"There can be no greater issue than that of conservation in this country." Theodore Roosevelt

I know many people don't approve of hunting and don't see it as anything more than a bunch of rednecks out with guns and beer. Yes, there are people out there who for them, that is what hunting is. It is an instance in which the minority are giving a bad reputation to the majority.

For the majority of TRUE hunters, hunting is about conservation...about spending time in nature and understanding it's needs and help it. Hunting has been an activity that we, as humans, have partaken in since the very beginning. It is a way for populations to be kept in check, particularly in our world where the ecosystem is so dramatically affected and unable to balance itself.

I grew up with a father who hunted and who had guns in our house. Growing up we wouldn't have had meat on our table without my father's hunting. To me, my father is a true hunter in every sense. He is the person who will spend the entire day out just watching and waiting, who leaves nature better than when he arrived, the man who if he shot...but did not kill...(my father rarely misses a kill in one shot) would track his prey all day and for many miles in order to ensure they animal did not suffer unnecessarily.


Tonight Matt, Kate and I all took the first session of our hunter safety course. In all honesty I have no desire to go out hunting and shoot an animal. I am taking the course for safety...to educate myself on hunting and on handling firearms.

One of the questions that was asked (this was a group of adults and kids 10+ years old) was what would you do if you found your child and a friend "playing" with a gun without supervision or permission. Every parent was adamant that it would not be accepted and they would be disciplined. To many people this is the biggest concern with firearms: Accidental death and injury.

I honestly don't know what my father and mother did, but we knew we were to NEVER EVER to touch my father's guns or ammunition. The fear instilled in us from little kids has carried in to our adulthood: Neither me, my brother, or sister will go near my father's guns without his express permission. I believe it can be attributed to his taking us hunting with him when we were younger (I was 3 the first time I went out). We weren't sheltered from the power of a gun. We saw the deer alive, as well as dead: Knowing that the gun did that.

My only hope for the future is that I can instill the same fear and respect for firearms and archery equipment in my children that my father did. I'm sure, especially with his help, we will.