Hunting Ethics

[katqanna]

Last week I read an older article by naturalist hunter David Petersen - Hunter as Naturalist: An Oxymoron? . I was curious and began looking into a number of his other articles online and eventually ordered one of his books, "On the Wild Edge: In Search of a Natural Life".

Each week I have been sending out a conservation postcard that I graphically put together, as a result of all the bad news we had to deal with during this last Montana legislative session against our wildlife and habitat. It began as something cathartic for me, but was apparently appreciated by a number of conservation hunters and anglers here in Montana, so I have kept them up, generally utilizing hunters (friends and my own) photos of wildlife, many of which also have a more naturalistic view to their hunting, which is evident in their photos, and adding conservation quotes from Roosevelt, Leopold, Abbey, etc. So this week, I decided on two of Petersens quotes. Since this deals with a sportsmen issue, ethics, thought I might share it here on Hunt Talk.

 

[Dinkshooter]

He has a ton of good writings, don't stop there.

 

[Dinkshooter]

I’ll add sometimes he can be a little to Bowuppity, as in the only hunters are bow hunters(maybe he is right)but you just have to dig past that stuff.

Bowuppity= the combination of uppity-fart sniffy and bowhunting. Does that count as a word?

 

[RUT JUNKEY]

Dink. . .I like it. . .bowuppitty. . .I guess you can just interchange the first word and use it for several other uses too!! ( gunuppitty,etc) NICE!

 

[katqanna]

I can understand the "bowuppity". I really enjoy the bow, but for me, it think it is a more primal thing. I have a weird quirk, or maybe not so weird, but not typically associated with women, so people say it is weird. I love primitive. In my archaeological research, I enjoy digging through old texts and finding data that deals with the more ancient, base use of things. Like reading about ancient Egyptian priests in the temples adding natron (borax) to the oil used in lamps, so that it would burn clean, not depositing soot on the temple artwork. So I tried it, finding a ratio that worked and have used this in my oil lamps. Cant help myself. Anyway, whether it is ancient metallurgy to lithic tools, I have been drawn to ancient hunting methods and the bow excites me.

Shortly after moving to Montana, I decided to abandon the compound bow and wanted to either purchase a collapsible recurve or make one. So while researching what I wanted to do, I have a construction accident and rip my left rotator cuff, pec and two upper arm muscles. Havent been able to hunt since and am hoping this is the year and I can do that. I have used a bola for birds, just to learn how to, have researched the small Vietnamese cross bow construction (good for small game and birds, etc. Havent used an atlatl yet, but I have made my own arrows with knapped points and even made the resin from pine pitch.

Funny thing is, I know other naturalist hunters that have the same drawing. I dont know whether you could call it a progression or a regression. Part of it for me is sustainability. While I have reloaded before, I hate the dependence on something that I have to have components from another source. So the more basic and natural I can find my comonents, "if" the shtf, I will still be able to hunt (think outside of the box), or with my bloody shoulder, at least enable someone else to hunt.

 

[noharleyyet]

Yes, but is he Mathews bowuppity?

kat, sometimes stuff is just way overthought....angstuppity, so to speak.

 

[katqanna]

Yes, but is he Mathews bowuppity?

kat, sometimes stuff is just way overthought....angstuppity, so to speak.

I think Matthews bows are far more high tech than Petersen likes.

noharelyyet - lol, never has anyone accused me of "overthinking" something (can you see the sarcasm dripping from my lips?). Angst and I are good mates. I am one of those people that should have a bumper sticker - "If you are not angry, you are not f*cking paying attention!"

 

[Dinkshooter]

Webster called.................it's in.

 

[noharleyyet]

...the Urban Webster methinks.

 

[dustinf]

Webster called.................it's in.

 

[noharleyyet]

Watch it Paula.

 

[dustinf]

Watch it Paula.

I'm good.

I'm not a racist, and I don't cook with butter...

 

[jryoung]

I don't cook with butter...

Turn in your 'Merica card before next Thursday.

 

[dustinf]

Turn in your 'Merica card before next Thursday.

Apple pie stinks.

 

[jryoung]

You're letting the dog on the computer again aren't you

 

[dustinf]

You're letting the dog on the computer again aren't you

We just adopted another rescue Sunday. He's scared of his own shadow, so last nights thunderstorms had him tweeking, big time. I'm delirious from lack of sleep.

That's him on the right, 3 1/2 year old Jupiter.

