No Dents in Your Car? Thank a Hunter

Politics, religion, and abortion. Most of us try not to talk about any of these topics with people we don't know very well. Folks seem to have pretty strong opinions about these topics, and they're generally hard to change. I add the subject of hunting to this list.

I am a hunter. I always have been. My fondest memories as a child are of deer season in western New York State. All my uncles would descend upon my grandmother's house the night before opening day with their wool hunting coats, their shotguns, and their felt-lined boots. I would sit for hours and listen to them recount stories from their younger days and their first hunts. My grandfather died the year before I was born, but through tales of the hunt as told by my dad and my uncles, I feel like I know him. To this day I try very hard to make the pilgrimage from Tennessee to upstate New York for the first day of deer season, these days with my own son in tow.

Hunting for me has always been about brotherhood. Those of us that hunt are keenly aware that the kill is rarely the highlight of the hunt. It's the anticipation, the peace of sitting quietly, no cell phones, office chatter, or hectic schedules to keep, communing with nature and clearing our minds that keep us heading out to the woods. By maintaining the tradition of hunting and passing it on to our kids, we make that precious time that keeps us grounded and keeps our families close when we're otherwise scattered across the country.

I understand that hunting is not for everyone. Heck, there are a lot of pastimes that my friends are passionate about that I just don't understand. I'm comfortable with that, and I don't feel like I need to convert folks into understanding the joy and thrill I feel when I'm in the field.