The Positive Influence of Hunting, Part I

Following is the first part into an exploration of the positive influence of hunting on the hunter. For those who let it, hunting can become much more than simply going out in the wilderness and getting some meat. It is a spiritual event, putting one in closer touch with nature. Becoming part of the cycle of life can have a profound effect. In this part, and in future installments, I will examine this process by relating stories and interviews with you that have been shared with me, in hopes that you might make the same journey yourself.

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Each year, more than 18.5 million hunters in the United States take to the wilderness in search of all manner of prey ranging from quail to elk. These hunters have a profound effect on the U.S. economy, contributing some $30 billion annually[1]. They’re also doing their part for conservation by helping to manage animal populations that, left unchecked, would lead to disease and starvation. And let’s not forget the effect that hunters have on the community, not only providing food for themselves and their families, but in the case of groups like Hunters for the Hungry, tens of thousands of pounds of meat to the needy each year[2].

There is no question what effect hunters have on the environment, the community, and on the economy. But what is the effect of hunting on the hunter? What positive influence does hunting have on one’s life? Is hunting a life-changing experience?

Todd C. from Ontario, Canada believes so. He took up hunting in adulthood at the age of 35.

According to Todd, “The feeling of being one with Nature is something that a non-hunter simply cannot understand. I wish I had discovered this emotion earlier in life and now feel sorry for those that are not able to experience the spiritual impact of the woods.”

Why did he wait so long to take up hunting?

“As a youngster, my grandfather would often take me fishing with him”, he says. “My father went hunting a few times while I was young but only for a few years. Throughout my teen years I continued to fish and never really gave much thought about hunting.”

As Todd entered adulthood, the spirit of the wild evaded him. That is, until one night in the 1990s.

“In 1992, the idea of hunting was thrust upon me after going to a Damn Yankees concert. A small catalogue belonging to Ted Nugent was being handed to concert goers. The hunting seed was first planted within me that night.”

The seed was planted, but unfortunately it didn’t germinate until many years later.

“While I read stories about hunting and came to understand the ecological benefits of it, I never actually went”, Todd recalls. “Time, the lack of knowing anyone who hunted, and honestly, apathy, all stood in my way for years.”

Late in 2003, all that would change. Todd and his wife left the Toronto area for the peace and serenity of a more rural existence three hours to the north. Moving to a 50 acre plot buzzing with wildlife brought Todd back to 1992, where that seed began to grow again.

After a few unproductive hunts, he decided to try again on some nearby public lands. Late in the afternoon, Todd would have his chance. He recounts the moment.

“With shaking hands and a pounding heart that I was certain could be heard by the deer, I raised my crossbow and prepared myself. Cautiously a buck came onto the cleared old logging road and I took the shot. With a high kick of his back legs he crashed into the bush. I was ecstatic. I leaped into the air with a triumphant fist pump. I had never experienced an emotion like that. It was truly exhilarating.“

Unfortunately, his first hunt would take an unexpected and unfortunate turn. His deer took off running. Todd tracked it for several hours as darkness descended, and eventually had to give up. That evening, the emotion was overwhelming.

“I won’t hide the fact that I cried that evening. I had shot my first deer and I was unable to find it. What could be worse for a first-time hunter?”

Todd turned back to Ted Nugent, the man who first planted the seed, for guidance. He posted a message on the forum on Nugent’s website, and it was a reply from The Nuge himself that helped Todd get back on track.

“Ted explained how thousands of animals are wounded each year from bald eagles, bears, wolves, coyotes and cougars. That’s Nature, and as long as I, as a hunter, did everything in my power to recover my attempted kill, it was OK”, Todd recalls. “Those comments still resonate within me today. A few days later I successfully shot and recovered my first buck, an experience that is forever imprinted within me.”

How have these experiences affected Todd?

“I learned something about myself after not being able to recover that deer. I care. And I care deeply. I believe I always had a deep appreciation for Nature but now I was a part of the cycle. Being part of that has now become a passion for me.”

The effects of these experiences have been profound. For Todd, hunting hasn’t been just about feeding himself, doing his part for conservation, or taking up a hobby. It has been an exploration of him. And that journey has taken him closer to Nature. He has taken part in the wondrous cycle of life. The spirit of nature has overtaken him. Todd has been changed by hunting and the best part is: the journey never ends.

