Hunting the Hard Way - Why do it?

 

A reported 13.7 million Americans hunt some form of wildlife.  About half of that number bowhunt.  Only 2.6 million use traditional gear.  From my own observations at gatherings only about 5% of the traditional community uses the American Semi-Longbow or Hill style bow.  I think it would be generous to say 50% of that number were shooting a back quiver.  Probably, less than 50% of those use one to hunt with.  Crunching those numbers, I am only one of several thousand hunters in the country who chooses to hunt with the equipment I do.  Throw in my propensity to hunt from the ground and shy away from camouflage and the numbers get really small.  So, as far as hunters go, I am truly an odd duck, or the “few elite” as I like to see it. Interestingly enough, just 65 years ago, I would be among the majority of archery hunters on the cutting edge of technology.  

              So, one could ask, Why do it?  Why take the hard way?  Why spend hours and hours practicing my shooting, sharpening my stalking skills, researching plants and trees that game prefers, travel great distances to partake in unguided hunts, practice my calls on my way into work each day… and through all of this, usually come home empty handed. Why, when you could make things much easier?

              The answer is something inside of me.  

              There is a feeling and satisfaction that only the longbow hunter knows.  A point when you stop directly interacting with the woods, and you become a part of the woods.  Like an out of body experience, you are there, but you are not.  You see the animals in their natural state away from the human eye.  This feeling triggers primal endorphins that leave some, like myself, hooked and starving for more. 

              As my personal journey continued, this feeling wasn’t enough from 25 feet high in a tree.  I wanted to be closer, more in touch.  I wanted things more on my terms.  The gadgets and crutches pedaled by the outdoor industry became less desirable.  I wanted to be successful using my skills and knowledge.  Quickly, I figured out that I didn’t need a backpack full of gear to kill a whitetail.  In fact, some of that stuff made it harder!  I tried more and more hunting from the ground, and I became better and better at getting opportunities that way.  I started trying to stalk game I saw instead of waiting for them to “come into my shooting lane”.  My gear changed as well.  Simplicity became the appealing virtue.  My bow evolved into a simple long elegant and delicate bamboo laminated longbow.  Suddenly I didn’t have to wait for that deer to stop in my shooting lane.  I could hit things that were moving.  Wow was this getting fun! 

              Now I sit down in my basement workshop and look up at various “trophies” hanging on the wall and notice the lack of huge mule deer and elk antlers, no P&W sized antlers, nothing that most modern hunters would say were “impressive”.  That is if they don’t consider any of the how.  The struggles, the effort, the missed opportunities, the ones just out of range, and the misses.  All this makes up for it all in the long run.  Each one is something special in the journey.  I would not trade any of it.