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Trends in Hunting as Recreation and a Life Style

Started by Retribution, March 21, 2014, 02:18:25 PM

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Retribution

Between modern reality TV and a general shift in attitudes I have noticed that for the first time in many years I do not feel quite as much like the odd man out because of my outdoor life style. I have fed my family for 25 years or so on a diet heavy in wild game. I have lived that kind of a life from my earliest memory. And always I would say the majority of people have looked at a fellow like me as an odd one. And many have approached with blatant hostility.

But lately as in the last few years, things have felt different. Less hostility and more curiosity and a few who have sought out and out guidance. That has always been a good thing as it has been well documented hunting as well as rural numbers are dropping. I have helped and encouraged where I could and tried to keep my preaching to a minimum.

While reading my most recent Petersen's Hunting magazine most of the issue is devoted to the apparent statistical fact that I have been backward for so long that I have apparent gone full circle and become trendy.  I have no idea how that happened but it is a pleasant surprise.

http://www.petersenshunting.com/2014/03/21/meat-eater-revolution/

Oniya

Both of my grandfathers were the 'outdoor type'.  I have fond memories of the trophies in my maternal side's basement, although it was the result of the season's fishing that always seemed to make it to the table when we visited.  (I distinctly remember being served eel at my paternal grandparents', and not being phased by it - although my mother wasn't as enthused.)
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Beguile's Mistress

Grandy and his Native American friend used to hunt all the time.  We feasted "high on the hog" all year long as they would say thanks to them a deep freezer.

Retribution

Honestly Oniya as the father of two teens I have noticed more of the shift in attitude with my kid's friends. When any are over we always used to have to make sure there was something store bought on the table for the guests when dinner time came. These days the guests get excited when they see what we are having for dinner. Or probably the oddest occurrence was when my 14 year old daughter's first boyfriend was over. He had never seen me before and I came to the door blood all over my hands after dressing a deer. Insert amusing anecdote about meeting your girlfriend's dad under these conditions. The kid asked if I needed help, you could have knocked me over with a feather.

On other notes I did a bit of research on the one author cited in the link I gave http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Pollan

Hemingway

I wonder if anything similar is happening here. Because while there has always been a strong tradition of hunting among certain people here, there are also lots of people who take issue with it.

My brother has expressed an interest in hunting, and I have to say I'm curious, too. Mainly as a matter of principle. I mean, I see it partly as an environmental thing, you know? Hunting wild game is far more environmentally friendly than buying imported beef, say, and you can be certain the animals haven't suffered under cruel conditions at some factory farm. I like that side of it. Arguments that it's cruel to kill animals don't really work in a practical sense, as there are so many that the population has to be kept down regardless.

I'm not sure I'd be much good at it, though. There's that.

( Speaking of coming full circle, my hair and beard did the same - apparently I'm super trendy right now. Laziness will do that to you. )

Retribution

Hemingway -> I am not sure what they offer for education over there. When I am approached I tell everyone to take a safety class. It is a legal requirement in most places but even if not take it. Also find a mentor who knows what they are doing and is not some blow hard slob.

As for skill, well most of us who check our egos at the door will tell you we spend more time failing than succoring when it comes to taking game. But having said that I can come home from work a bundle of nerves and go spend a few hours in a deer stand not seeing a single deer but when I get back inside I am as placid as a frozen lake.

Hemingway

Quote from: Retribution on March 21, 2014, 03:20:57 PM
Hemingway -> I am not sure what they offer for education over there. When I am approached I tell everyone to take a safety class. It is a legal requirement in most places but even if not take it. Also find a mentor who knows what they are doing and is not some blow hard slob.

As for skill, well most of us who check our egos at the door will tell you we spend more time failing than succoring when it comes to taking game. But having said that I can come home from work a bundle of nerves and go spend a few hours in a deer stand not seeing a single deer but when I get back inside I am as placid as a frozen lake.

