Sportsmen ’ s Alliance members have great stories to tell that speak to the success of conservation and their efforts to continue the traditions of hunting , trapping and fishing . We ’ re proud to share those stories in these pages , as they demonstrate the commitment of citizen huntervationists . The Sportsmen ’ s Alliance recently caught up with Joe Griffin and his mother Wendy to hear how Joe ’ s passion for the outdoors influenced his mother in a profound way . The following is their story , in their words . JOE : I first had an interest in hunting when in third grade . I would read Field & Stream magazines in our school library and , for whatever reason , elk hunting really just spoke to me . I had some friends that were into hunting , but I came from a very non-hunting family .
We had a persuasive writing project at school , and we were supposed to try to persuade our parents . I decided to
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try to persuade my family to let me try hunting . My parents both ate meat but were very strong anti-hunters , my mom more than my dad . My mom was actually a member of PETA . I had to convince her that hunting is not just a means to an end of providing your own food , you ’ re taking a more natural approach about it . When buying meat from the store , it could come from a large-operation farm where maybe that animal didn ’ t have the quality of life that a wild one does .
It turned on a light for her , and she said , “ Yeah , OK , maybe this isn ’ t the worst thing in the world . I still don ’ t like it , but I ’ ll let you try it .” I ’ m sure she thought it was going to be a fad I ’ d forget about in six months . That was more than 20 years ago . Now I work in the hunting industry . I travel all over the country hunting everything that I possibly can . I ’ ve got a 6-year-old son who is also extremely into hunting . Basically , our whole life revolves around it .
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WENDY : Joe has always been able to pretty much get you to do anything he wants to do . He ’ s very good with words . The thing that struck me , and I feel like my face probably just went completely blank , was when he pointed out , “ You know , it ’ d be one thing , Mom , if you didn ’ t eat meat , but you love meat . The meat that you eat might not have had a great life . Whereas the meat that I eat was living a happy life .” I just couldn ’ t argue with that .
I wouldn ’ t look at the animals in the beginning . It just bothered me tremendously . I let him do his thing but said “ keep it out of my sight .” As time went on , and I could see how much it meant to him , I would agree to snap a picture of him with it and then to hang it in the backyard . Bit by bit it started bothering me less . I became proud of what he was doing and shared it on my social media with pictures .
Joe took me on a deer hunt eight years ago , and I told him I might not be able to
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