Five Outdoor Experiences Added to the List

My outdoor experiences are limited at best, hunting on my brother-in-law's farm, camping and backpacking in Emigrant Wilderness, skiing in the sierras, or deep sea fishing in Alaska; as awesome as all these have I still have my list.  I think everyone should have a "bucket list" or an outlined list of experiences to do before they can't be done anymore.  We'll my list continues to grow and grow.  I want to skydive, bungee jump, hike (parts) of the west coast trail, sail California's coast...frankly my list goes on and on; as I'm sure everyone's does.  As much as I hate and love to say it, my list just grew.

Five experiences added to my list.

1. Bowhunting for elk in the high country of southwest Montana.

2. Caribou hunting on the North Slope of Alaska's Brooks Range. 

3. Flyfishing on the southern tip of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. 

4. Bowfishing in the upper rapids of the Rewa River, in Guyana. 

5. Shark fishing off the south African coast.

I suggest all of these to anyone interested, and I'm sure the non-hunters will argue against all of these.  While I respect that I still have to say, try them or something similar.  Instead of bowhunting in southwest Montana, try camping, instead of flyfishing in Mexico try vacationing, instead of shark fishing in south Africa try...something else.  What all these have in common is getting outside and appreciating the world around you.  

It seems that people in today's world easily forget to appreciate the outdoors due to family, work, and a lot of other reasons.  Frankly there just isn't enough time these days to do the things we'd like to do. Now I know not everyone can get out as much as they should, but that's where a list comes in handy.  Making these kinds of lists help plan ahead and enable a person to actually do the things they want to do in life, it's  definitely helped me.  

Buying Meat

People argue that hunting is cruel, inhumane, unfair or damaging...the list can go on and on.  My question for those people is, where do they get their meat?  These days the average shopper gets their meat from a local grocery store or possibly a butcher...if one can be found.  These meat providers get their product from a slaughterhouse; unless they run the entire process themselves...not likely.  Grocery stores are the main source for people to buy their meat, including myself.  While I consider myself a hunter, I don't hunt enough to provide myself with enough meat for a full year; in fact I hardly provide enough meat to last much longer after a hunt.  So just like everyone else, including those that argue against hunting, I go to my local Safeway and buy meat. 

This process of purchasing meat products from a store is awesome, all a person has to do is walk in, pick a cut, and buy it.  When hunting, I have to find my prey, kill it if I’m lucky, field dress it --- cleaning the animal and butchering it properly in the wild --- then transport the meat home, butcher it a little bit more, store it, and then finally cook and eat it.  I'm not complaining I love hunting and everything about it, but to end up with my final product, meat, it's a bit of a process.  Comparing the two, buying the meat at a grocery store is a piece of cake.  But if we look further into the process of how the meat gets to the grocery store, things start to look a little different.  Now just because the customer buying meat in a store isn't killing the animal themselves, doesn't mean they aren't contributing to that animal’s death.  The customer might not literally be killing the animal, but the value they create buy buying the meat provides the incentive so kill the animal. 

Not a lot of room to move around when
raised to be slaughtered.

Everyone wants to eat the bacon, but no one wants to kill the pig.  Because of this we have slaughterhouses.  The key point I want to make is that not all slaughterhouses are the same.  Some are more efficient than others, cleaner than others or more humane than others.  In truth it's hard to know where exactly your meat comes from and how it's handled before being processed.  I found a video showing the process inside a slaughterhouse with one of the leading companies in the U.S. Just to warn, this video does contain the full process of cows, from living to packaging, the actual killing part isn't shown.  Despite the killing not being shown, it shows the reporters face as she watches it happen, and just by watching her reaction you can tell it's not exactly a pretty sight.  If you have never seen a video like this I highly suggest you do.  Keep in mind that Cargill is a top slaughterhouse, and not all companies operate as humanely as they do.  

A cow so fat from food provided it has to be
moved with a forklift.

When I hear people talk about hunting and how it isn't humane or how it's damaging to the animal, I can't help but laugh a little inside.  The video showed how the cows were being fed an unhealthy diet just to make them fat for slaughter, comparing this to an animal that's hunted and eats properly I can't help think that the cow is being treated less humanely. The cows in the video have absolutely no chance of survival, they were born to be killed and will be killed, an animal being hunted has a considerable chance of survival, not all hunts are successful...trust me I know from plenty of experience.  When hunting a proper kill will actually kill an animal almost instantly, in the video it took in between one and two minutes for the cows to actually die.  One or two minutes for the animal to die, in a leading slaughterhouse, that’s shocking. 

