Monday 21 May 2007

Why am I doing this?

To awake from my comfortable homeostasis, rediscover my physical self and embark on the adventure of reconnecting with the natural world. Fat and lazy as I am, I get the feeling it’s going to be a rude awakening! I live in one of the most highly urbanised societies on earth, and it shows. Mainly around the middle!

Ambition:
Hunt, and kill a massive Elk with a bow. To skin it, butcher it, put it’s meat on the table and in the freezer, hang its skull and antlers on the wall, spread its hide across our bed and love-wrestle Mrs Bushwacker on top of it in its honour.

Between here and there:
Lose quite a lot of weight, gain quite a lot of muscle, develop endurance, learn archery, learn bushcraft and stalking skills, choose then buy (or trade for) all the kit needed to trek out into the wilderness, kill and bring back the body of my noble prey.

Why Hunting?
Ever since I started eating meat again, I was vegetarian for a few years in my teens and early twenties, I have felt a growing need to have an honest (and some would say blood thirsty) relationship with my dinner.
I’ve noticed a lot of hunters refer to killing an animal as ‘harvesting’, just as there is no polite word for a euphemism, on this blog killing is called killing. I’ve met too many people who can/will only eat something if its origin is obscured. Fish, but only if it does not have a head, prawns without their shells, chicken but only when it comes from a plastic tray, and then only the white meat. These are people are afraid of their dinner. Our food deserves our respect. On the days when our skill and tenacity overcomes the animals guile and awareness, we earn the right to eat the flesh of another being. If you cant (or won’t) kill it, gut it, cut it, and cook it what gives you the right to eat it? I believe in celebrating and honouring the life that is taken so we may live.

Why Elk Hunting?
1.Stone sheep aside, it’s renowned as the hardest hunt there is.
2.You get a lot of meat from one success, and my time is limited

Why Bow Hunting?
To me bow hunting is a pure unadulterated expression of man’s ingenuity and the spirit of the hunt. With a HS Precision loaded with 200 grain .300 Winchester Magnum you can shoot to kill at 400 yards*. The commitment and skill required to kill ‘up close and personal’ with a bow is something such a noble adversary deserves.

* How do I know? During my only rifle hunting experience, with zero tuition I shot and killed a moving White Tail Deer at 100 yards+ with the first shot I ever fired from a (non air powered) rifle.

19 comments:

American Bushman said...

Fantastic!

I look forward to reading more. Good luck on your quest.

B

Anonymous said...

http://www.animalsontheunderground.com/bird.html

Please check out this website with a view to finding animals on the underground.

The Suburban Bushwacker said...

They're so cool aren't they.
the stag makes a great crimbo card.

Anonymous said...

A noble heart you have, Good Sir! Yes, if you won't look your food in the eyes before you take it down, then you obscure the deed - the being giving his life so that you may live - why not remember him who feeds you? Those that eat mass-killed livestock from stores - they know not those they eat, and so they do not remember their sacrifice. Somehow, it feels to me as though your heart is as of a fellow Native American. Although, all human bloods have tribal roots, no matter the race. We are all of the tribe of Human beings. Good luck on your quest!

- Falls-Down-Laughing ^_^

Anonymous said...

You said, "If you cant (or won’t) kill it, gut it, cut it, and cook it what gives you the right to eat it?"...EXACTLY my thinking and raison d'etre for my pursuits at Howling Duck Ranch! (Incidentally, I was vegetarian for more than 10 years, vegan for the last several).

Don't know how you found my blog, but glad you did! I'm enjoying yours immensely.

And yes, Stoney is a dag eh!

Cheers.

Anonymous said...

PS. I had no idea you still had elk in the UK. Where do you go to hunt it?

I'm off on a moose hunt.

The Suburban Bushwacker said...

Howling duck ranch

Thanks for your kind words of encouragement. I'm planning a post about your blog, but stoneheads comments page was too funny and i got distracted!

