. Tried for bear, but no luck.

    Fun story, when I was wanting to learn how to skin a bear, the local Sportsman’s Warehouse was advertising a bear skinning class. I showed up, expecting pictures in a back room or something. Nope, up pulls a truck to the front of the store and they rolled the bear right out on the sidewalk in front of all the folks walking to Sams Club. Fun times!

    Hunting down in the southeast seems to be way different than hunting in Alaska though. I’m trying to get it figured out before deer season!

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