A good thing about hunting is I know that I am killing the animal properly and humanely.  I will only take a shot at an animal if I know I can kill it, and kill it quickly.  I respect every animal I kill, doesn’t matter if it’s as small as a dove or as big as an elk.  Keep in mind I consider myself to be an ethical hunter, just like Cargill is an ethical company; not all companies and hunters are ethical and that’s the problem.  By hunting I can control how humanely the animal dies, when buying meat I have no idea if that specific animal was treated properly or not.  It’s hard to write how these animals are treated improperly, when it comes to something as serious as this; videos are the best way to show it.  Now I warn you, if the Cargill video was hard on you, this video might be too much.  It shows the improper handling of chickens at a Kentucky Fried Chicken slaughterhouse, but I recommend you watch it so you get the full effect of what can happen when things go wrong.

If you didn't watch the video I don't blame you, those kind of images turn my stomach into knots and makes me want to do to them what they do to those poor animals.  That video was a good example of what can go wrong in a slaughterhouse.  The chickens were being kicked, thrown, burned from high amounts of ammonia, transported covered in feces, and even when they were stuck in their cage employees would literally tear the birds apart to get them out...horrific.  That's a problem with buying meat from an outside source, a person can never be sure of how the animals were treated; even when it comes to a massive company like KFC. It's hard to imagine that a company I've supported before by buying their products treated animals this way.  Another small company that hardly anyone supports has had problems with their slaughterhouses, McDonalds. 

I think it's safe to say that nearly everyone at one point in their life has either eaten or bought McDonalds for a family member.  Now I'm not trying to point fingers I've eaten McDonalds plenty of times, as much as I don't want to admit to it.  I have one last video to post, now this one is truly upsetting, even made me a little sick.  Half of the video is sharing facts on McDonalds and their food, and the other part of the video is on a slaughterhouse that provided McDonalds with their meat.  If you didn't watch the first two videos, I doubt you'll want to watch this one.  It shows many disturbing acts being performed by employees including a cow being beaten with a crow bar for no apparent reason, a calf literally being punched repeatedly in the head by a worker...I’d rather not describe the rest, that was hard enough to write.  A person might argue what’s to stop a hunter from doing what these workers are doing, and the truth is there really isn't anything to stop them.  But I can tell you that if two hunters came across another hunter mindlessly beating a dear to death or treating it inhumanely like the men in the video, they would stop him.  But what happened in the McDonalds and KFC videos was different.  The workers were beating and treating the animals inhumanely and no one stopped them even though there were other workers around.

This McDonalds video showed what can happen to employees after working in those kinds of conditions, making me think not only of the animals but also of the employees.  After working so long in a position where killing an animal is the job side effects can happen.  A study done at Colorado State University described how employees are rotated among different positions, from slaughtering to packing for example, so they don't become sadistic.  An employee participating in the study said that by rotating between the kill chutes and driving cattle up the chute made it easier to maintain a humane attitude.  The study described how the people that actually do the killing approach their job three different ways, mechanical approach, sadistic approach, and a sacred ritual approach.  This study can be viewed at here.

Before when I heard people argue against hunting I'd laugh a little, knowing that they don't know everything that goes on with hunting.  But now when I hear someone call hunting cruel, inhumane, unfair or damaging I'll know the differences between how meat is gathered through hunting and how it's produced through slaughterhouses, and wonder if they know the same.  My aim wasn't to attack the non-hunters with this post, like I stated before, I also buy plenty of meat from my local grocery store; but before pointing the judgment finger at hunters maybe it should be pointed elsewhere.  Just remember the next time you’re buying meat from a grocery store doesn't mean you aren't contributing to that animal dying.  Maybe hunting isn't that bad after all.

Here’s an awesome post from a friend that wanted to share his hunting experience, enjoy.