 

[Gerald Martin]

Hunting ethics, bowyuppity, angst, pictures of fluffy arff dogs...sustainability... and all in the same thread. You guys, (and girl) are not helping our image as drunken, bloodthirsty, buffoons.
I enjoyed the quotes and the card katquanna. I gotta say though, sometimes Peterson gets a bit far out for me. I wonder at times if he is being authentic or pretentious with some of his writing.

 

[katqanna]

(and girl)
I wonder at times if he is being authentic or pretentious with some of his writing.

I think I am a wee bit older than a girl ;P

Glad you enjoyed the card. I find it a rare thing to find anyone that I can agree 100% with. With that said, I can appreciate Petersens passion and some of his more, how shall I say it, taoist aspects to nature and hunting. Theres another subject for you.

I was born and pretty much raised in Texas. Married into a hunting family, both sides of which were farming/ranchers with their own land to hunt on. I remember the deer hunting, well some might call it that. They had blinds set up in a tree with corn feeders on timers. They waited in a tree and shot the deer that came to the feeders like clockwork. That was not hunting in my mind. Much to their consternation, I said that out loud too.

I know you cant paint the whole hunting community with the same brush. I know that there are cliques that prefer certain equipment or styles of hunting, the diversity of which is certainly represented on this forum. At the risk of sounding too serious about a subject, I love diversity. Kind of like Surak of Vulcan thing, "Infinite diversity in infinite combinations." I learn more that way.

Recently there was a post by a man from Utah who was a trapper. He spoke about how he alters his traps so they dont harm animals. Being an empathetic person (nothing to do with women), I have a hard time with traps because they are indiscriminate (have a friend whose hunting dog was caught in one recently) and because the amount of time an animal would be suffering before a kill shot. But after reading that mans posts on the subject, I can see the possibility of another perspective and his compassion for animals is not what I personally have heard from trappers. I do have a friend that used to be a life long trapper and gave it up a number of years ago, kind of like a Leopold moment with the wolf. He is adamantly against it now, kind of reinforced my view of the subject. This Utah trappers perspective showed me there is no broad brushing that subject and I can have an open mind about it.

While I might not advocate everything Petersen writes, I was curious enough to read more and wanted to offer up the quotes and article for food for thought. The dialogue produced might provide me with more that was stimulating besides the comical visual of a commie dog getting on the computer disparaging american apple pie.

 

[Gerald Martin]

I think I am a wee bit older than a girl ;P

I guess that's some of the chauvinistic, sexist side of me being expressed with my "(and girl)" comment there. Didn't mean to be insensitive. Although I do feel like I was being a bit generous in using the term "guy" to describe the owner of a commie fluffy arff dog (I almost said "girly"dog) that disparages 'merican apple pie. And I even used restraint when Dinkshooter made a comment sans sarcasm about enjoying Peterson's writing. I must admit my admiration for his linguistic accumen was increased when he coined the phrase "bowuppitty" I thought Noharleyyet was the only one who used big words around here.

With that said, I can appreciate Petersens passion and some of his more, how shall I say it, taoist aspects to nature and hunting. Theres another subject for you.

I can appreciate the passion and description with which he writes. He is a very talented writer. I actually enjoy most of his work. It's when he delves off into the "taoist" side of his writing to search out the meanings for existance and all that kind of stuff that he starts to lose me.
Maybe that marks me as an ignorant buffoon, but I don't find the existenialist questions he asks to answer any questions for me. I don't go to the woods to find answers to life's persistent questions.

 

[katqanna]

I guess that's some of the chauvinistic, sexist side of me being expressed with my "(and girl)" comment there. Didn't mean to be insensitive.

lol, Gerald, I didnt take it as insensitive and wasnt offended. I am a detail oriented person, perfect trait for research and the data mining I do. Not so conducive to emails and forums where people cant see your visual cues or hear your tone of voice, which for me is often teasing and mischievous. I also happen to deal with a lot of ancient linguistics for part of my research, so I get into the roots of word meanings in a number of languages. Girl (gyrle) is used for a child of either sex, from the Old English gyrele, which descended from the Proto-Germanic, all the way back to the original Proto-Indo-European base language.

So you write "girl" and I see "child", laughing to myself that my graying hair definitely removes me from the category of a child. Please dont walk on eggshells concerning words, knowing the origins of just about all the words associated with women, the majority of those that would even be used derogatorily, are actually compliments.