Big Bucks and Hunting Season

By Jill Henderson

As we round into the third week of November the Ozarks is enjoying blissful days of low-70 degree temperatures and generally sunny skies. The winds have been gusting steadily all week long and have finally blown in a good soaking. I view the weather from the perspective of a gardener, homesteader, and naturalist and this week’s weather has afforded my husband and I the perfect opportunity to check our fence lines and enjoy a hearty hike in the woods. But now that the official hunting season has begun, we will spend the next two weeks a little closer to the house.

It seems to me that people either love hunting or hate it. I suppose that puts me in the neutral corner. I grew up fishing and my brothers and father were occasional hunters. My husband grew up with a tradition of hunting and trapping. His father and grandfather were his teachers and mentors. The memories of those precious times spent with the men in his life are etched forever in the man that he has become. Yet, since we have been married, he has hunted only once or twice. On those rare occasions, I always helped by cleaning and processing the meat.

Once I participated in a hunt from start to finish. I did everything but pull the trigger. It was a learning experience - one that also touched my heart. Killing a wild animal isn’t necessarily an easy thing to do, but done right and for the rightreason, it provides organic meat for the table while also serving as a reminder of the workings of nature. I believe that most hunters understand that without quality habitat, there is no game to hunt. As a result, most become conservationists and naturalists. Unfortunately, not all hunters are respectful of nature, or of personal property.

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