Hi my name’s Johnny 5, author of “Why Ride,” and I wanted to share my experience with hunting with our fellow peers.  I’ve always had the desire to shoot things, and I’m not sure why.  Perhaps it’s a male trait or something about the marksmanship that a person has to have to actually pull off a successful kill.  I think there is something appealing about being able to live off the land, and a big part of this is being able to hunt prey and then successfully kill the animal humanely.  If we relied on this type of hunting to eat this would be a large task in sustaining life for a person and their family.  I’d like to share my experience where a group of friends and myself went out and tried to “Live off the Land.”

I would like to add as a disclaimer, this was my first experience hunting. There were 3 of us as we headed north to Willits to my friends Grandparent’s property to try our luck at hunting.  His folks owned about 300 acres so we were definitely in the realm of hunting on our own but still within civilization just in case we needed medical attention.

When we first approached the property we had to scope out a campsite, we looked for a shaded area so we could have some kind of relief from Humboldt's hot sun.  I got out of the truck and started to make my way by foot to find a flat spot good for tenting, and a quick thought ran through my mind “Maybe I should have a gun with me??”I reasoned with myself quickly saying “Naw, were just looking for a campsite not hunting yet,” and as soon as I said this the largest Jack_Rabit I have ever seen Got up and ran up the hill and I couldn’t do anything but watch as he hopped out of site.  I was pissed I had blown one opportunity as soon as we got there, but I felt like this was a sign of good luck for the upcoming weekend.  

The whole day we spent walking around the property trying to find good locations that Quail might be hiding in.  Not once did we see another living animal.  I went to sleep that night with a sense of disappointment that we hadn’t even seen another creature.  Later that night we were sitting around the fire and my friends cousin came up to our site and asked us “What yall huntin for?! Quail?? Fuck that shit, go up the hill and find a Turkey!”  He explained how they can hide next to trees and even in them sometimes.  He said a good strategy is to scare them down the hill and have somebody at the bottom of the hill ready for them.  

Taking his cousins advice into account the next day a few of us made our way up the hill to find any signs of life, and or push anything scared down the mountain.  Once again, skunked, nothing to be seen or even heard.  When I got to the bottom of the hill I saw a large group of trees in the middle of a field that offered a 270 degree visual of a large field.  This got me extremely excited because it was a great vantage point.  It was nearing the end of the day and still hadn’t had any luck.  I was sitting up in my hideout overlooking the field when I saw a family of turkey making their way down the mountain to get water from the stream!  I got so excited this was my opportunity!  I waited for them to get as close as they could because effective range on a shotgun is only about 20 yards and I was about 100 yards away.  I tried to circle around but this is when I found out that turkeys have extremely good eyesight, they saw me coming a mile away and ran back up the hill leaving me with nothing again!  I wanted to get back in that spot with my rifle first thing in the morning, perhaps with my rifle I might have a chance at getting one of these turkeys.  

I woke up before the sun rose and made my way to the hill.  Previously the night before I had put feed in the surrounding area so the turkey would come and take the bait.  As soon as I settled into the hill I heard the distinct sound of a turkey “Gobble Gobble!”  I made sure to stay very still this time as I saw a large Tom (male turkey) make his way towards the feed I had spread the night before.  I was getting so anxious I could hardly keep myself from hyperventilating.  As the turkey drew into my range I had loaded a load of #6 shot with high velocity.  This meant I was using larger ball bearings that traveled faster, especially for larger game like turkey.  I shot at the turkey and saw it jump and flutter off!  I was excited I knew I hit the animal but now I needed to finish the job.  I took out my machete to finish the job and approached where I saw the turkey hobble off to.  As I got close to the turkey I was feeling a rush of adrenaline, Tom’s have a large talon that they can gouge you with so I knew I had to be swift in my strike.  As I got within distance of the turkey it jumped into a huge bush of poison oak. “Ughhh,” I said. I hate poison oak, and there was no way I was going in that bush with a turkey that had a massive set of talons waiting for me.  Not one of us had a small caliber pistol and I didn’t want to pepper the turkey again with my shotgun so I decided the best bet would be to shoot at it with my rifle and hope for a through and through.  I got as close as comfort would let me and pulled the trigger on my 1942 Mosin Nagant ending the turkey’s life.  I was able to pull the turkey out of the bush with a pair of gloves and by stepping down onto the branches.  

