Never Taken Lightly

I love to hunt; especially whitetail deer. While it's a dream of mine to someday be able to hunt elk, caribou or moose, I get to live out at least a bit of my dream in the woods of Southwest Wisconsin each November. It is there that I get to hunt deer.

I'm not like the hunters you see on television. I don't hunt in high-fenced preserves and I won't pass up a shot on a healthy deer merely because the rack isn't big enough. No, I hunt for the freezer. While I wouldn't pass up a shot on a large buck, that's not why I hunt.

I also don't take the responsibility of hunting lightly.

While even most non-hunters recognize the importance of hunting as part of an effective game management and conservation program, the fact of the matter is that hunting requires us to kill. I head out to the woods each year in hopes of killing a deer. I normally refer to it as harvesting, because that's what I'm doing, but the reality is harvesting requires me to kill.

Not everyone can deal with the necessity of killing. I remember Mom telling me the story of the one and only time Dad ever went hunting. He shot a squirrel that Mom then prepared for him. He was unable to take a single bite. He said that all he could see when he looked at his plate was that little squirrel lying dead on the ground.

That can never be taken lightly.

I won't shoot running deer; nor will I take a shot that I do not have 100% confidence will quickly and humanely kill the deer. Since buying my rifle now six seasons ago; I have pulled the trigger five times while out hunting and have harvested five deer. I refuse to take a risky shot merely to fill my tag. I have more respect for the animal than that. I would rather (and have) gone home empty handed than risk wounding and losing a deer or causing it to die a slow, agonizing death. We owe the animal at least that much.

It sickens me to hear accounts of "hunters" who just unload their guns on running deer in the hopes of wounding it enough that it falls over, or "hunters" who don't take the few minutes necessary to make sure their rifle is properly sighted in before taking to the woods; figuring it's "close enough."

Those are the hunters that give all of us a bad name. They are the ones who show no respect for the animal; the ones who take the responsibility lightly.

I take a moment as I approach a deer that I have shot to thank God for the privilege of taking the animal. I thank Him before I ever touch the animal. It is only after I have thanked God that I tag and field dress the deer. None of the animal will go to waste. The carnivores and scavengers of the woods will feast on the gut pile I leave behind. I butcher the deer to use every bit of the meat it provides; meat our family will enjoy over the coming year, bones the dog will devour.

I am reminded each time we eat of that deer how things have changed. It wasn't that many generations ago that families raised and butchered livestock to feed their families. For most people today, meat is something you buy at the local grocery store; with no real thought given to the animal that was butchered to provide the meal. Hunting requires us to personalize it - to think about the act of taking the life of an animal for our sustenance.

I would be lying if I said I didn't get a thrill out of harvesting a deer. It is a big thrill, especially when it is a fast and humane kill. But I also would be lying if I said I wasn't aware of what a privilege it is to harvest such a beautiful animal.

It is something we can never take lightly.