Hunter vs. hunter outdoorsman

Hunting and the natural world are inseparable. That fact is obvious. What may not be as clear is how we hunters view ourselves. We hunt, but how much do we really know about what’s in the woods?

My father was hunter and a self-taught naturalist. We seldom went into the woods together when he didn’t educate. He did so by often asking challenging questions. “Son, what kind of track is that? Is that a red oak or a white oak? Hear that? What’s making that sound? Why do you think deer scrap the ground in the fall?”

My dad was very smart about plants and animals. How much he knew was pretty amazing and he was determined to share some it with me. Dad was constantly teaching and as a result, I learned.

With the benefit of my many lessons I’ve come to believe there are two kinds of hunters. There are hunters and then there are hunter outdoorsman.

Hunters gain knowledge and skills that they use to successfully harvest game. The harvest is largely the objective. The focus is to find it, kill it and take it home.

The hunter outdoorsman harvests too, but with a greater sense of how animals live and how they interact with the outdoors. The wonder and beauty of the outdoors is inseparable from the hunt for the hunter outdoorsman. The hunter outdoorsman is aware of the forever changing environment and has a respect for his or her place in that environment. The hunter outdoorsman might adjust hunt behavior based on what they learn.

Sitting in a stand overlooking a swamp creek, quietly following a deer scrap line or waiting patiently against a tree trunk hoping for a glimpse of that gobbler are educational opportunities.

We learn so much when we look at a creek and discover what drinks there. We’re learning when we notice tree rubs along a scrap line and try to guess when the deer visited last. When we shift our eyes back and forth still looking for turkey and instead observe squirrels chasing each other in courtship, we have gained an education.

Every deer hunter knows at least generally how many bucks vs. does they’ve seen in a season. Or if you hunt turkeys, you have an idea of how many gobblers, jakes and hens you saw. While these observations aren’t a formal study, they mean a lot when you consider how these numbers change over the years. All this isn’t just hunt information but it is also information about animal populations and behavior.

Back to my dad. I once heard someone ask him how he knew so much about foxes. His reply was, “I read about em, I hunt em and I pay attention.” That’s it. The power of observation and the willingness to use our education to inform how we treat the outdoors and things in it. I think that’s a hunter outdoorsman.

I credit my dad for much of what I know about the world around me. All those seemingly endless questions about the woods had their intended effect. I now see oak trees and those tracks on the ground and know what they are. I’m also reminded of my dad and have an appreciation for what he was pressing me to learn. He wanted me to learn to be somewhat of a naturalist like he was and not be just a hunter.

I’m guilty. I’ve become my dad. I ask those same questions of my son when we’re together in the woods. I sometimes see in my boy’s reaction that he doesn’t like taking the test anymore, but I keep giving it and I know he’ll pass. Perhaps he’ll teach someone else to be a hunter outdoorsman.

Hunting and nature are intertwined in a beautiful way. Let’s strive to be more of the outdoorsman when we hunt.