Why we hunt
EXPLORING A TRADITION’S PSYCHOLOGY AND HERITAGE
BRIAN
HOULE
10 | FISH, HUNT RIDE
After hunting season is over, it’s summer and time
to clean our guns, store the gear, and reflect. Over
the years, reflection has been provoked by
questions like “Why do you hunt? or, “Why don’t
you just go to the grocery store to buy your meat?”
What comes to mind are answers that have to do
with heritage, lean meat, adrenaline, and what I call
flow.
Heritage, yes. I’ve been doing it since I was a
young lad. Dad and grandpa both hunted, so birdhunting excursions in the back of the truck were
something we always did in the fall (with our bag of
Halloween Smarties, chips, Aero bars, Kit Kat and
the like). Dad went moose and deer hunting every
year too and eventually I joined him to chase
whitetails. But sadly he passed away soon after, so I
missed out on a moose hunt with him. But my Uncle
Aime took me under his wing and patiently taught
me how to hunt deer.
As I grew older, I realized how much being in the
woods is part of who I am. I feel like a completely
different person and very much at home there. I
remind my boys that nature is how Earth was
intended to be, and anything they experience in the
woods will last far longer in memory than any video
game or social media moment. It’s a reconnection
to the ground roots.
It’s important for us to be stewards of nature as
well. Hunters have played a significant role in
wildlife conservation with the fees we pay and how
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