Hunting Sense

Today’s post brought to you by Cliff’s wife.

Hi, all.

It may, or may not, come as a surprise that I (Cliff’s wife) am not a hunter. I’m not even all that supportive of the hunting community in general, which has brought up some interesting discussions (of the non-yelling variety) in our house.

Indulge me in a little background: I wouldn’t say I come from a family of hunters, but it was always there in the background. My grandfather, my father, my uncles, and even some cousins would, every year, head off to one of their favourite hunt camps for a week of…well, whatever it was they did there. In all my life, I can only ever remember one time going myself (as a very young girl), but there are oodles of pictures of the boys and their kills in the family photo albums. Even when my grandfather was ‘too old’ to go hunting, the boys would invite him along, if for no other reason than to be a part of the experience (a.k.a bonding) at the camp.

Still, I can’t remember there being a time where any of the wives, sisters or daughters were included in this yearly trek (I’m sure there were in bygone years, but I think it dwindled out). I can’t complain about it, but I have to wonder if my perceptions of hunting would be different had I been more ‘educated’ as a youngster.

While I’m not overly supportive of the hunting community itself, I can appreciate the rich history of hunting, and believe it has a lot of valuable things it can teach the younger generations. It’s for this reason I’m fully supportive of Cliff teaching our children the merits of hunting, and hopefully pass on some of his skills. The one addendum I’ve put in there is: This isn’t a boys club. If you’re going to pass this on, you do it for all our kids, not just our boys. Our daughter can learn just as much from hunting as our two sons. She may turn out like me; she may rib the hell out of Dear Ole Dad about hunting, but at least she’ll be educated when she does it. Fortunately, hunting has never been a Boys Only Club in Cliff’s family, and it didn’t take too much persuading on my part.

What I lacked knowing as a child, and what I’ve come to understand over the years is, there is much more to hunting than the ‘thrill of the kill’. Survival skills, appreciation for the skill of the animal, appreciation for nature itself–these, among countless other things, are vital aspects of hunting that everyone could use a little more educating about–even some so-called ’seasoned hunters’ out there.

I doubt I’ll ever become a hunter myself, but through a little education, tolerance, and a heavy dose of patience, Cliff has made great strides in my understanding and appreciation of hunters and hunting in general. I see a lot of animosity coming from both sides of the hunting issue, and I think both hunters and non-hunters alike could learn a lot from each other if they’d only take the time to listen instead of trying to out-shout each other from their particular standpoint.

I guess what I’ve been saying, albeit in a long-winded, roundabout way is: Pass on your skills, but think about what you are passing on. Are you passing on something that will only further the animosity of today? What stereotypes are you pushing onto the next generation? Are you really educating?

Food for thought.

Thanks for your indulgence in my rambling.

Cliff’s wife

Hunting, education, community, children, heritage, ethics, stereotypes, non-hunters, perceptions