Kneeling beside my first deer, I had no words. I just sat there stunned, my hand on his shoulder, uncertain whether I would ever hunt again. Finally, I whispered something clumsy: half gratitude, half apology. The next year, when my second deer dropped in his tracks, I was shaken but less shocked. I spoke my … Read more
He loved the woods, the animals, and the hunt. What he didn’t count on were the hunters. Following his boyhood dream, he earned his license as a Registered Maine Guide and landed a job with an outfitter. Then came the group of hunters who returned to camp bragging about how they had chased a moose … Read more
Was that the faint sound of steps? Of hooves crunching dry leaves under the thin blanket of snow? Seated on the ground, I shifted to the right and half-raised my .54 caliber caplock. Moments later, I saw deer some forty yards off, walking toward me among the pines. Two, three, four of them. I brought … Read more
If my pristine hardcover copy of Meditations on Hunting was a paperback, it would be heavily marked up. Here and there, a sentence would be underlined, noting my emphatic agreement. Mostly, though, the margins would be crammed with question marks, exclamation points, and words of protest. This little book, written in 1942 by Spanish philosopher … Read more
Two weeks ago, I got an email from Michelle Scheuermann, a spokesperson for The Sportsman Channel. Hunt.Fish.Feed.—a project Michelle works on, bringing donated game and fish to the hungry—was getting some bad press. She wondered if I would take a look and share my thoughts. Given my journey from veganism to hunting, she thought I … Read more
Even with the leaves damp and quiet, I heard the buck coming. And even through the branches and brush, I saw enough antler to know he was no off-limits spikehorn. When he stepped around the big hemlock twenty yards away, my rifle was up. In the periphery of my mind, the antlers registered: maybe six … Read more
The moose steak sat on the kitchen counter in a steel bowl, thawing. Having just completed the state hunter education course, I was contemplating the prospect of going after meat on the hoof. Though I didn’t have any plans to hunt until the following year, I did have a question to answer: How would it … Read more