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[1] Source: National Shooting Sports Foundation, 2007 at http://www.nssf.org/hunting/index.cfm?AoI=hunting

[2] Source: Hunters for the Hungry at http://www.h4hungry.org/

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For anyone interested in reading Todd's entire story written in his own words, he has shared it on Ted Nugent's Talkback forum. It can be accessed here.

Resources Available to YOU and to the Positive

As you know, Our mission is to encourage Proactive and Positive emphasis for what we all love.

Here are some resources for you to use and enjoy.

Hunt Cast
Joe is a founding member and Vice President of OHPA. His insight and hands on news source. His shows regularly have the most recent news, tips and commentary.

Hunt Zone America
HZA is a website founded by another founding member of OHPA. Douglas has traveled the country searching for the organizations we don't always hear about; either because they are a local organization or because they are small and just don't have the capability to reach beyond their borders. I encourage you to check it out and you may just find that there are folks or programs nearby that you can get involved with.

Save Outdoor Sports

Save Outdoor Sports is an internet based shopping and information source designed to directly benefit the shooting sports and causes within the shooting sports such as Hunt of a Lifetime, Ted Nugent Kamp 4 Kids/Freedom's Angels, IBO Bowhunter Defense Fund, National Archery in the Schools and the National Trappers Association among others. I have been involved with SOS for about 2 years now as VP of Sales and Marketing and have seen it steadily expand and improve.

Shore up the Positive.

Ok folks,

I know I am far from the smartest man on the planet; but it seems to me that some simple things are regularly overlooked. Now this article is based on MY archery observations in recent months, so take it for what it is worth.

Nick Cage- Movie about becoming an archer despite problems in personal life ( although I believe the ball was dropped via an anti-hunting comment later on in the film).

Jessica Biel- Former Vegatarian, Blade III actress underwent extensive archery trainning for her role.

Geena Davis- Actress, Archer and Womens Sports Foundation advocate.

Those are just 3 that come to mind. When was the last time any one of these folks has heard from bowhunters and archers in a positive way? Look at the following links and just think about what the pictures say to Non participants.

Geena takes Aim
Read her 3 Articles too. Interesting, from a different perspective she is telling women to do the same thing Ted Nugent, the NRA and others tell us to do.

Jessica Biel
Of all the pictures she could have on her Join page, I find it telling that she is at full draw.

The Weather Man
Be sure to look at the photo gallery here. 2 of 12 pictures contain Archery, one with his screen daughter and one solo, plus the front cover photo. Notice how this is "real life" not some fantasy film or historical film. A regular guy using archery to hold himself together.

Now, I don't expect what I say here would make any difference in what these folks think of Hunting, Hunters or the outdoors community as a whole; BUT if we don't drop a small thank you for the positives we will never know for sure. I surmise that writing a letter or comment that says "Hey Thanks for having archery portrayed positively" will go alot further than saying nothing.

Here is how I see it. Kid sees film with popular star shooting a bow, kid finds out NASP is active in their school and tries archery, kid likes archery and seeks a way to participate outside of school and finds local club, Kids parents find out they can participate with kid, Both get exposed to other forms of archery and also the truth about hunting. This seems like a win/win situation all around to me. Kids exposed to a life sport, family unit is strengthend, local clubs gain members, industry grows and celebrities gain useful insight from folks they don't normally here from.

Take it for what it is worth, but if we don't try how do we know?

A Pro Gun Editorial?

A New York paper cuts through the gun control propaganda with facts!

Concealing the Facts

New York Sun Staff Editorial
February 2, 2007
URL: http://www.nysun.com/article/47924

In respect of gun control, we don't mind saying that it's not the issue that keeps us up at night. But as an emblem of the irrational streak in our political debate these days, it's without peer, a point about which we were reminded by the editorial in Tuesday's Times, "A Day Without Guns … ." It was arguing, if that's the word, against Florida's liberalized concealed carry laws. Basing its comments on research done by the Florida Sun-Sentinel that showed some criminals in Florida have gotten permits to carry concealed weapons, the Times decried the state Legislature's "gruesome handiwork." It chided the "corrupt and cowardly" legislators who refused to "undo these lethal threats" created by legal concealed carry.

Our first thought was that Floridians are grown-ups possessed of rational minds and capable of making their own laws without the Times' haranguing. This is what Floridians have done over the last two decades by repeatedly electing representatives who believe Americans have a right, vouchsafed in the Second Amendment of the Constitution, to keep and bear arms. It's a right that has been called the palladium of American liberty. But about what was the Times speaking with the claim that Florida's concealed carry laws are "lethal" and "gruesome"?

