“I’m just a meat hunter. I just want to fill the freezer.” These are things being said more and more within the hunting community. Things that I never remember hearing when I was a kid. Hunting was always about spending quality time together, and sleeping outside and the deer was secondary. These days there is a growing popularity surrounding hunting for your own meat. For good reason, too. There is nothing like heading afield, taking down an animal, and bringing it home to feed your family. It’s an intoxicating full circle experience; one that is much more rewarding than just swiping a card at the grocery store. There’s more of a connection. That connection spans way past being “just a meat hunter” or “just filling the freezer” though. Hunting isn’t “just” about meat.
Years back, well before the sun was coming up, I ran into a few fellas at a gas station on their way up to scout for an upcoming hunt. I was doing the same. One of the individuals was a new hunter who had drawn a pretty dang good elk tag. My enthusiasm for him was through the roof. So much so that I actually started giving him pointers on where to go for good elk hunting in his unit. I wanted him to have a good experience out there, so I was more than willing to help. That whole time, though, even with me pointing him in the right direction, I got the sense that he was trying to get a spot from me that was a dead ringer; a spot where he could definitely just go kill an elk. He kept saying, “I just want to fill the freezer.” And he said it as if doing so would be easy or something. The young man had a lot to learn.
No matter how easy or effortless outdoor television makes hunting look, it’s just not that easy. To think that you’re just going to walk out in the woods and shoot an elk real quick is silly and I’d like to add that you’re likely in for a wake up call. Hunting is hard and that’s how it should be. If it weren’t, I’d question if as many of us would love it as much as we do. The moments when we find that animal we’ve been looking for are gratifying, to say the least. The moments of defeat are rich in both lessons and reflection. And the moments when everything comes together after a tough hunt are untouchable. That feeling of accomplishment is one that we all chase to different degrees, but chase nonetheless. And it’s one that doesn’t come easy.
Show me an avid hunter who says hunting isn’t fun and I’ll show you a flat out liar. Hunting is absolutely fun and it’s something that isn’t shown nearly enough in the media. It’s often portrayed as somber, demanding and serious. It can be all of those things, too; however, it can also be fun. It’s fun to go hang out with your buddies and look for elk. It’s fun to camp. And it’s fun to test your skills against Mother Nature even if you fail. Sure, it might get frustrating from time to time and even downright depressing, but in the grand scheme of things, it’s a damn good time. Times that will be reminisced about at more than a few hunting camps in the future. It’s nice to fill the freezer, but the journey there is just as rewarding.
Aside from those delicious steaks we love, hunting is also incredibly therapeutic. We live in hectic times today. Life is about as fast as it’s ever been and it doesn’t seem to be slowing down at all. If anything, it’s getting quicker. Opportunities to slow down are much appreciated and, in all honesty, healthy if you ask me. Hunting provides that necessary pause from the go-go-go lifestyle. You can think better out in the hills and hear your thoughts much more clearly. That level of peace and quiet doesn’t exist in the city. There’s just way too much stimulation out there. whether it’s our phones, billboards, emails, the TV, etc. You get the point. There needs to be a separation every now and then and hunting is that line in the sand.
Along with that appreciated stillness in the hills, hunting also offers us the rare opportunity to truly spend some quality time with friends and family. It’s one thing to meet up for dinner in the city, it’s another thing entirely to spend a few nights out in the mountains hunting together. Because of the hasty lifestyle back home, sometimes it’s hard to appreciate one another. I know I personally struggle with being fully present in the city. It’s something always on my radar and something I’m trying to get better at. My mind seems to always drift somewhere else. In hunting camp, though, all there is to do is appreciate the company around you. We can pay attention to one another’s thoughts better. The amount of deep conversations I’ve had sitting on a mountain with a good friend is priceless as well as the perspective it’s given me after the fact. This is also therapeutic. At least it is for me.
For around two million years, man has been hunting and eating what he kills. So, hunting for your own meat is rather old news and really a given whenever you step foot in the field. Of course, we’re out there to snag up some tasty protein! We’re also out there for other reasons, too. And those reasons are a large part of what we all have in common in the first place. There’s so much division in our community. Bowhunters from rifle hunters, meat hunters from trophy hunters, etc. When the sun sets, we’re all under the same umbrella chasing the same things: the game meat at the end of the rainbow. The experience along the way is more than “just” meat.
