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Cross Roads
Late evening sunlight filters through the forest canopy. The sounds of the natural world sing like a sirens song to the young lady seated beneath a gnarly limber pine. She loves all things nature, from the chrystal clear high lakes, to the boulder strewn talus slopes and beyond. Each creature in these mountains; deer, elk, bear, and dozens of other species mesmerize her with their presence, in these high lonesome lands. Every day spent up here studying the various animals, birds, habitat, flora, and fauna, just being one with nature, brings her closer to being the person that she wants to be.
A loud cry echoes off the mountain, she jumps to her feet and races toward the sound of the distress. Some poor creature is in trouble, and needs her help. She races headlong into the shadowed forest, unaware that she races toward a turning point in her life. Near the creek she stops and listens, the cry echoes again from directly below her in the water. A calf elk is trapped in a log jam, mid stream, and is being pulled under repeatedly by the current. She leaps into the rushing water and attempts to free the trapped calf. The rushing, cold, spring runoff, quickly pulls them both into the log jam. She holds the calf in her arms, trying with the last of her strength to free his tangled legs from the logs and rushing water. Her strength is failing quickly and she suddenly realizes that she and the calf face a watery grave. All her life she’s been a wildlife warrior, dedicating herself to the creatures of the earth and their wellbeing. Who would have thought that this is how it would all end? She looks the calf in the eye and says a prayer for the little helpless one, and asks the creator to send them an angel from the forest. ”Please God” she cries “I want to live”. The cold water pulls her and the calf under as she makes peace with the fact that this cold creek is her final act of protecting the creatures she loves.
Strong arms pull her from the water. She feels herself being laid out in the bright sunshine along the creek, her arms still wrapped around the gasping calf elk. She looks up at her angel, as he stands soaked to the bone. He wears an elk ivory necklace around his neck.. the mark of a hunter. She regains her strength slowly as the man before her wraps her in a blanket from his backpack. As the hours pass, her warmth and strength returning, she learns that her savior is also a hunter. He grew up here, in these mountains and has traversed many of the same trails as she has. They share the same love of the land, the creatures, sights and sounds of this virtual paradise. Through the long afternoon they discuss their varying points of view concerning the land. What they both learn durring this time is that they share many of the same thoughts and desires concerning the future of wildlife and their habitat. All of her life she was taught that hunters were bad. All of his, he believed animal rights activists were evil doers bent on ending the hunt. The calf elk has long since returned to it’s mother deep in the forest when this man and woman finally part ways. They have shared and learned much from one another. She promises to voice the conservation efforts of the hunter to her activist friends, and he promises to relay her message of understanding the wildlife and their plight to all who will listen.
I am a hunter. I make no excuses for my conservation efforts, or for my love of the creatures I pursue. Somehow there have been lines drawn between those that are trying to save “all” creatures, and those who conserve them through proper management and selective harvest. Animal rights activists are just that activists.. No different than the bar stool hunter spouting off about his right to kill anything he chooses, whenever he chooses. As human beings we are held to a higher standard, we have the ability to destroy, or protect our hunting heritage, our wildlife, and their habitats. No matter what side of the fence you choose to stand on, you must be vigilant of the facts. Stay concerned about doing the right thing and remain always honorable in your efforts to ensure a future for the wild places and wild creatures. Lets ensure a future for those who will follow in our footsteps. Without proper management, our wild life will perish; through disease, starvation, and human conflict. Without habitat and habitat control such as winter range and wetlands for wildlife to prosper the hunt would not be possible. Someone recently said that they won’t kill any creature, but will instead get their meat from the store.. This kind of ignorance is why all hunters should make an effort to let the non hunting community know that we are the first line of defense for the wildlife that we hunt and manage. Steaks and fish from the store all once had a heartbeat, not long before the plastic wrappers and fancy labels. I am a hunter not a killer. I believe wholeheartedly, that the future of our sport belongs not only to good conservation, but more importantly, to educating those who would listen and coming together as wildlife warriors, instead of fighting about who is more right… or less wrong…
(B&B)- Mike “Hawk” Huston is contributing editor for Bulls & Beavers LLC
www.journeywithredhawk.blogspot.com/
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[...] both the hunting and anti-hunting world a huge favor with his piece in Bulls and Bears entitled Cross Roads. He uses a wonderful story to set up this defense of [...]
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Awesome! You just amaze me!
Wonderful post. It is posts like this one that will help change the image of hunting. The more we get the message out about who hunters and anglers really are, the more people we’ll reach and the more opinions we’ll change. It will happen.
Excellent story.
We hunters need to open the conversation with animal rights activist,
There is common ground to be found except for the extreme fringes of both sides.
A good thesis on the faults with extremism and activists. We see them from both sides – that’s why I abhor tree-hugging zealots and the NRA. There is no room for compromise with either.
Great story,I know that because it gave me goose bumps.
It may sound strange to some people but the the best way to teach a child to appreciate nature is to take them hunting or fishing with you. My 7 year old daughter has been in the outdoors with me since she was 5, and she loves all things wild, bugs,rocks, trees, fish, animals, plants and fish. She completely inpects all game and has many question, and 9 times out of 10 if she brings a book home from the school libary it has to do with nature.
Thanks for a great story,
David
Very well written..I have a deep and long lasting love for nature and will do anything to protect it.. I work in Wildlife rehab, but I am also a hunter.. Funny how most people don’t realize that the two go hand in hand.. both sides seem to forget that we are all working towards the same goal..Thank you for your wonderful gift with words Hawk..
Great thoughts!
@David – yea, goose bumps as well.
My love for the outdoors began as a hunter/fisher, moved on to a tree planting land preservation activist in my home state of Oregon, then on to mountain/rock climber, backcountry skier and now once again, hunter.