After I had defeathered the bird and started to gut the animal I noticed that the shot from my rifle blew away half of the turkey.  It was my first encounter with ballistics and a large caliber bullet, needless to say I’m going to have a .22 next time I hunt for jobs such as this.  I was able to cook the turkey later that morning for a lunch for all 3 of us boys and my friend’s family which ended up serving about 6 people.  All of that work for one simple meal, I think the lesson I learned that day was bring some hot dogs next time you go hunting just in case your luck isn’t with you.

Hope you enjoyed the read,
Johnny 5-

Million Dollar Deer

This photo of a domesticated whitetail deer has been circulating the hunting community for some time now.  The price of this buck is a whopping one million dollars...no joke.  Now I am definitely not a trophy hunter, but I can agree that these antlers are impressive.  Yet there is a huge problem with this deer, and it should have been noticed in the first sentence, domesticated.  A closer look at this picture will show an ear tag on the deer and a fence in the background.  


Any hunter who loves deer and deer hunting would consider this situation to be a problem.  It's important to note that this form of hunting is not how majority of hunters hunt, in fact this type of hunting pertains to the super rich and the average hunter will never see something like this.  Unknown to most people, whitetail deer are a cherished symbol of our nation's wild lands and big game hunting.  The fact that this deer is behind a closed fence and has antlers of this size has absolutely nothing to do with either of those things.  This deer is incapable of living a normal life, due to captivity and tinkering with genetic lines.  While anyone is free to do this sort of thing with their money and their land, "this buck has about as much to do with real American hunting as a Transformer has to do with your pickup truck."-Steven Rinella.

96 Year Old Man Bags Limit

Bearded Turkey

Turkey season opened just over a week ago and Bill Tanner, 96, of Mississippi isn't allowed to hunt anymore; this is because he's already shot his limit.  Last Thursday Bill shot his third and final turkey for this season, about a week after his birthday.  The spring turkey season begins on the last Saturday in March and extends for 37 consecutive days.  Hunters are only allowed 1 bearded turkey per day and 3 per season.   Hunting means different things to different people, and for Bill hunting was more than a sport or hobby, it was a life style.

I was listening to 740am radio this morning while driving into the city trying to avoid the traffic.  Between the traffic reports Bill's story was a topic of interest, and I'm extremely glad I got the chance to hear it.  Bill started hunting when he was eight years old; his dad let him take a .410 shotgun and hunt squirrels.  By hunting and selling dressed squirrels for 15 cents each he was able to save up $4 to buy his first shotgun, a 12 gauge Southern Arms 32inch.  For 88 years Bill has been hunting, this means he was hunting before there was wildlife management, this man has seen it all.  Bill was even hunting before there was camo clothing to hunt in, "Tanner is a walking, talking history of hunting in Mississippi."  Today Bill enjoys every opening day with his grandson and great grandson, who is 8, and shares his love with hunting. Like Bill I hope that I can share my love for hunting with my children and grandchildren.  I'd even settle for enjoying hunting for another 88 years just like Bill; unlikely since I'll be 25 next month but what the hell. 

Mr. Tanner, 96.

Laser Guided Hunting

Flight path of the .50cal with an LED attached to it.

Imagine sitting in the woods and seeing a deer off in the distance, you carefully aim your rifle making sure there is a solid backstop behind the deer, adjust for the wind and distance, then slowly squeeze the trigger.  That's just part of the process that takes place, sometimes there's more and sometimes less.  What if all you had to do was point and shoot?  Well soon that might be a reality.  Sandia Labs is currently exploring and testing a laser guided .50 caliber bullet.  This new form of technology has created quite a ruckus in the hunting community.  Law enforcement, military and recreational shooters are all potential customers for this new ammunition.  I expect this laser guided .50cal to receive the same attention as hand grenades or trip guns; not for the hunter only for the military, as they should be.  Hunting any animal with a laser guided anything is highly unethical. 


Hunting and technology has been a problem for a while.  I've heard of archers argue there's no challenge in rifles, mule deer hunters thinking white tail deer hunters are pansies, iron sight hunters argue against scope hunting...the list could go on and on.  The fact is that every step of increased technology we put into hunting, the farther away we take ourselves from the roots of hunting.  For a lot of people hunting is about human tradition, the preservation of distinct identities, and an experience that can bind all humans.  While hunting with a rifle isn't exactly the most traditional form of hunting, laser guided hunting is just ridiculous.  A line must be drawn somewhere on how far to take hunting, it will always come down to the individual.

