Generally after the evening hunt, I get everyone picked up from their blinds. We clean/quarter the deer, get dinner.

I sit down and give thanks to a bottle of Crown Royal and a big ole cigar, then wash it down with some Miller........for some reason it makes it all right in the head

 

The past few times I've hunted I've asked God for a safe and abundant hunt. I also ask for the skill and good fortune to kill the animal quickly so it will not suffer. I pray in thanks to God after the kill, before I dress out the game. I'll also pray in thanks again before I eat the game after its been cooked.
Wow, I didn't realise how much praying I've done hunting.

 

I can't say that I've ever performed any kind of ritual but I get very quiet and introspective, trying to deal with, and understand the emotions that taking an animal's life stirs up.

Last year I've almost sworn off hunting after I shot my doe. She dropped where she stood but was not dead; I had severed her spine so she was paralyzed. I went over and put her out of her misery with a round to the head but before I did, she looked at me with this calm, wise eyes. It totally unraveled me and I had a hard time with it for a while. But I put it behind me and I seem to be back to normal this year.

I think that rituals are people's way of justifying taking a life or dealing with the grief of it, which is fine if it works for them.

 

Last year I've almost sworn off hunting after I shot my doe ... I went over and put her out of her misery with a round to the head but before I did, she looked at me with this calm, wise eyes. It totally unraveled me and I had a hard time with it for a while.

The same thing happened to a friend of mine. His story convinced me not to get into hunting. That was before I got into survivalism. I still have not hunted dear. How did you get over it?

 

I don't have any death rituals. I pray a lot, give thanks a lot. Hunting is no different and I feel that the animal has been given to my family and I so I thank the giver. I also feel appreciation to the animal, though I don't talk to it.

 

not much as im gutting i say `` thanks i will make sure you go to good use``

 

Saying thanks is something I do as well. I take a kill as something very serious. I have killed most every kind of game from fish to rabbit, to squirrel, goat, you name it. The only thing that offends me is somebody that kills just for the kill and not for food. If you kill it then you eat it in my book, unless of course it is in defense of your life. I have hunted and fished since I was a kid, and my Grandfather taught me from an early age to give thanks, make a clean and painless kill if possible, then eat the meat with pride and thanksgiving.

 

I thank God for the opportunity. I thank the animal for its sacrifice. I usually do it silently. It's a private thing, and I don't need to advertise.

I'll tell you though, I have never felt closer to God than after a recent hunt. I made a long (for me) shot at dawn from a mountainside. It was a clean kill on a magnificent animal, in a single shot. Even now, months later, it makes the hair stand up on my arms to think about that morning. That I could have the man who taught me to hunt there, and my brothers... everybody sees God differently, but I see him on a mountainside at dawn.

Declan, I know what you mean, after a fashion. The animal bears you no ill will. All things die. The coyote or feral dog would scarcely have given that doe the kind of treatment you did. That you felt discontented afterwards means that you still have respect for the object of your hunt. If you ever lose that, you should hang up the gun.

As for the more mundane rituals of the hunt... we make jokes about how small the deer was (especially if it wasn't) and how bad the shot was (likewise). We get together a few nights later to do the butchering. We cook up the tenderloins in a little butter, and the rest we freeze or make into sausage and freeze.
Some of the best memories of my life at home were those nights when we were up late making sausage and eating butterflied fillets.

 

Lol, the joking is part of our ritual as well. "What'd it do? Walk up and put it's mouth around the barrel?" One of the men will get out a magnifying glass, especially if it's a doe, and give us hell about how small the racks are . Except with me, being the young guy, they'll pat the deer on the hip and say "Good job, son. You're on your way." One time I was admiring a person's kill which had it's rack resting on a large mesquite branch (this was the first dead deer I'd seen). I was feeling the antlers, when one of the guys stepped on the branch, which , acting as a lever, lifted the animal's head up, and yelled "RAH!". I have never jumped so high. I have to admit, that was smooth.

