Why I Love Hunting

I think like most people I have a hard time pegging exactly who I am sometimes. I know what I like and what I don't like, but that doesn't always narrow me down into categories. Even when I'm choosing things to surround myself in my home or when I'm deciding what to wear, it tends to run in moods and themes, nothing really concrete and hard to nail down. I have a crazy bright chrome chandelier within 10 feet of an elk antler shed in my living room. I think that works, but I can't tell you why exactly.

When I recently posted a picture on FB of my dad and I posing with an deer he'd shot while we were hunting a few weeks ago, the feedback was funny. 

People from my past were shocked, people from my present laughed, and people who've just met me were confused. That's fun. I like that my interests can vary and not always align, it makes me feel more well rounded than I probably actually am.

This morning I was supposed to go Turkey hunting with an older friend from church who wants to teach me to call. We went out scouting and shooting yesterday, it was an amazingly beautiful day with a bit of fog and trees full with colored leaves. He makes these incredible calls that sell for thousands of dollars, truly it's such a treat to be invited. Sadly I came down with a nasty cold this weekend and didn't think sitting in the rain at 5am was a great plan, so we'll plan for next week. 

I love the idea that I could help provide some yummy, fantastically natural meat for some special gathering. I helped clean and butcher the deer above and have a freezer stocked with lean venison for the coming cold and dreary months, a constant reminder of that beautiful, refreshing and spirit lifting week in the woods with some of my favorite men. I'm planning a party next week with venison stew, fresh bread and apple pie and that makes me happy, it's fun to think of sharing hard work with people I care about, and to celebrate the life of that beautiful deer. 

Hunting is a tradition that I've learned to love, and it took some getting used to. It's much more about being outside, in the middle of nowhere, some place beautiful taking in all that you can with people you love and on a really really lucky day seeing one of the amazing creatures you're looking for run by. And for this girl who loves shopping, and magazines, and every sort of electronic device possible, it's become a special sabbatical to refocus and thank God for my many blessings. It requires me to practice patience, to appreciate silence, to ask my body to traverse new territory, and to not look at a screen.....well unless my kindle counts when I'm back by the fire. It's more refreshing than just about any vacation I've been on, and the souvenirs can't be topped.

And as an aside, it's nice to have limited clothing options for a few days.