CW for hunting, consuming meat, animal death
I do not typically eat meat from restaurants, fast food, or grocery stores. I procure the meat my family and I eats through taking the animal myself.
There are several reasons for this, the first being that I am physically able to hunt and I don't ever take this for granted.
2. Hunting is honest and practical. You either read the situation correctly and succeed or you don't, and you leave with nothing to show for it. However, a single successful deer hunt can feed myself and my family for months and for a fraction of the cost. It is more economical for me, thanks to the fact that I have access to relatively nearby public lands where I can hunt small game like rabbits and hares, and deer during their respective seasons.
3. I am directly accountable for the kill, there is no distance between me and the reality of what taking an animal's life means. There is no insulation from the reality of how the meat got to my hands and no distance to make consuming it easier, and certainly no outsourcing the uncomfortable parts. I see the animal, I make a decision, and I am responsible for the outcome. Because of that weight, I waste nothing and am deeply interested in conservation.
4. The animal I hunt lived a completely wild life engaging in natural behavior, natural diet, and natural social existence up until the end. That stands in stark contrast to the conditions most commercially raised animals experience, even in relatively humane operations.
5. it gives me a complete skill set. Reading terrain, tracking, patience, fieldcraft, marksmanship, and eventually processing the animal. The grocery store removes all of that. I am just left with the end product and removed from everything that produced it.
6. Providing for my pack is a responsibility I choose to take seriously. I go out, I apply real skills, I face genuine uncertainty, I succeed, and then the people I love most eat because of what I did. Hunting benefits those that matter most.
7. There is coherence. Given my wolf identity, hunting my own food aligns with my values, my actions, and my sense of self. What I believe, what I do, and who I am all point in the same direction while hunting.
