Adventures in Hunting: My First Bow Season

    I used to tell people I would have just as much fun in the woods during hunting season with a camera as I would with a gun. This is still true, but that attitude, I think, may have prevented me from fully appreciating what hunting can be.

    The outdoors is a great place and sometimes I think people forget we're a part of it. We can have anything we can think of shipped to our homes, co-workers literally within arm's reach would rather send you an email than actually talk to you, grocery stores afford us the luxury of taking for granted the process and often dirty work involved in getting that cut of meat or exotic fruit into the store in the first place. To live is to consume, whether it's a carrot or a cow, something died to keep you alive. People forget that.

    I didn't really think that way until last year when I gutted my first fish. If you've ever watched me clean up dog barf you might know part of the reason it was kind of a big deal for me. A well told story about something gross can be enough to make me gag. Now, not only was I about to see the insides of a fish and touch them, something we're censored from in the stores, but I was going to have to end it's life. Me. It was that experience that it really dawned on me how sheltered I am. Every other piece of meat I've had my entire life went through a similar process. Those times, however, someone else did the dirty work.

    Add to that the effects large scale agriculture can have on the world and I was left with a pretty convincing reason to reevaluate my approach to hunting. If I'm going to continue to eat meat, and I plan to, providing it for myself, at least once, feels like a necessity if for nothing but the experience of what it really takes to feed yourself.

    So, I decided that this year I'm going to approach hunting season a little more deliberately. As is the theme with this blog, I don't know what I'm doing. Where previously not knowing what I'm doing might mean a less than flattering photo, or a no so level table, lack of knowledge and skill here could mean a wounded animal spends the last day of its life suffering. Not exactly something I want to happen.

    I started this video series not only to hopefully help people learn from my mistakes, but to keep myself accountable. I have a ton of work to do and I'm excited to start! I know it's a lofty goal to get a deer on my first bow hunting season, but if you prepare for success and expect failure anything that does work is a bonus and you might just have a good time.

    I would love feedback on anything and any tips or resources are greatly appreciated!