Dear HCN,
I wish to respond to Marc
Gaede’s letter “Hunting: Call it competition” (HCN, 11/23/98). In
this complex, confusing world, it is a tremendous relief to find
someone with the simple answers to difficult questions such as,
“Why do we hunt?”
From Mr. Gaede’s remarks, I
now understand that I hunt because I am a “testosterone-laden male”
and that when hunting I am “subconsciously killing other male
humans because of competition for females.” I discussed this point
with one of my hunting partners, Lisa, who happens to be a woman.
Previous to being enlightened by Mr. Gaede, we thought we went
afield because we like to hunt and like to eat the meat. Silly
us.
At any rate, on the day I read Mr. Gaede’s
letter in HCN, I was restless from being cooped-up by a driving
snowstorm and had the urge to go hunt an elk. I showed my loving
wife of 20 years the part of the letter which stated, “…
(Petersen, a hunter) is uncomfortable with his social position,
which would restrict his access to desired hierarchical females
…” I then told my bride I was OK with our social position and had
satisfactory access to the female I desire, but sure would like to
put an elk in the freezer.
She filled the thermos
with coffee and made me a sandwich while I got my rifle and
binoculars. Giving a good-bye hug, she said, “Don’t be slaughtering
males from other groups and don’t be clubbing any of those
hierarchical females and dragging them home. Just hunt.” I grunted
in the affirmative.
Later that cold, crisp day
while following fresh elk tracks through whispering, snow-whitened
pines, I wished I could hunt because I enjoy it, have people accept
and understand this fact, and let it go at that. It is much more
simple, and honest, that
way.
Tory
Taylor
Dubois,
Wyoming
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Why one man hunts.
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