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Juxtapositions can be hard to accept. For some, the notion that I hunt for food while loving wild animals can feel contradictory, inconsistent or even hypocritical. Yet life is full of yin and yang polarities. I love to plant a garden and watch it grow\u2014to nurture potential into promise and then into plenty. Rarely do I confuse people when I serve them beets, carrots, or parsnips from the garden\u2014killing the plant\u2014providing nourishment. Yet with hunting, I can confuse.<\/p>\n
I hunt for many reasons. I love to engage in wild nature, to spend time in protected places that are more wild than tamed and to learn about, and from, the animals whose homes I enter. I revere in low-impact mountain craft and acquiring knowledge that transcends heritages and histories. And I love the connection of knowing where my food comes from and honoring the animals that sustain my family, be it animal or plant.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did you do to the elk to make it taste so good?\u201d It\u2019s a question I often get when sharing the bounty with others. Olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic are the only tangible and material ingredients added \u2014 somehow I think reverence or deep love for that animal is the true secret sauce.<\/p>\n
One could say killing is killing. The act is the act, that is irrefutable, that is what happened. And in a reductionist view of existence that is the only thing that happened. Yet my relationship with plants, with animals \u2014 with life \u2014 transcend mechanics of Newtonian physics. Intention and respect, not just action, provides context. Even if taking life appears cruel \u2014 beet or buck \u2014 with gratitude and reverence there is a difference.<\/p>\n
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