We dont have elk in england but in scotland they do have a close relative the red stag. My hunt will most likely be in Finland as they both have elk and bowhunting is legal. Here in the UK we can hunt deer (and growing numbers of boar) with rifles - no slugs or broadheads. I'm also planning an extended holiday to New Zealand to fill my brother freezer with a serious elk.
SBW

Anonymous said...

Where in NZ is your bro? My husband and I moved back from NZ 5 years ago (he's Kiwi, I'm Canadian born).

Let me know when you plan your extended trip to Canada!

The Suburban Bushwacker said...

he lives on the south island

I certainly will, I've alway wanted to visit canada, and was looking at a bushcraft course there only yesterday thinking it would be a great thing to do.
SBW

Bill Coleman said...

If you want to kill an elk and do all the work to get it to the table, book a hunt in Colorado. Elk are plentiful (very).

The Suburban Bushwacker said...

Bill
thanks for stopping by.
I certainly will be revisiting Colorado, I only spent a couple of days in Boulder, but I loved it. Oh and the fishing looks good to
SBW

The Black Widow said...

Dear Bushwacker....I love your blog. Im in Wisconsin / grew up on a farm and currently work in the corporate world. I miss all my hunting days and family days. Would love to try some of you hasenpepper.

My blog is about fantasy hunting, family stories and I think some high tech things.

The Black Widow.

The Suburban Bushwacker said...

Black Widow
Thanks I look forward to seeing your blog grow
SBW

Keith said...

Good to have found your blog. I too was born in the UK, but now live in Australia. I like using the bow, but prefere to use my flintlock fusil.
Regards, Le loup.
http://woodsruunnersdiary.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

Dear Bushwacker,

"Hunt, and kill a massive Elk with a bow. To skin it, butcher it, put it’s meat on the table and in the freezer, hang its skull and antlers on the wall, spread its hide across our bed and love-wrestle Mrs Bushwacker on top of it in its honour."

That is one of the craziest paragraphs I've ever read (Admittedly, I don't read much online). So crazy actually that I am commenting. Brilliant. By now I have little doubt that you have come across Chuck Adams and loads of other bowhunters. Cameron Hanes in the states is well worth reading too, reason being is that he stresses the importance, over and over again of physical fitness. So, with that in mind, and this inspired "beating heart of our primitive ancestors business" I would like to introduce you to these:

http://www.vibramfivefingers.com/

If you don't know about them, scooter into the big L, try them on, fall in love with them, buy them, run in them and get in touch with your inner caveman.

Good luck with the bowhunting, I hear Hungary is worth a dabble.

Keith said...

Re the Five Fingers thingies, can you use orthodics in them?
Le Loup.

The Suburban Bushwacker said...

ANON

Thanks for your kind words - that phrase cracked be up when i wrote it, and its still funny now.

Those toe-shoes thingys are way cool aren't they. I really fancied a pair when i first saw them. I've only met one person who has 'put a toe in the water' and bought a pair. he loved them
Cheers
SBW

CRCobb said...

I ran across your blog when I googled "great hunting adventure writing." I was looking for some of the greats: Capstick, Rourk, Roosevelt (handicapped for being a U.S. president), and your site popped up. I realized that reading just the great old hunting stories was distant in time and practicalities. And if someone in the UK is able to have some hunting adventures (including in the UK), then what the hell am I doing just reading about it? I also agree with your philosophy about the ethical relationship between hunting and consuming meat. So, I've started reading your blog from the beginning.

Also, I've taken my own blog in a couple directions - from shooting to gear to politics, and I'm not satisfied with its current "theme," so I wanted to read another blog "cover to cover," to get some ideas.

The Suburban Bushwacker said...

CR

Thanks for getting in touch and commenting on this page, as I'm sure you've guessed this is the one page that means the most to me.

The great thing about hunting adventures is they don't actually have to take place in some far-flung location at great cost, they can happen on the doorstep.

I've been very busy earning a crust but I'm about to have a bit more time to put into suburban hunting in the next few weeks, and you never know i may even get a little low-cost wild trout fishing in this season!

I've only had time to read your 'about' section but from that I look forward to reading more of your blog - welcome to the camp fire, pull up a log, stay for a chat

SBW