.50 cal on the far left (.50cal ammo is illegal in California, thanks Schwarzenegger) 

Collecting Poo...

Steven Rinella and his scat collection.

I love everything about hunting; the fresh air, the outdoors, being with my friends, and even getting dirty.  The one thing I have never taken an interest in is collecting the scat of the animals i hunt, or any animals.  I guess some people just love hunting a little more than I do.  Steven Rinella, host of The Meat Eater, recently put up a post on his blog about his scat collection.  After reading his post I was actually shocked with how interested I was in his poo, not his literally of course.  Steven described some of the different kinds of scat he has collected over the years: coyote scat with a fawn's hoof, black bear droppings with the claw of a black bear cub in it.  Not only can examining scat be informative, it's also one of the best ways to stalk an animal.  Stalking mainly involves a hunter following the tracks of an animal, if lucky the hunter will also come across the scat of the animal.  If the hunter is lucky the scat will be fresh and he/she will know that the animal is in the area.  Or the scat might contain certain food that's been digested.  This digested food can give the hunter an educated guess on areas the animal has been and maybe even will be again.

Being able to tell the difference between animals scat isn't only vital when stalking prey.  It's also vital in a survival situation; unfortunately I've experienced this.  While backpacking in Emigrant Wilderness, an area north west of Yosemite National Park and south east of Dodge Ridge ski resort, my friends and I got turned around on a trail and had to scale down granite bluffs before sundown.  While being lost in the middle of no where we came across a high amount of black bear scat, most of it was fresh.  This let us know that a bear was near by and that we needed to get the hell out of there, even more troubling was the amount which led us to think it was  possibly a mamma bear and her cubs, not a fun situation.  So my suggestion to everyone, the next time you go out in a wilderness area don't be afraid to examine some poo, it might just help one day.

Benefits of Hunting

There is much more to hunting than most people think.  I've read things that people write against hunting: it's cruel, unfair, or damaging to the animals.    The earliest limits on taking game are mentioned in the Bible, and the first hunting season was established as early as the 13^th century.  This first limit and hunting season were the start of something that would grow into wildlife conservation.  Wildlife conservation today has evolved into a complicated science, but the goal has remained the same: ensure renewable resources are managed and used properly.  Conservation is the wise use of natural resources, without wasting them; game restrictions is an example.  Under the right conditions, the living organisms labeled as renewable resources will be able to replenish themselves forever.  Another way of saving or protecting a resource is through preservation: saving natural resources, but with no consumptive use of them.  An example of  preservation is outlawing hunting of endangered species.  Conservation and preservation are both vital to sustain resources for generations to come.

Wildlife management in the U.S. has changed dramatically over the years; it has gone from a skewed view of protection to a vital role in sustaining habitats.  For example, in the early 1900s wildlife managers tried to preserve a mule deer herd in Arizona.  Predators were destroyed and hunting was banned.  This resulted in severe overpopulation, the habitat was destroyed and starvation.  Later in 1929 hunting was opened in the area and the population was brought into balance with the habitat.  Around the same time as the example of the mule deer management tried to control a population of deer in Pennsylvania by outlawing hunting only and the same outcome happened.  From these examples came lessons learned.  Wildlife managers learned that there is more to conservation than purely protecting wildlife.  Their solution was the hunters.

A habitat is an area that a species fulfills their basic needs for life: nourishment, procreation, and rest.  These habitats need to be managed properly or habitat loss will occur, urban development presents the greatest threat to wildlife.  The essential elements for a habitat are food and water, arrangement, cover, and space.  These elements in a habitat can support a specific number of wildlife.  Changing seasons presents a change in water, cover and food.  In order for any species to survive there is a specific carrying capacity – the number of animals the habitat can support all year long—that must be maintained. 

Wildlife has many factors that limit the reproduction of their species including: disease/parasites, pollution, starvation, old age, predators, accidents, and hunters.  The important thing about this list is to realize that hunting is the only one that can be controlled.  The key aspect about regulated hunting is that it has never led to endangering or threatening any wildlife populations.  All of this conservation and preservation that wildlife managers set out to do couldn’t be done without the help of hunters.  The information wildlife managers need from the field is obtained through the hunters.  Because of all this hunting is an extremely effective wildlife management tool.  The funding that hunting licenses brings has helped many species recover from struggling populations.

