Hunting Sense

DISCLAIMER: The following posts may be offensive to some hunting ideals. I state upfront that it is only my opinion, and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of your regular blogger.

Reading this post may cause: Increased blood pressure, headache, bouts of outrage, numbness, intense dislike, heart or kidney failure, and a desire to thoroughly throttle ‘the wife’. If, at any time, you find yourself suffering from any of these afflictions, please discontinue reading immediately, take a deep breath, and go for a walk…except in the case of heart/kidney failure. For those, see your damned doctor–something is seriously wrong.

Awhile back, Cliff wrote an entry on the reasons I wouldn’t want him going bear hunting. In part, he’s right, I would worry about his safety. It took me 30 years to find him and I’m not quite ready to give him up, just yet. But his safety isn’t the only reason (besides, any kind of hunting comes with its own set of risks, right?).

The other side of it is, I don’t have enough interest in eating bear meat to justify, in my mind, the kill (should he make one, of course). Sure, I’d try it because it’s there, but for that, I can purchase some rather than killing an entire animal. He’s countered this with, “Well, we could give it to someone who would.” I can’t disagree with that, however, I can’t help but think, why do it then? What if I don’t like it? Is your desire to try hunting bear, coupled with my, “Sure, I’ll try it since it’s here.” really a good enough reason to kill a bear? I just don’t think so.

(EDIT: Apparently my ignorance of hunting law was showing in my thinking I could buy bear meat. I’ve discovered, since making this post, that it is illegal to buy or sell wild game, except under very specific circumstances. I in no way endorse the breaking of any laws. I’ll have to amend my post to say that if a regular bear meat eater were to offer me a taste, I’d try it.)

Now, if I were to try bear meat and discovered I liked it enough to want to add it to our regular diet, everything changes. Then, and only then, would I believe there’s a legitimate reason for the hunt, and subsequent possible-kill*. I just can’t live with the idea of hunting for the sake of seeing if you can take down a large (or small) animal. To me, that’s no better than killing for the fun of it. Although, I will add to that–I do understand the desire to challenge oneself, this case being the hunter pitted against an incredibly strong animal on the animal’s turf. I can see the draw there, but I can’t agree with it.

So, there it is. My reasoning. I’m new to the hunting scene, and I’m trying to overcome a lot of my former ideas about it, but I have to see there’s a reason for the hunt beyond, “Because I want to.” to accept it. In the case of Cliff bear hunting, I just don’t see one**.

*For the record, I’m happy to cook Cliff whatever he wants, when he wants it. I’m just not ready to do it simply to consume or justify a kill…especially if I don’t like it.

**I would never stop him from going bear hunting if it was something he felt strongly about doing. I may not be happy about his going, and I would worry, but I’d welcome him home with open arms and cook him his bear meat with a…semi-smile. After he showered, of course.