Since the Jack Hagler Self Defense Act went into effect in 1987, crime in Florida has gone down by almost every measure there is. According to statistics provided by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, firearm murders in Florida between 1987 and 2005 dropped in real terms to 521 from 697. Expressed as the number of firearm murders per 100,000 persons, the drop is even more dramatic, to 2.9 from 5.8. That's a change of 50%. The drop in violent crime overall is less precipitous but equally steady, including drops in the rates of murder, aggravated assault, robbery, and sexual assault.

It is difficult to argue that permitting more persons to carry concealed weapons in and of itself caused this drop in crime, although some have tried. Causal relationships of that nature are notoriously tricky to pin down, and the relationship between crime and concealed carry has been explored in academic circles for years, with little consensus. But it's even harder, given the statistics, to argue that legalizing the carry of concealed weapons has increased crime. Or that it has had some terrible adverse consequence.

Predictions of wild-West style shootouts and lawlessness have proven false. That's not what happened. Not in Florida or in any of the other 37 states with legalized concealed carry. There is nothing "lethal" or "gruesome" about permitting law-abiding citizens to defend themselves by carrying a weapon — or simply to carry a weapon without defending themselves. The truth is that if there is a lesson to be drawn from the Sun-Sentinel's reporting, it's not, as the Times suggests, that there is something wrong with existing laws. Rather it is that judges should start treating criminals as the law prescribes.

In Florida, the law on concealed carry allows persons who have committed serious crimes and have reached plea agreements with judges to have their records scrubbed, to become eligible once more to receive a concealed carry license. An ordinary person might expect an editorial writer opining on all this, particularly in a city where the mayor is trying to make an issue out of "illegal" guns, to look into the statistics on crime and include these facts in an editorial, if only to deal with them. But at the Times, they're not fit to print.

Let the NEW YORK SUN know that we agree with this editorial!

Comment here:

Comment Form

Stop Iowa from becoming another Michigan!

(This is a post from TIM4TROUT on the Nuge board)


OK Folks ... The BEST Way to get back at the hsus for stopping dove hunting in Michigan is to push dove hunting through in another state (IA) where it does not currently exist.

Oh and BTW, Unlike Michigan ... Iowa does not have the citizens initiative process where factions like the hsus can pay signature gatherers to put the issue on the ballot and con voters into opposing it.

Senate File 82

Section 1. Section 481A.48, subsection 1, Code 2007, is amended to read as follows:

1. No A person, except as otherwise provided by law, shall not willfully disturb, pursue, shoot, kill, take or attempt to take or have in possession any of the following game birds or animals except within the open season established by the commission Gray or fox squirrel, bobwhite quail, cottontail or jackrabbit, duck, snipe, pheasant, goose, woodcock, partridge, mourning dove, coot, rail, ruffed grouse, wild turkey, pigeons, or deer. The seasons, bag limits, possession limits, and locality shall be established by the department or commission under the authority of sections 456A.24, 481A.38, and 481A.39.

EXPLANATION

This bill authorizes the natural resource commission to establish an open season for hunting mourning doves.

Bill History for SF 82

By Dearden.

A bill for an act allowing the establishment of an open season for hunting mourning doves.

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January 31, 2007 Introduced, referred to Natural Resources and Environment. S.J. 239.

http://coolice.legis.state.ia.us/Cool-ICE/default.asp?categ ory=BillInfo&service=Billbook&ga=82&hbill=SF82&menu=text

http://www3.legis.state.ia.us/ga/committee.do?id=10

If we want to succeed --EVERY hunter, trapper, and fisherman in America needs to flood the committee members with emails, letters, and phone calls in support of this.

E-mail the committee members:

• Dennis H. Black (D, District 21), Chair
• Tom Hancock (D, District 16), Vice Chair
• E. Thurman Gaskill (R, District 6), Ranking Member
• Jerry Behn (R, District 24)
• Joe Bolkcom (D, District 39)
• Dick L. Dearden (D, District 34)
• Rob Hogg (D, District 19)
• David Johnson (R, District 3)
• Steve Kettering (R, District 26)
• Mary Lundby (R, District 18)
• Larry Noble (R, District 35)
• Amanda Ragan (D, District 7)
• Brian Schoenjahn (D, District 12)
• Dr. Joe M. Seng (D, District 43)
• Frank Wood (D, District 42)

This story is also featured here in the Gazette, an Eastern Iowa newspaper.

Let the Gazette know we support Dove Hunting!

E-mail the Editor

mark.bowden@gazettecommunications.com