 

I pray for safety and good success prior to and during the hunt, give thanks after the hunt, recognizing that the same God that made me made the animal. I'm a firm believer in the power of prayer, and the critical need to be grateful to God for our blessings.

 

I'm kinda with AZman, probably most of the times I pray is in the woods when I'm hunting. Just a month or so ago I was out in the timber by myself for the first time in a long time, and I really realized how day to day stress just dissapates for the hour or two I am alone in the woods. A week later I was at a tailgate party and some of my friends were getting a bit obnoxious, and I caught myself thinking man I wish I would have just gone hunting today. Also I have much more respect for a meal that I killed, butchered and prepared myself. A little blood on my hands and a good hunting story behind the meal makes me appreciate it much more than if I just zapped it in the microwave.

 

I am not a hunter, but I do spend a great deal of time on wild land. I have been thinking lately about what it means to be a sportsman, about what hunting is and the time-honored practices associated with hunting. I am glad to read here that many hunters honor and respect their prey. This seems to underpin an ancient tradition.

What do hunters think of a kind of hunting based on fear and rage, an urge to decimate a population, which we are seeing in the wolf hunts in three Western states? Should this even be called hunting, or should we call it by some other name? If honor and respect isn’t the essence of a taking, then what is it?

Thank you.

 

Hunting is a very Spiritual Practice for me, with much Ritual, Unfortunately these days I am not just a Hunter, Im also a Game Manager. I participate in managed preditor hunts, Lion,Cyote. Preditor numbers must be managed for the health of the Game animals. Hunting Lions is really scary sometimes when they are thick, I dont use Dogs. Its real spiritual to be on almost even terms with the Lion, the Lion has the advantage. If I make the Kill, I have Favor, If the Lion dont get me, I have Favor.

I have no respect for those who pratice "Malicious Blood Sport".

 

Every year roughly rut time we make an offering to our god of hunting, god of bows, Ullr,usually beer or mead and we also bless our weapons etc. And if and when we make a kill, we usually will thank the animal for it's sacrifice, rub it's fur, and help it with it's passing if it still has life in it, gentle words, soft tones. After the animal is out of the throws of death we field dress it. We often share the heart with our hunting god Ullr in thanks for a good hunt, luck, and success, we also make sure that no part of the animal goes to waste, everything has it's place, it's use.

 

I am pleased to see the Old Ways are not dead.

 

I always thank god for his blessings, thank the animal for its sacrifice, and ask god to guide my hand to avoid waste when butchering the animal.

 

the farther from the road/house what ever I get, zenny, sort of an "in the moment nothing is as important as what I am doing at that instant" sensation and the thing is at that moment I'm not aware of it's importance. happens when I go fishing too I sit on the bank and just be, with the line in the water seems I catch larger fish not as numerous but larger when I'm like that.

 

My father taught me to always honor the kill. We are part Cherokee and his grandmother taught him to hunt. His grandfather had lost his legs in the Civil War, and before you go nuts, my Dad is in his late 80's, his dad was in his 40's when he had him in 1928. So, yep, my great grandpa was a Civil War vet.

Anyway, she was full Cherokee and hunted till the week she died at 97 years old. It's not a big deal. Just make a clean kill, if not, slit the throat as soon as you get to the animal. Thank its spirit for its sacrifice and honor its bravery and life it has given to allow you to be nourished.

And, of course, be thankful to God for the food and for the creation of the world that gives you a place to hunt and experience nature in such a personal way.

 

I have always felt closer to God when in the field, on the river, or in the woods. I try to be respectful in the harvesting of game. No rituals, but no chest beating, or disrespectful antics.

 

I simply thank God for the harvest and thank the animal for their sacrifice. This is also why I only bow hunt. I would not hesitate hunting with a firearm or traps if its a matter of survival but for now, I like the challenge of stalking and I think its more respectful towards the animal. Long range hunting and killing varmints disgusts me.

 

I thank God for the animal, and giving it to me, and being in a part of the world that i can hunt and own firearms also. thats all. i do it in my head.

