Clean Kill

If you’re looking at a bear skin rug in the middle of a marble floor room, what do you see? The life of that bear was taken just for its looks and the high price that comes with them. Someone looked through the scope of a 30-06 rifle, and thought killing the bear was a good thing. Well, it’s not. Hunting is meant to be a time where people can get away and spend time with friends. When you kill an animal, you’re simply wasting of life if you throw away the meat like sport hunters do.

When I hunt, nothing goes to waste. I don’t just shoot to kill and leave the carcass to rot. I eat the meat, mount the antlers and give the leftovers to our three big, black labs. There’s no point in killing a living, breathing animal, unless you use every aspect of it as an advantage.

Hunting is pursuing and killing game for food and supplies. It’s not ethical to shoot and kill a defenseless creature exclusively to use its body parts as furniture or decor. Hunting is not solely about killing an animal. It’s all about the experience.

Eight years ago, I went hunting with my grandfather for the first time. Ever since, I’ve been in love with the woods. Getting covered in mud while sleeping on a ridge overlooking a pond is complete bliss to me. Sitting in an old, rickety tree stand trying to figure out what animals are making which sounds.

Man, that’s all I need.

Hunting is a way of life for me. I hunt, not just to kill, but to eat and spend time with friends and family. There are some sportsmen who travel across the world to take down a lion or zebra, just so they can stuff it and put it in their living room. That’s not right. The hunting I believe in is taking down a big animal in honor of it’s life. Even though it is killing, the deer lived a life and is providing me with food.

I’ve found a second home in a bunkhouse that smells like old wood and roasted coffee. Even though I love it no matter what, going hunting isn’t the same if I can’t wake up to an old alarm clock bell dinging and the smell of cinnamon rolls wafting through the air. Three to four times a year I get to see the friendly, bearded faces of close family friends. That’s what makes the entire hunting experience all the better.

As I grow older, I’ve realized that the life of another animal means more than just something to take advantage of. It’s something to cherish and take with justice. Next time you see that bear skin rug, think about why it’s life was taken. The reason isn’t a good one.