Not only is the funding from hunters vital, but their eyes and ears are as well.  In an article on American Hunter there is an article about the dumbest poacher of the year.  This man was in a federal refuge hunting snow geese outside of regulated hunting seasons, in other words poaching.  This man did this in front of other people and the person that reported the incident was a hunter enjoying the scenery.  The article here goes to show that hunters are separated from poachers by a thin line.  The fact is hunters spend more effort, money, and time on wildlife conservation than any other group.  Besides participating in removing the surplus animals from the habitat, hunters sustain populations through: stopping at hunter check stations, participating in surveys, helping fund wildlife management through license fees, filling out questionnaires, and providing samples from harvested animals.

The birth rate compared to the death rate of these ducks, and species alike are crucial to their survival.  The death rate is judged over a year’s number of deaths of a species total population.  I’m sure you could guess how the birth rate is measured.  By studying these two; wildlife management can predict the succession – natural progression of vegetation and wildlife populations in a specific area—of a species.

If everything I have been talking about, conservations, preservation, management… all goes according to plan then each species will produce a surplus.  This surplus of a species is what hunters are allowed to harvest annually.  Without hunting, these surpluses would continue to grow every year and the species would provide a negative aspect on the habitat.  A great example of this is water fowl species.  Suppose two ducks produce six chicks each year and none of those chicks die from any factors that threaten wildlife.  By the time the chicks turn six the first pair of ducks will have grown more than 2,000 water fowl.

(majority of this information is available in Today's Hunter in California and the California fish and game homepage)

Terrorists Hit Pheasant Farm

Does that title grab your attention, sounds a little scary doesn’t it?  I thought the same at first glance but of course it’s not exactly what it seems.  According to a hunting article on American Hunter, an animal rights group vandalized a farm and released 75 to 100 ringnecks—a kind of pheasant--  These animals were raised on a farm and were growing to maturity, getting a healthy diet and room to stretch, until set “free”.  Now as someone will argue this type of habitat isn’t natural, while their argument may be right the birds still had a chance to live a bit longer. 

For someone that doesn’t know much about pheasants they might think the bird had a better chance in the wild, truth is this bird is pretty dumb.  A house cat would have no problem taking down a full grown pheasant.  So were these people that broke into a farm, and released the birds doing the right thing?  In my mind they were releasing the birds into the wild to their death.  At least if they were left alone in the farm, they would have been released, hunted, and given a quick clean death.  Instead they get to be picked off by predators and eaten alive, ill agree that is natural.  Trust me on this; since the birds weren’t born in the wild, they don’t know how to take care of themselves and survive, releasing them was a death sentence.

This article wasn’t a huge surprise to me, this kind of vandalism happens often.  What was surprising was how these activists are considered to be domestic terrorists by the FBI.  

Culture and Hunting

Our society has many views on what is right and wrong; hunting is no exception as I’ve said before, I know I’m a broken record.  When it comes to hunting we think of it typically within our own culture, but the truth is there are still cultures that still rely on hunting for their main source of food.  The Martu people are Australian Aboriginals that continue to hunt and gather.  Other cultures include the Mikea people of Madagascar –who returned to hunting and gathering recently— in India alone there is the Chenchu, the Birhor, the Nyaka, the Paliyan and the Andaman Islanders. The list can go on and on so I’ll spare the boredom.  What I’m trying to say is there are still many cultures that rely on hunting and gathering.  So what separates our hunting and that of the cultures that hunt daily?

Hunting in our own culture is highly controversial, so why do we worry so much when only 7% (according to dfg.ca.gov) of the U.S. population hunts and multiple cultures hunt 365 days a year.  Over the course of human history hunting and gathering were the main sources of providing food prior to large scale agriculture.  While it seems that even the earliest humans were hunters and gatherers; the truth is they were probably scavengers.  The first evidence of a group using hunting and gathering as a strategy is presumed to be Homo erectus, 1.8 million years ago.  Modern day hunting in the U.S. is regulated heavily and provides large amounts of funding.  In cultures, like the ones stated above, that rely on hunting as a source of food there is no regulation or funding benefits and yet there isn’t controversy. 

