Deer Season

Deer season is just around the corner, and although I don't bow hunt (firearms season doesn't open until 11/13/11) , I'm already getting excited. Hunting is a complex subject for me, as an animal lover and vet student, because it is usually my main objective to save the life of an animal, not to take it.

Deer hunting (and hunting in general) is a very controversial subject, but  hunting is necessary to control the population in order to maintain the delicate balance in the ecosystem.

Deer overpopulation harms natural ecosystems. In high deer density areas, deer browsing prevents the regeneration of forests as deer eat nearly all the tree seedlings, destroy forest understory plants, and reduce overall species richness. Several studies found that deer browsing significantly reduces songbird numbers by destroying their habitats. [Source]

If an animal's life needs to be taken, I'd like to be the one to do it. This way I can ensure that the animal will die with respect, in the most humane way possible, and it's sacrifice will not go unappreciated. I think it is the obligation of the hunter to utilize all parts of the animal, if possible.

A few weeks ago I was headed down to the barn to lock up the chickens, and this freestyle rap popped into my head. I kept repeating it to myself and started writing it down as soon as I got into the house. The words started spilling out of my pen onto the paper and it's almost as if I was engaged in some weird stream of consciousness. I wrote until I felt I was finished, not stopping to revise or edit along the way. I made very few revisions once I was done, and this is the result. Enjoy.

I don’t hunt for the thrill

Of the kill

I hunt to fulfill

My need

To feed

And I need

To know

Where my food has been

And where it will go

Before it hits my plate



Maybe you can relate

Food factories

Are filled with disease

But you ask for another serving

Please

Stop and think

It’s no longer safe to eat your steak pink




Mother Nature provides the means

And the seeds

To allow us to maintain

And become sustain-able

So we can put real food on the table


My fingers quiver
As I pull the trigger

And under my breath I say a quick prayer

To thank the being
That I’ll later be eating

In good taste

I vow to never let a single piece go to waste

I dig my hands into the earth

And thank our Mother for the birth

Of every living being

That brings

Us closer to completing the ring

Around the circle of life


Every rock, and tree, and creature

Is a feature

Upon Mother Nature’s face

And in this place
I feel that we are one

And we have won

The moment we realize the gift we have been given

This is not Earth. This is Heaven.