Bobby - Flattered to have you back. We’re mostly in agreement on this one. I don’t equate all life as inherently equal. To do so would be to value the mosquito above my son, which is madness. And, of course, once one has assigned ANY hierarchy, all is ranked. I picked up my hunter’s safety certificate when I was eleven or so. While I haven’t hunted in fifteen years, I do know from firsthand experience that there are hunters who have tremendous respect for the food chain/environment and who lobby incessantly for the protection of habitat. Yes, there is a seeming contradiction in ‘respecting’ what you annihilate with pellets/arrowheads, but if one accepts that a hierarchy exists, it can be said that good stewardship shown in agriculture (too rarely) is directly applicable to game. For those who doubt, to read the passionate words of a hunter like Aldo Leopold is to gain an inkling.

Long time, no comments from me. I will probably not take you up on your dare, because I have had some first hand experience in preparing a few animals for the table. The experiences were gained while living in a rural area where we raised chickens, pigs, and goats; as well as while hunting small game during my youth.

Although today’s version of hunting is largely an elitist sport, it was not too long ago that any responsible gun owner could enjoy a day in the woods and/or the fields. It has been nearly 20 years since I have hunted, but I do have fond memories of it and the lessons it can teach. Maybe I will get a chance to do it again.

The first and probably most important lesson is the handling of a weapon with a healthy level of respect and a concern for safety. That concern carries over into other activities such as responsible driving, avoiding unnecessary risks, trusting a companion, etc. The next lesson is that shooting targets with bows-and-arrows or small arms does little to drive home the reality that these weapons have the potential to instantly take a life. Dispatching an animal with a clean shot drives the point home in a way that humbles most. Very few hunters kill just for the sake of killing, and most have a reverence and deep understanding that a life must often be shortened to lenghthen another. If one has never hunted or worked in a meat packing facility, one has little understanding of just how messy cleaning an animal can be. Yes, it is somewhat barbaric but there is nothing evil about it. If one considers it evil for a human to prepare and consume flesh, then all carnivorous beasts must be labeled evil as well. For that matter, herbivores and vegetarians have to destroy life of another kind to sustain their existences. Can we label those activities evil as well? Or can we just agree that nature is inherrently cruel?

Perception sets the boundaries of one’s reality. Whereas PETA’s Ingrid Newkirk says, “A rat is a pig is a dog is a boy.”, I believe the boy to be something much greater. Sure the DNA strands have similarities, but the boy has so much more potential than the others. The rat, pig and dog have always been and will never progress beyond what they are. The boy has developed from wandering gatherer, to cave dweller, to herdsman, to farmer, to society builder, to explorer, and continues to expand his understanding of the universe in which he lives. This is but one of the reasons that mankind sits atop the food chain.

All the best,
BB