 

First of all, I thank the Lord for everything ! When I'm sitting on a mountain/Field somewhere those are the most spiritual moments of my life (Especially if I'm alone).

I always feel Gods presence when I'm out there, as if that's his favorite place to be too...

Nature is Perfect !

 

"What do hunters think of a kind of hunting based on fear and rage, an urge to decimate a population, which we are seeing in the wolf hunts in three Western states? "

Don't believe everything you hear, see or read in the media. As a resident of one of those states, it is not as the media would portray. Wolves are decimating the ungulate populations. Residents of these states did not want a top tier predator that was not even endangered introduced into an ecosystem that was settled and balanced after the absence of that predator for decades. Now they need to be managed before the ungulate populations are too severely damaged. We have seen wolves with mange problems, an indicator in canine populations of overpopulation of the canine and a miserable way to die. We need to manage wolves by hunting and/or trapping to keep all of the different species in balance now that they have been reintroduced. Too bad game management is now driven by politics and emotion and not by science. The "fear and rage" is more fear of further politicization of game management and rage over people living in areas completely dissimilar to ours making decisions that severely affect the whole ecosystem and the daily lives of many. The ill feeling is toward people responsible not the wolves themselves.

 

My aunt n uncle would kill it, then take a cup full of blood and drink it. I never adopted that.. ritual..

I just kill it, then go say thanks

 

My Dear Doe

My first deer I got with a bow on the ground. I waited all day to harvest just the right one and turned many down--watching them grazing along their path. I was shaking when I realized I had hit her, got her straight in the heart and it was a clean shot. She never knew what hit her. I went over to her to inspect the point of entry and I realized that there was a hush of silence surrounding us in the sunsetting woods.

I looked at her eyes staring ahead with just a hint of the sun's gold reflecting in her eyes. Then I reached out to touch her and quietly thanked her for the food she was providing. I thanked my spirit hunting guides for watching over me for a safe hunt.

Nobody ever told me that this was a hunting ritual. I don't even know what came over me to even think those things. It was like that was always inside of me, and at that moment, it came out as naturally as blinking.

Then hubby showed up to teach me how to field dress her but before we did that, he looked at her softly, and we gave thanks together. We both had tears in our eyes. It was a very solemn moment, full of deep respect and honor. We carried her out of the dark woods in silence and hung her from a tree in our yard. Then he high-fived me and shouted, "atta-girl!"

When I cooked the meat later on, I thanked her again.

She's now a part of me, and I am a part of her.

 

I think its telling that this sort of reverence appears nearly universal. I can think of few times I have prayed more sincerely than after a kill. Even pulling beautiful rainbow trout from the Snake River filled me with awe at their beauty and strength, sadness at the thought of ending that perfect life and gratitude to God and his creation/nature/whatever for allowing me to partake of that bounty. The day I no longer feel awe and sadness at a kill is the day I will stop hunting/fishing.

 

I'm not religious or spiritual or anything. After the shot, all I usually say is "Well, now the work begins. But it'll be worth it at the dinner table."

 

Im a religious man and in the Bible, Genesis to be exact, it says everything that walks, crawls, flies or swims will be food for you. I take that to a literal meaning. I pray for everyone, including me, to have a safe hunt before I step foot into the woods. If I am fortunate enough to harvest game, I say a prayer thanking God for allowing me to take a life to feed my family and I think the animal for its sacrifice then I take blood from the wound and put a stripe under each eye and a stripe from my hair line to between my eyes ( lots of Choctaw in my family)and sit for a few minutes in silence to let it all sink in. The blood is the life and power and that animals life and power live on with the "paint" on my face. Someone said earlier that Nature is perfect- I couldnt agree with that more

 

For me, the hunt itself is a bit of a ritual in itself. The harvest, is the result. I offer thanks, respect and i don't talk the nube "if its brown it's down" BS that my son and his buddies do.

I hope i live to see the day he comes full circle to respect and honor hunt for what it is, rather his thinking its a measure of how manly he is.