The first time I ever went hunting was with my boyfriend at
the time, no my husband. I went back to
Michigan to meet his family and it was fricken cold. I lived in many areas of the country, from
Hawaii, to California to North Carolina and Nevada. I had never been so cold in my life and not
be around snow. He asked if I wanted to
go hunting with him, I agreed to go.
Mostly because I wanted for someone to show me what to do and what to
look for.
The morning of the first hunt we got up around 4 am. We got dressed and put on all our warm
clothes and headed out with crossbow in hand.
Once we got away from camp we had to move slow through all the trees,
fallen branches and leaves. Making as
little noise as possible. It took us
less time than we thought to get to where we planned to wait and watch for
deer.
The temperature was about 2 degrees. Not that isn’t a typo, it was 2 degrees. We waited as the sun came up and listen for
deer. We stood there still, moving very
slowly to look around and see if there was movement. I didn’t complain out loud only in my head
did I complain about how cold I was and why the heck wasn’t I back in the
warmth sleeping. I guess impressed him
since we got married.
About an hour after we made it to the spot we were waiting,
we heard a few deer come through. Sadly,
we couldn’t see them. We knew where they
were though, because one of them could smell us and was making grunting noises
so that we would stay away.
My husband was a little irritated that we didn’t get a
deer. He wanted to show me how to
properly clean and butcher the deer.
That is all fine and dandy but that is what I have him for. He has already been informed that if I shoot
it he cleans and butchers it. I will
learn to do it but will only do it if he is not there. By the way I only hunt with him, so that
probably won’t happen.
We didn’t get any deer that trip, but I don’t see it as a
wasted trip. Just because you go out
hunting and don’t get a “kill” doesn’t mean it is a waste. It isn’t about the trip, it is about the
people you are with, the environment you are in, and what you do with it. We don’t hunt for sport we hunt for food,
only kill what you are going to eat, or kill what is going to feed the family
or community.
The one thing I remember, other than how cold it was, was
how beautiful it was. Being away from
the major cities is something we should all do more often. Something I wish we did more often. Too often we are moving so fast that we
forget to stop and look around. We
forget that we should be taking care of the land not destroying it.
What was your first hunting experience like?
Comments
Post a Comment