Oh, it requires quite a bit more than a safety course, actually. There's a 30 hours course ( with both practical and theoretical exercises ) and a written test. Welcome to Scandinavia. ;D

Yeah, it's really just a tiny dream I have. When time and money allows, maybe then!

Tairis

It's kind of a double edged sword in that much of the popularity comes from the rise of reality shows that tend to boil down to 'find weird people, try to up their weirdness as much as possible by introducing fame'.

On the flipside it's nice to see the general media perception focusing less on the crazies like PETA.
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Retribution

Quote from: Tairis on March 28, 2014, 07:50:43 PM
It's kind of a double edged sword in that much of the popularity comes from the rise of reality shows that tend to boil down to 'find weird people, try to up their weirdness as much as possible by introducing fame'.

On the flipside it's nice to see the general media perception focusing less on the crazies like PETA.

Very true, and most of the hunting shows on like the Outdoor channel and such are not what the average Joe Schmo experiences. Having said that I think the Meat Eater show mentioned in the original link goes out of its way to try and portray reality.

Callie Del Noire

I had a pair of airmen who grew up (their words) 'on the backside of beyond' and had to supplement their family's food by hunting. They trapped and hunted quite a bit and one of the things they said was they coudln't understand how so many folks didn't realize that some folks had to hunt, fish, trap to feed themselves.

I pointed out that not everyone could imagine what the world was like in places like the back end of the Bayou or the Badlands of Texas.

elone

#10
I for one grew up shooting and hunting from the time I was big enough to shoulder a rifle. My dad even built a target range in our basement, but it was limited to .22 shorts.

I now live in a rural areas where hunting is revered and during deer season every pickup truck has someone in blaze orange driving. Yesterday, I drove to my second house and saw 10 deer in the front yard. This place is crawling with them even with all the hunting. Wild turkeys abound as well, not unusual to see them in fields. Last week is saw a flock with several males doing their display, quite a sight.

I no longer hunt for a number of reasons, mostly bad knees and access, but believe it is a tradition here that will always go on. I will always treasure the times my dad took me hunting, as well as walking the fields and hedgerows looking for pheasant and quail. A  couple of years ago I traded my Beretta shotgun to a guy for painting my homes windows. Broke my heart, but at least now it is being used by someone who truly appreciates it. He brought me some venison. Only shotgun hunting of deer allowed here.

Have a blackpowder replica Pennsylvania flintlock my dad gave me a few years ago, fun to shoot, not sure if I could hit anything with it though.

Back to topic, around here I think the explosion of the deer population, due to lack of predators, has gotten even more people interested in hunting, as well as the realization that good untainted meat is better for you. You don't even have to be able to butcher your own meat here as there are people who will do that for a relatively small fee.
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Sindara

I live in a community where kids parents let them skip school for the first day or even week of deer season. It would seem odd to us if at least one member of the family didn't try for a day or two to bag a deer. In my family growing up, my father would go out with my brother hunting,  and I would help my dad skin, and cut up the game when they brought it home. My dad didn't take my brother because he thought it was a man's place, but I just wasn't as interested in tracking and killing the game as I was taking it apart. I guess that's why I'm in the medical field. :)
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Oniya

Back in Ohio, our school district allowed a certain number of 'hunting absences'.  We were also in a fairly rural area (there was at least one day off for the county fair), and there were numerous kids who helped out on family farms and the like.
"Language was invented for one reason, boys - to woo women.~*~*~Don't think it's all been done before
And in that endeavor, laziness will not do." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think we're never gonna win this war
Robin Williams-Dead Poets Society ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think your world's gonna fall apart
I do have a cause, though.  It's obscenity.  I'm for it.  - Tom Lehrer~*~All you need is your beautiful heart
O/O's Updated 5/11/21 - A/A's - Current Status! - Writing a novel - all draws for Fool of Fire up!
Requests updated March 17