There is a gratitude one learns as a hunter toward the meal before him.
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In today’s society there is little need for basic survival skills or being in the wild. While men are now raised to be concerned about wearing the right tie or grooming body hair, there are a few that look back at time to find what it really means to be a man. In the last hundred years the role of a man has switched from providing from the land to devoting a majority of his waking hours to a job. The skills of hunting and agriculture for survival no longer apply to many of us. So I asked myself, does this take away from our role as a man?
I wasn’t out there for sport. I was purposely trying to provide for myself and learn how to live off the land.
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A started gardening about ten years ago and learned how to supply myself with fresh vegetables throughout most of the year. So that took care of the agriculture era of human civilization, but what about going further back? This led me to go hunting for the first time last year.
I bought a small game license and headed to the public hunting land. Trekking out into the woods on opening day, I carried my .22 long rifle and set out to make my first kill. Maybe 50 yards into the woods I spotted my first squirrel, and went after it. From the base of the tree I waited for a clear shot, and a minute later the brown furball was dropping through the air. My heart was racing. I was sweating. For a few seconds I was lost at what to do. I placed the lifeless body in my shoulder bag and returned to the trail in search of other tree rats.
By the end of the day I went home with three, and I learned that my experience wasn’t over yet. I still had to clean, gut, and cook what I had killed. I wasn’t out there for sport. I was purposely trying to provide for myself and learn how to live off the land. The fun was over and now I was in the kitchen. I tried soups, baking, and chilies. Some worked well, others didn’t.
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Some may ask why I chose to kill squirrel. I had to start somewhere.
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There is a respect that is learned from hunting. It’s a different mindset from going to the store and picking up a plastic bag filled with meat. Once you let the arrow fly or pull the trigger you are obligating yourself to use that animal in a responsible way.
Some may ask why I chose to kill squirrel. I had to start somewhere. I didn’t know if I saw a deer if I could really pull the trigger. After a few squirrels and getting over the act of gutting and cleaning, killing a deer would just be another step to becoming a proficient hunter. I have passed up raccoons and other animals just because I didn’t know what the hell I would do with it. It’s part of the respect that is learned. Would I want someone to shoot me for fun?
I tried deer hunting, but my first year was unsuccessful. I spotted a few and even had a clear shot only to have a dud in the chamber. More lessons learned. While I was angry and frustrated, I did learn that it was possible for me to bag a deer as long as Murphy’s law didn’t get in the way.
This year I have been fishing for the first time in several years. The skills I learned as a child came back quickly, and for a few weeks I was enjoying a fish fry several nights of the week. The meat of the fish may have been the meal, but the leftover carcass also provided fertilizer for my garden.
The more I learn about how our society functions and how dependent we are on it makes me want to learn more about providing for myself.
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This hunting season I’m venturing out with a bow for the first time. It extends the hunting season and gives me more opportunity to finally bag a deer. I don’t know if it will make any difference or not. It’s a new skill I will have to learn over time. The idea of being in the woods in full camouflage and tracking deer with a bow is exciting. I wonder if my ancestors did the same thing. Granted, even the bow isn’t what cavemen used in order to hunt, but getting back out into the woods and hunting for your meal is still primitive compared to the drive through window.
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Knowing that I could possibly live off the land if needed is an insurance that I wouldn’t pass up. The more I learn about how our society functions and how dependent we are on it makes me want to learn more about providing for myself. When I tell people about hunting squirrel most people respond with a look of disgust and ask, “Do you really eat that?” I usually say it tastes like chicken.
Last year, I went up north to some federal land in Michigan on a hunting trip. Two of us went out into the park for small game and came back with two squirrels. Not enough for three men, but we gutted, cleaned, and cooked those rodents over our fire. The hickory wood we gathered added flavor to the meat since we didn’t bring anything to season it. The smoked flavor of the meat brought an awareness to how simple things like the type of wood could effect a meal. Were the men of old as diligent about what wood they used as cooks are today?
In hindsight, we all wondered why we never thought about bringing fishing gear since there was a lake ride next to our camp site. While two were hunting another could have been fishing and that would have been a meal.
Being out in the woods and learning from the few good days and the many bad that you will have is something you can’t get anywhere else.
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The difference between men today and the men of long ago was that cavemen grew up learning these lessons as children. There was no room for forgetfulness or mistakes such as forgetting one’s fishing gear. Everyone had a role, and food was dependent on them.
There is a gratitude one learns as a hunter toward the meal before him. They chose to take that life and knew from that moment what the future looked like. That disconnect we have with our food is why I stay away from certain foods. I can appreciate a plant that was picked and the hard work that went into it. The slaughterhouses are another story (and another article).
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Finding your inner caveman is a experience I think most men should try to experience. Being out in the woods and learning from the few good days and the many bad that you will have is something you can’t get anywhere else. Patience will serve you well, and I know I’m still learning. There is something relaxing about being out in the woods and becoming familiar with your surroundings. Hunting can appear difficult at first, but like so many other activities in life, you get better over time and end up learning more about yourself.
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Image credit: Lord Jim/flickr
Most of human existence was spent in the fields of Africa hunting and fathering. No money. No jobs except survival. Only past 10000 years with agricultural have we stopped being the same animal that roamed the planet for millions of years.
Well said JD. I sense there is a deep unconscious sadness in most men because we are now basically expendable and unwanted. We often make up for it in grandiosity and violence, but beneath there is the shame of obsolescence.
Thanks for the compelling and thought provoking essay. So much of what makes us who we are is primal – and so much of that primal programming has to be suppressed in order to function in society (as well it should be) but in doing so we lose something basic and important about ourselves as men. We were built the way we are because we have very specific functions. I think most men operate with a vague sense of loss because the functions for which we are genetically programmed no longer exist.