Remember this: Once upon a time in a hunting stand there was a woman who thought.............
During one of my first re-con sitting marathons in the deer stand, I sat back in the white faux leather chair to ease my mind. The cobwebs were quickly swept away as I could hear the sounds of things moving in the swamp. I knew whatever was in there was investigating from the bush so I paid no never mind. It would either come out or not. I was maintaining my coolness while mentally making a closer inspection of the machine of merchandising and sport shows.
The place these thoughts were coming from was the ever increasing concern that my concept of hunting could be indirectly/directly influenced by media and the messages it sends through advertising or informative hunting shows. I asked myself some questions.
How has media influence me positively or negative in my hunting endeavors? What messages have I received from exposing myself to these constructs?
Hunting does support a huge amounts of individuals and their families. On the other hand there are people that feed money into the machine only to get poorer. The discerning huntress has to navigate through this forest to find the trail that leads to a personal defining viewpoint she is comfortable living with. No apologies or explanations should be required. It is what it is.
I thought about the big business of merchandising.
Do you often ask yourself when buying something is it a necessity? Is it a relevant product? Am I going to benefit from this purchase or will it make things too easy?
To me this is like picking up a book and reading the last chapter while skipping the body of the text.
I personally do not buy a lot of the things necessary to improve my hunting. Nor do I want all the information that could be available to make my hunting experience so easy that I get bored of it then quit. I like a more natural approach to stalking deer or in the case of a stand: sit and wait. I do not use scent blockers because I have found that I actually like a level of difficulty to outsmarting a buck.
On a more personal note as compared to information I gleaned from informative hunting shows, I have noticed the following. Even though this is definitely not the norm it seems to work for me.
Most of the time I spray a Honeysuckle scent on because wild jasmine grows in my hunting spot. Washing in a sodium bath followed by a floral underarm deodorant doesn't bother the deer either. I have noted they will smell and react to a male before they will a female. Also not eating tons of meat so it can ooze out your pores is another habit I have. If you don't smell like a meat eater they don't see you as a threat. I remember seeing the guy who studied wolves even said he had to feast like wolves by eating liver for them to smell and accept him. Its a different way of looking at the situation for sure. Even though this is contrary to known information on how someone should hunt is it wrong? Probably not. Are other peoples' ways of doing things wrong? No. Whatever works for the individual or gives them confidence is probably not a bad thing. No way of doing it is created equal.
I recently had a conversation with a nice hunter from England concerning the changing requirements of guns being used during fowl hunting. One interesting comment was on whatever was the fashion at the time. Can hunting be fashionable or unfashionable? Why not. This could pertain to the weapon of choice, bullets, dogs, boots, vehicles, etc. At the core of it is merchandising for profit.
In some countries, people that hunt dress up in fashionable regalia to go hunting. Depending on what the fashion of the moment is, that is what you will enjoy. Is it required? It would depend on who you associate with or the club. Is there something wrong with hunting clubs having a level or fashionable decorum? Certainly not. You always retain the option of saying yes or no.These are more formal social events geared to enjoy hunting but also hold fellowship with other like minded souls. In other countries, people that hunt will dress up like commandos with high powered weapons to enjoy their time. In other parts of the world you might find the lone hunter sitting out in a deer stand much like me with a pair of blue jeans and a red hoodie on waiting to claim that nights supper if you're lucky.
Even though each one of these scenarios is different are any of them wrong? I would say no. One would have to extend to the other a certain amount of respect for their way of doing things because it is the custom or the requirement. Its like the old saying goes, when a man is in a strange land, he should do as the locals do so as to not insult anyone which could cause his death.
I knew that this perspective stemmed from the many hunting based activities that existed outside of hunting in the actual woods. I thought of the hunting expos I had attended with rude people, vendors that sized clients up based on looks without offering a service, or the way women were sold the more prettier things such as clothes or ambience instead of something concrete.
My thoughts on this were not negative but more of a thoughtful exploration on how I perceived these issues. I would hope that others would examine these as well. It is something to think about.
Written by W Harley Bloodworth
~Courtesy of the AOFH~
