I hunt because it is a part of who I am. I enjoy spending time in nature, and exploring the diverse outdoors from the bushveld of Sub-Saharan Africa to the boreal Canadian forests and barren mountains. I am not however, someone who would be content to “hunt for the rest of my life even if I never got another animal.” I do not harvest animals.  I pursue them, and outwit their senses and cunning. I kill them. It may not be universally popular to acknowledge killing as an end unto itself, but it is a part of hunting, and it is a strong motivator.

Death is a necessary component of life. Without death, life cannot exist. We have not evolved beyond carnivorous diets or beyond the instinct to hunt and kill our quarry. The misguided notion of those who believe that we have is the product of a social construct only decades old. It is part of a growing disconnect between humans and nature. One of the greatest shortcomings of industrial food production is the divorcing of food from its source. I do not hide the death of animals from my young children. In fact I involve them in the process of preparing meat from a carcass to the table in the same way that they are involved from seed to table in our garden. I believe they will be the better for understanding their food, and can make healthier decisions about what they put in their bodies.

Humans are apex predators through cunning. We have countless millennia of instinctual motivation as both a prey and predator species. The inner need to hunt is coupled with a wary eye that is best encapsulated during the pursuit of dangerous game. Our ancestors survived in a crucible of change that caused our brains to adapt and grow more powerful. We learned to anticipate the behaviors of our prey and predators. Eventually our tools allowed us to be masters of the food chain… Yet we remain physically week and reliant on our minds and our tools. The duality of this role heightens the experience of hunting. I pursuit of dangerous game we are both predator and prey. The experience is not comparable to any other.

“Why do you hunt?” I get asked this question a lot by my non-hunting friends. It is typically after enduring negative stereotypes about hunters. I used to be very defensive when I responded, because I did not share my passion with people readily. I am no longer reserved about my passion. I can no sooner deny hunting as a part of my identity then I can deny my receding hairline… It’s a part of who I am. I go on to answer their questions and often we debate maters of conservation.

As a science educator I am well versed in the biology of conservation. As a hunter I am well versed in the politics and funding of conservation. It always amazes me how people with very strong and emotional opinions can be so uninformed about a topic they claim to be passionate about. Dismantling superficial arguments and opinions is very easy, but often is not sufficient to sway the emotional connection to a belief. I am content to agree to disagree in these circumstances. It is not my job to convince everyone of my beliefs, but rather to proudly and unapologetically live my life. By all objective standards, quality game management and the political and economic support of hunters’ is an asset to species and environmental conservation.

Finally I hunt because it makes me a better father, husband, and son. Hunting is a social activity from planning, to execution, conversation, and eating!  My daughter will tell her brother about the trip to South Africa she is convinced we will take on her 16th birthday (here’s hoping I can make that happen financially… I still have 10 years of saving!). We look at the game species there and talk about the hunting methodologies used on such a hunt. My young son’s eyes light up when we walk through Cabela’s and he points to the taxidermy of animals that hang in our home. He proudly tells me the species and explains his plans to hunt those and so many more in the future. My father and I recently went pheasant hunting together on a brisk pre-Thanksgiving morning. I enjoyed eating the birds, but his company on the hunt and at the dinner table means more to me by far. And I cannot begin to describe the excitement I felt when my wife lined up on her first big game animal. I was way more excited than I can recall being on any of my own hunts.

I hunt because it is in the fabric of my being.