While I still maintain a great passion for backcountry skiing and the solitude of climbing rock and mountains, I believe that despite our origins and allegiances, humanity as a whole must participate together as keepers of the land and the animals that reside there.
Good thoughts.
Nicely written. I’m not a hunter, but love meat! I also love the great outdoors and appreciate the fact that it takes all of us working together to maintain balance. Maybe you should send this to some of our religious and political leaders who seem to think that there’s only one view, theirs, on matters of state and heart!
Fish hard, play hard, die happy. Oh yeah, and regulate us like crazy. Seriously: it’s the only reason we still have fishing here in Washington, and the rest of the coast is dead. I welcome the rules. Plus, it gives the cubicle-ridden geeks a job
Excellent Article. It is always good to see both side. We will never make progress unless we come together and actually take the time to see both sides.
Thanks
Great job, Hawk.
Great story- I truly wish that people would realize that the hunter and fisher can also be ecologists and conservational;ists at the same time. I have been hunting and fishing since I was about 10 years old. My GrandPa and Dad taught me to shoot rifles, handguns and crossbow. I have fushed using the old fashioned stick-n-string and I have used the most expensive rods and reels. And I am an animal protector. I do not hunt or fish for TROPHIES. There will be no waste when I am thru- bones and hooves go to the dogs or back into the forest for scavengers. Fish guts and heads are used to make organic fertilizer ar as bait for the next catch. No heads hang on my walls- I do not kill for thrill. And I stand strong on my convictions that we need to save the creatures of this world in order to save ourselves. Contradiction? No- just understanding of the chain of life. Why do you scream at me for hunting a deer, while you gobble down hamburgers at fast food restaurants? aren’t cows the same as deer for all intent and purpose? Practice what you preach- take only what you need to survive and stay fed- leave trophies to the thoughtless slaughterers. My handmade buckskin slippers keep my feet warm, my mittens warm my hands- knowing that I am not aimlessly killing for pleasure warms my heart- just like this story did. Kudos! ————–^v^
Nice . . although I agree wholeheartedly that hunters and wildlife lovers of all kinds need to come to a common ground and understanding in order for us to preserve the wildlands I believe we need to address the growing numbers of hunters who are killers, not hunters, in some way that they can step back a step from their ATV’s and modern short cutting methods of killing and get back to hunting. What I do want to mention is the term “management” which in some places means killing all the predators. A very interesting new point of view on predators like bears, wolves, coyotes, lynx, sharks, bobcats and others is depicted in the movie “Lords of Nature: Life in the Land of the Great Predators” which can be found at http://www.lordsofnature.org/
which is basically about how the wolf reintroduction in Yellowstone has taught a couple of biologists that too much prey without fear ruins trees, birds, bugs, plants and streams and makes a whole ecosystem poorer. If hunters who are interested in seeing the skill and honor come back into main stream hunting can teach their leaders what good wildlife management means we can all be on the same page and really make a difference in how our wild lands remain wild. I sincerely thank you for you thoughtful and well written post and hope you keep up the good work. Linda Jo Hunter, author of Lonesome for Bears, A Woman’s Journey in the Tracks of the wilderness and co-founder of the International Society of Professional Trackers.
I just found this site through Twittering last night and am printing out the post to read on the run today (city-busy). My comment at this moment is on the comments that I just now read. Honest, thoughtful–very heartening. I feel I’ve found a home here, where I expect to spend time reading and savoring both the posts and the comments. Thank you, everyone.
I loved this!!! I wish everyone could read this. Outstanding!!
Thank You!!
Hawk, A remarkable piece of writing! Your last paragraph is an important contribution to the discussion and one i will be proud to reference in the future. Thank you brother.
My husband is a hunter. I am not. You couldn’t have said it better about their being wisdom in both sides of the coin and the need to come together for the sake of the wildlife and their future. My husband is passionate about hunting – not killing – and has a deep and abiding love for all things wild, and his true home is in the woods. I have learned a great deal from him over the years about what hunting is and is not. I have seen him agonize when an arrow from his bow lands in what is not a “kill shot” and have seen him spend hours and hours searching for that same animal so that he can end its suffering if necessary. Hunters and animal rights activists, like all humans come in many shapes and sizes. Some are less than honorable and oftentimes these are the ones we hear most about. Those wildlife warriors on both sides of the fence who truly care are too busy doing the work necessary to ensure a future for Earth’s creatures and their voices are often drowned out by those less committed to action. Words are cheap. Action and honor are much more costly. I commend you on understanding that and thank you for your thoughtful post.
This was amazing. I was worried to read it because I was thinking that I might be offended, but this was just so incrediable. I am such a big archer. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t condone hunting with a gun, but guns aren’t my thing. I love to bow hunt and it’s not for the kill. Most times, I don’t kill anything when I’m out there. I love the peace and quiet and watching the squirels play in the leaves (most of the time I enjoy it but sometimes they really get on my nerves!!!) but, most time I don’t get anything. But, I just wanted to let you know, how amazing this was!
Very well said my friend. If only we could get more animal rights people to go out and see our view of the woods, then they too would realize that the hunt is not always about the kill. It is about being close to nature, in their world not a petting zoo! Sure I hunt for the meat, and for the hopes of a trophy buck. But the trophy buck is not just to hang on the wall, it is a sense of accomplishment. Those old bucks are smart and people do not realize how difficult it is to get close to one or even to see one! Hunting is not killing if it were we would call it killing and not hunting, as my father would say. Good read Hawk
FANTASTIC ARTICLE!
Excellent post! Loving nature as a hunter, hiker, or photgrapher are all fine in my book. Tolerance of a broad array opionions is indicative of wise person. Despite our pusuits, we all go into the wilderness for the same reasons.
Mark Healy
I wish I had your gift with words. Keep up the great work.