Hunting and Primal page 5

[not on the rug]

Sorry to hear about your Dad. I lost my Dad in 2006, and my son took him on his last hunt less than two weeks before he went home to the Old Ones. He was a lot like how you describe your Dad.

sorry to hear about your dad as well. i deer hunted with my dad in december, and the morning he died, he and i talked about doing some late-season goose hunting over the next few weeks. now they're both hunting in a much better place

[not on the rug]

I've actually had birds land on my bow while I'm holding it. Been face to face with a few squirrels as well. They get really excited when they realize where they are. My favorite close encounter was with two black bears while deer hunting. I was in a tree stand and the bears both crossed within ten feet of the tree I was in. I could literally smell them.

this and what orannhawk posted is just so awesome. i've never had a bird land on my bow, but i have a beautiful cooper's hawk land about 5 ft over my head this year. then he glided to another tree, sat for a second, and dove in to the brush, coming up with mouse or something in his talons. it was awesome to watch. i love when i'm in a stand or on the ground and a deer approaches so closely you can smell it. it's amazing. watching those animals move, and the level of awarenes they posess is simply amazing. their sense of smell and hearing are unparalelled. and they have that sixth sense of just "knowing' there is danger around them. its their eyes that play tricks on them. i can't even tell you guys how many times i've had deer within 10 yards of me, nibbling grass, etc, and then the big old doe or buck comes in and those guys just know something is up sometimes. even when you didn't think you didn't do anything wrong, they just sense you or something. i guess thats how those smart guys and girls live so long.

[windypasswheeler]

I am so thankful to have access to game meat and fish, 100% local and organic. Having grown up in the suburban northeast, it took me years of living in Alaska to learn to appreciate this resource. And now thanks to primal, I understand the value of the bones. I enjoy bone broth as often as possible, and all my soups taste incredible when using it as a base.

[Reindeer]

I don't hunt, but I'm taking the classes(I live in Europe so the gun regulations are NOT as free as they are in the states, lol). Going primal sparked my interest for food in the first place, and I started thinking a little about where exactly my food came from. Now I'm studying forestry as second education and get all the meat scraps I want from the butchery. The rest of the class look at me oddly when I grab the liver and kidneys and heart and stuff, but I mean hey, if nobody else wants it, right?

*sigh*... it saddens me a little that no one seem to be prepared of taking care of the whole animal. They ruin the skin when flaying it, throw away all the offal and the bones, and pretty much everything that isn't meat gets discarded. heck, when we were prepping goose after the hunting season, all we had to take out before the rest of the bird was thrown away, was the breast and the liver... several pounds of meat that would've been fine if cooked slowly, totally wasted. It's just a shame. I shudder when I think of what the food industry must look like.

[Navajo]

I used to hunt ALL THE TIME. But sadly, now that I live in Northern VA, if you don't know somebody, there's really nowhere to hunt around here. And since I am mostly a hermit (LOL) I don't know many people. Am still looking for somewhere local though so i can teach my son and bring home some good almost free meat!


Good luck to those of you starting out. It is a skill you will always have and appreciate.