This is an excerpt from an article that was previously published in Sword & Spade magazine.
The crisp air of the fall morning fills my lungs, energizing me as I step out into
the darkness from the luring comfort of a warm bed. My headlight illumines the
foggy cloud of my exhaled breath. The late November cold-front, with a faint waning moon, signals what every hunter can feel in his bones: prime rut in the forest. It’s a special time of year when the awakening of the woods is nothing less than awe-in-spiring. God is at work, and nature comes alive for the senses. It is the time that brings men together, and at the same time draws each of us into solitude. Welcome to the deer woods. Season is open!
The air is still. The woods are hushed in deep, silent sleep. Only the faint hoot of an owl can be heard from ridges away. Then something magical happens: the faint hint of first light creeps over the mountains and slowly illuminates the woods around me. It is a time of peaceful prayer. This light, which out here feels more like a direct gift from God, spreads forth all around me, enveloping me with His peace and presence in a way that only a hunter can understand. It is paired with the creation coming to life around me as the sun scatters the darkness. The sound of a squirrel bantering down the tree is followed by a cardinal’s song. Soon an Eastern Bluebird joins in, and it’s not long before a host of song-birds join in the dawn chorus, welcoming the day. That first female squirrel has been discovered by a male squirrel, and a flurry of chattering and chasing ensues in the perennial task of perpetuating the species! The woods are alive!
A slit of a moon gives way to the splendor of the Carolina-blue sky. My eyes are raised towards the Heavens in prayerful thanksgiving to be taking all of this in. It’s hard not to pray when I am there in the solitude, surrounded by the fingerprints of the Creator.
To Hunt or Not to Hunt?
To answer the question of why men hunt takes a deep dive into the onion layers, into the deep reasons that resonate in a man’s heart. It’s a call to get away from all the distractions, to go out to the wilderness as Jesus did, and like Jesus it leads you to prayer. In entering into this solitude, we find that God will reveal things to us about ourselves and His Creation that He will not speak to those who do not put in the effort. Nothing says prayer like sitting still in one place for often more than six hours with just you, God, and His Creation.
It affords the forging of a brotherhood that can only come from suffering together and then celebrating together. Getting out there in the frigid cold is much easier when you know your fellow brother is doing the same just over the mountain. This brotherhood cannot be faked through social media. Hunting is real. There is life and death on the line, and we are not pretending to get some entertainment value; rather we are truly providing for our families directly and tangibly, coming together to solve real problems in difficult situations.
It allows us to provide quality meat for our families. I have not bought meat from the store in more than ten years and rarely before that. Often in our culture, we are far-removed from the land and what it means to provide for a family. I can go to work to earn money and buy some meat to take home to my family… but what about just going and harvesting what I can trust to be healthy for my family? It not only provides, but connects me in all these beautiful ways to the land itself.
Lastly, we men need this time away in a quiet place. This is a place of trial and renewal. It may be hard, and there may not be the creature comforts of home, but each man, deep down, is wild at heart — yearning to strike out to see if he has what it takes. This is a primal part of us that has been instilled not by the world, but by God. He put that there in our hearts because He is wild too — untamable. It was asked about Aslan, the mighty lion who is the Christ figure in C. S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia: “Is he dangerous?” The answer was, “Yes, he is dangerous! He’s a lion. But he is good!” We too, as men, are to use our power for good. The woods are a kind of proving-ground. Do we have what it takes to go out and slay the beast to provide for our families?
It gives a man confidence that he can do something difficult and get the true adrenaline rush of pursuing an animal that is much more attuned than he could ever be. One wrong move, an off-breeze, a slight noise, and that deer is gone tail up and it’s over. Defeat is real too! Big highs and big lows are all part of it.
Published with permission from Sword&Spade. Sword&Spade answers a critical need to help form and unite men in the pursuit of wisdom, virtue, and sanctity.
If you are one of those men, sign up for Sword&Spade today.
The post Why Men Hunt appeared first on The Catholic Gentleman.