When I was a young teen my friends were bragging about going hunting with their fathers, and I wanted so much to have the experience to talk about too. However, I knew my dad did not believe in hunting as a sport. But I asked and begged so many times, he finally agreed to take me. We loaded all our camping gear, food, and a rifle into the car and headed out, after school on a Friday afternoon. I was so excited, but I noticed my dad was quiet and solemn.
We drove into the countryside, a little way out of town, and he began in serious tones, “Now Son, I’m taking you on this trip because you want so much to go hunting. But there are a few rules I have. First of all, anything you kill, YOU clean it. That means cutting the head off, draining the blood, skinning it, and cutting the parts up and getting them ready for the freezer. And the second requirement is that YOU must EAT anything you kill. We do not kill anything just for fun, or just for a sport. That is taking a LIFE!”
My young brain started spinning. I had never thought beyond the thrill of holding a gun in the woods and getting to brag about going out with my dad, like the other boys. But as I imagined the gorey job he had described, I felt revulsion. Could I really do that? The more I thought about it, the more I hated the idea. I wondered if any of my friends had really thought about taking the life of a helpless animal?
We rode in silence for awhile. Suddenly I had an idea! “Dad, did we bring the camera?”
“No, he replied, but we aren’t that far from home.”
“Let’s get it!” I responded excitedly. “I can shoot a deer with my camera instead of your gun!”
“I’m proud of you, Son. And the photo trophies you get will require just as much skill as getting a deer with a gun, without any mess or any guilt!”
I got some wonderful photos of deer on that hunting trip, which I prize now as a man, now a father of my own son. When he’s old enough to understand, I’ll be able to take him hunting too, the humane way. And his soul will alsobe enriched, as mine has been all these years of being a hunter with a camera!
Real Travel Adventures 