Hunting- The Chi Energy Blog

“That’s so cruel!”

It is a response that any hunter has heard many times from others when the others find out that the hunter kills animals.

And let me digress a minute and talk about Killing game v taking, harvesting, bagging, etc. I kill game. That is what it is. To sugar coat it by saying I take game, harvest game, bag game, reduce game to possession (honest, I actually read that last one somewhere, WTF?) is a dishonor to the animal. If I am not willing to call it what it is, then I am ashamed of what I do and am not giving the proper respect to that which I kill. Similarly, I do not do buck poles nor do I parade the buck around on my hood for all to see doing so shows a lack of respect for the animal and can be offensive to those who are not comfortable with hunting..

Now back to the issue at hand. Is hunting really cruel? No. Not when done ethically.

What is ethical hunting? Hunting is ethical when; you use a weapon which is capable of a quick kill, you practice with said weapon until your skill is sufficient, you do not take shots that you have not practiced (and how many deer hunters actually practice shooting moving targets?), you make every effort to find any game that does not drop where shot, and you use as much of the animal you kill as you can.

Is ethical hunting any more cruel than Mother Nature?

The other day I heard a cacophony near the boulder wall behind the house. Investigating, I saw a mother wren and a not-quite-ready-to-fly youngster on the gravel. On the wall I saw another youngster with its back end partially in the jaw of a snake. The young bird was carrying on mightily as the snake held on. The snake was unable to swallow the bird and was holding on until the bird became too tired to fight so it could turn the bird around and swallow it.

Yep, this is more humane than shooting a deer.

I saw part of a time-lapse video of a pack of wolves killing a mother bison and her calf. The mother fought to protect the baby as the wolves circled and slowly wore her down. It was an all-day affair to finally bring down the mother. The terrified calf succumbed sooner. The wolves took bites and tore at the animals as other wolves surrounded and distracted them. Finally, as the animals were down, the wolves started eating on them as other wolves were still finishing the kill.

Yep, this is more humane that shooting a deer.

What about store-bought meats? Are the animals raised in a good environment? Are they treated well? Are they penned and unable to move freely?

I get teased while playing volleyball. I tell people that when I hit a spike I try to project Chi energy into the ball. Others laugh. I am serious. Part of Chi energy comes from food. I have read, and tend to believe, that meat from poorly treated animals has poor and/or less Chi than free range, well-treated animals’ meat. I think a deer or other animal that is killed quickly and then handled well will have better meat than will a mistreated cow.

In the end, there are some people who will never agree with me. This is America and I love that they can have their own opinions just as I have mine.  I only ask that they do not try to impose their beliefs on me just as I try to respect their beliefs by not parading the dead buck around.

Hunting season will soon be upon us. I hope you all get a chance to get out into the woods and that you have a safe, successful, and ethical hunting experience.