It’s easy to see why there is little controversy with the cultures that hunt for survival.  Our society lives with modern day food resources that make it so we don’t have to rely on hunting.  The cultures that rely on hunting hunt only as needed, for survival.  Instead of hunting for survival we hunt for sport, but in actuality that’s not entirely true.  Some remote locations like Alaska, people have to hunt for survival.  Even these remote locations are regulated.  Killing a moose in Alaska is no easy task; the animal must be a regulation animal; even after the kill all parts must be disposed of properly.  An Alaska state trooper will go out of the way to find the animal remains and inspect it.  After inspection if something hasn’t been done properly the hunter could face a large fine and a/or a year in prison.  That is a huge difference between our cultures hunting for survival and the hunting for survival by other cultures.  We still have regulation with strict consequences while other cultures don’t.

Hunting Types

Surprisingly there are many different types of hunting.  A hunter can stalk his or her prey by following tracks that lead to the type of game being hunted.  Still hunting is another type, involving stopping for long periods to scan and listen for game.  Posting is a type of hunting where the hunter sits in one spot with a vantage point.  Ground blinds are used to conceal the hunter; normally used in water fowl hunting.  Elevated stands are used to gain an advantage by putting the hunter in the trees to be concealed above the level of the quarry.  Hunters can use game calls to attract animals towards their location; the three sounds used are territorial, feeding, and distress.  Driving is a type of hunting popular in the eastern states; it involves a group of hunters driving a specific animal to a hunter or hunters ready to shoot. Flushing involves using noise and movements to scare game to leave cover; typically used with dogs.  Trapping is a type of hunting that used to be extremely popular in the past and generated decent income, now day’s people enjoy trapping for recreation purposes.  All of these can be looked into at California's hunting website and the hunter’s guidebook.

It doesn’t matter what type of hunting a person chooses to get involved with, they all involve five stages.  Some hunters will go through all five stages and some won’t; it all depends on the person.  The first stage is the shooting stage, the priority of this stage is to get off a shot rather than patiently waiting, this eagerness to shoot can be dangerous to the animals and other hunters.  Limiting-out is the second stage; success for this stage is determined by bagging the limit.  Trophy stage is the third stage; the hunter is selective and judges success by quality not quantity.  The method stage is the fourth; in this stage the process of hunting becomes the focus.  Sportsman stage is the fifth and last, success is measured by the total experience – the appreciation of the outdoors and the animal being hunted.

Canned Hunting

As I scrolled through my Twitter account earlier today I noticed a post from Steven Rinella – American writer, hunter and outdoorsman -- about canned hunting.  Canned hunting is a form of hunting where the animal being hunted is actually confined to an enclosure by a fence.  Usually these enclosures are owned by an individual or company and will sell animals to hunt to individuals.  Hunting, like many other sports, has its own share of controversy.  But canned hunting is a huge controversy within the hunting community itself. 

The animals hunted in canned hunting areas aren’t wild, many consider them to be domesticated.  These animals can be raised by the owners of the land and then let loose for a length of time and hunted when there is a buyer.  By doing this the animal is taken from its natural habitat and thrown into an ecosystem that does not give it a fair advantage against a hunter.  Not only that but the people paying to hunt them are also driven out to the animals location.  Where is the "hunt" in that type of situation?  After the buyer, as i like to call them instead of hunters, kill their pray they can be taken back to the lodge and wait for their meal.  Where in real hunting after a hunter stalks his or her prey for hours they then have to field dress the animal and carry it out.

In the add posted by Steven the seller offers the Bull Elk for " $2,900. OBO." That right there is disgusting.  Selling an animal for hunting purposes is disappointing enough, but offering a Bull Elk or any animal for OBO is down right degrading.  Every animal hunted and killed deserves the respect of the hunter and the community.  Fair chase is an ethics guideline that many hunters go by and many don't.  Fair chase means when i'm out hunting and a dove lands on the fence near me I don't shoot it just sitting there ill wait till it pops up to fly away giving it a fair advantage.  

