Reading Heartsblood: Hunting, Spirituality and Wildness in America.
Many thoughts. I will share in forthcoming posts.
UPDATE:
Huge distinction here on the type of people that hunt. Petersen breaks it down into the three types of hunters.
Utilitarian Hunters – Hunt for food. prevalent in rural areas.
Sport Hunters – Hunt for sport. Disconnected from nature,, separate. Trophy hunters. Hunting media and the common conception of hunters by the mainstream.
Nature(natural) Hunters – Spiritual connection to nature, animals and the hunt. Deep appreciation of the primal nature of hunting and the natural world.
I although I respect the hunt and can appreciate your distinctions, I’ve never myself hunted. I was recently invited on a future elk hunt. I am fascinated and admittedly a bit daunted by the idea.
Look forward to whatever you can offer on the subject..
@Jeff,
Daunting indeed.
My first elk hunt was seriously intimidating. It was only about 5 years ago. My step-dad, and avid hunter, invited me to go with him. It was cold, exhausting, confromting and an all around challenge to my sense of ‘manhood’ and my humanity …and I am so glad I went.
Every hunt I go on is a challenge, a surprise and a deep learning experience. Humbling to say the least.
If you do get the opportunity to take an elk or be part of the process, be ready for intensity. They are huge, majestic animals. …and heavy.
I say go for it brother. At the very least, you will know more about where you stand on the issue of hunting (and maybe meat eating) after that 🙂
case
Yeah for sure, I expect to be challenged on all those fronts. As strange is sounds, I’m excited at being scared. In my day to day world, very little intimidates me. Sometimes that plays out as me recklessly picking battles that don’t serve anything, other than exercise my un-met-ness – and at the expense of others.
I see this as an opportunity to be completely out of my element: physically, emotionally (killing a majestic animal..whuuu?), and psychologically – especially around, as you suggested, my relationship to eating meat (which I do).
Thanks alot. Great to have a sounding board as this isn’t something that the majority of my urban-ite sphere thinks about.. 😉
~J