This weekend I went with my boyfriend and his dad to their ranch house in Collinsville, Texas. You've probably never heard of it before because there's a lot of land and not many people. To be honest, I had a negative mindset going into this trip. My boyfriend is from Texas and loves hunting, football and NASCAR. I am from Connecticut and love lacrosse, shopping and watching ice hockey. We are very different people but we learn from each other. For example, after attending my first Dallas Cowboys game I began to enjoy football once I learned what was going on. Then back in November I was somehow convinced to go to a NASCAR race. The experience was a lot different from what I expected. I did however make a promise too never go hunting. Well, once again I was convinced to go duck hunting over this past weekend and once again I was surprised at how much fun I had.
Generally at 6 o'clock on any given Sunday morning I don't find myself dressed head to toe in camo and heading off to a lake with a gun in hand. But this morning I did just that.
My view on hunting did a complete 180. I had never shot a gun before but I figured it could not be that hard because all you have to do is aim and pull the trigger. I was mistaken. The guns are heavy and the ducks are fast. Not as easy as it looks.
I had always thought hunting was cruel and unnecessary but today I learned a little bit more about the sport. It takes a lot of patience and skill. It also balances out nature. If ducks were not hunted they would over populate and therefore the species they eat would become underpopulated. Hunters also do no waste their kills either. They take out the breasts and eat the meat.
While I'm not about to jump out of bed to go hunting every morning I did learn that keeping an open mind is the best way to experience new things. I learned that attitude is everything and even though something may be unfamiliar to me does not mean that I wont like it. I wanted to move to the South to experience new things and I cant complain about that because I'm getting what I asked for!
I agree that it is always good to experience new things, especially things you aren't interested in or don't care too much about. I remember my first time hunting a few years ago and I had a similar mind set. I didn't like the idea of killing harmless animals but after I went, I found that almost every part of the animal is used. Nothing goes to waste. And yes over population can become a very big issue but so can extinction. Luckily there are hunting seasons and rules to keep the status quo. Great post!
ReplyDeleteThis post was really thoughtful. The good thing about going to college so far away from where your from is that you get to know new people that can teach you things you wouldn't where your from. I came to college thinking my best friends would only be the girls from the same area as me but I quickly realized thats not true either. I am surprised how much fun it is to learn from each other. One of my best friends is from California and I'm from New Orleans. Now over the summer I'm going to be with her at the beach and she will be experiencing Mardi gras with me. Its exciting getting to teach people from other parts of America about what you love. I'm glad you were open minded!
ReplyDeleteGood "food for thought" here, if you'll excuse the pun. People need to think about what happened to the animal behind the steak they are buying in the grocery meat counter. I think if we knew more about how animals are killed in slaughterhouses, and how they are treated prior to being slaughtered, we would realize that hunting is not necessarily inhumane if done by people who are competent at hunting. And it keeps us connected to the reality of how life sustains life. I've never hunted, and I used to be disgusted by those who do, but I've changed my thinking on this 180 degrees. (As long as it's not "trophy" hunting.)
ReplyDeleteI really liked your post because, like you, I don't think I ever will/want to go hunting. Being from a beach area in California, hunting isn't exactly on the agenda of most people's days. However, I will say that, of the people I know who hunt, they really enjoy it and always do their best to explain to me why it's fun and why it's not just the mindless killing of animals. I give you a lot of credit for going out and trying hunting and am glad that it pleasantly surprised you. Who knows, maybe one day I'll get dragged into it and have a similar reaction.
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