First Hunting Experience

The first time I went hunting I had no idea what I was doing.  I was sitting in a ditch covered by weeds taller than me and next to me were two good friends, both experienced, and I was holding a loaded shotgun ready to shoot.  I remember focusing so hard on not shooting my friends that I would hesitate and let birds go by.  After a few minutes passed we all separated in the field I was able to focus on shooting the doves and not my friends.  Once I took my first shot I was immediately hooked.  I loved everything about it and even though I was missing the damn birds it didn't matter.  Hitting a dove is not an easy task.  Doves fly in bizarre erratic patterns, and somehow they know when you shoot at them and try to dodge the shot flying at them. 

 As the day progressed and my shooting got more and more accurate I inevitably hit my first dove.  Excitement and adrenalin filled my body as I rushed over to collect my first kill while my friends cheered.  When I got to the dove my body was filled with a feeling of unexpected sorrow as I noticed the dove was only wounded.  This is the first experience I’ve had that I can think of where I was filled with so many different emotions; nervous to shoot for the first time, excited to shoot for the first time, pumping adrenaline because of shooting for the first time and even sadness for seeing a dove wounded because of me.  So like any ethical hunter I quickly put it out of its misery in a humane way.  Luckily my feeling of sorrow was quickly diminished when two more doves flew my way and I got a double –shooting two birds back to back—all in all it was an amazing day.  Hunting is the only sport I have ever done that gave me a rush of so many different emotions, I guess that’s one reason I love it so much.

Hunting Isn't Just About Killing

There aren’t many other places I’d rather be than sitting in a corn field with my 12-gauge, hiding in the tall grass of a canal bank, and UC Merced off in the distance waiting for the next dove to fly near enough for me to attempt to shoot it.  For me hunting is a way to get away from it all, as cliché as that sounds, but it’s true.  Even if I’m sitting out in the chilled morning fog, warm afternoon sun, or crisp evening air and I don’t see a single bird it’s still the one place I’m never disappointed.  As a new hunter I just love to shoot, I don’t care if I come back with 10 birds or none.  Squeezing the trigger and having a shotgun kick into my shoulder is one of the best feelings there is.

Hunting is more than killing an animal or shooting guns.  It is a family event that brings people together.  After an afternoon of hunting we'll relax with ice cold beers and blooming almond orchards all around.  Friends and family who don't hunt will come out to enjoy the outside with us and sit and watch us miss bird after bird.  As the day progresses and we finish hunting everyone will hang around and just enjoy the calm farm atmosphere.  A University to one side and mountain ranges on the other.  The few doves that we have been luckily enough to hit are field dressed -- cleaning and removing the meat -- and preserved for cooking.  

Towards the end of the hunting season we'll all get together and cook all the doves we've collected.  Family and friends all join in and we make an evening out of it.  Dove breast wrapped in a bacon strip with a jalapeno and marinated in a zesty Italian dressing is my favorite way prepare them.  Hunting is about many different things to different people, but for me its about being with friends and family either during the hunt or after.

Introduction

Hunting clawed its way into my life just recently.  Two good friends of mine talked me into getting my hunting license; little did I know this would be the start of a fantastic addiction.  The fresh air, the friends, and the blast of a shotgun are just a few of the things that fuel that addiction.  Hunting is about more than just going out and killing my prey.  Hunting is a way for friends and family to get together and enjoy the outdoors, old and young alike are always welcome.  There is no age limit, as long as the person can maintain safe mussel control their welcome to join.  For me hunting is a way to connect myself to the primal state of being a human.  Stalking prey, killing it then cooking and eating is one of the most primitive experiences I have ever done.  Of course within all of this is great deal of controversy.

Controversy is a huge issue with hunting, as it should be.  An ethical hunter can help benefit an ecosystem and even the species that they hunt.  While an unethical hunter can danger everyone; including the animals and all other hunters.  A great link to explore for any information on hunting in general is dfg.ca.gov.

A few of the things I will try to cover throughout this blog will be.

•          Hunting in general
•          Types
•          Controversies
•          Pros and Cons
•          Benefits
•          Evolution
•       Hunting in cultures

I feel that I should put a slight warning on here; my blog is about hunting so some of the links I add will show pictures of dead animals.  I will try not to post any offensive pictures directly on my blog, but do keep in mind this is a hunting blog.

-Mark Van Elswyk