Hunting: A family tradition

Every year, come deer season, groups of brothers, sisters, fathers and sons, uncles, aunts, mothers and sisters, friends, grandparents and everyone in-between get together across this great country of ours and take part in deer hunting season. Plans are made far in advance, and you can bet the deer season opener is clearly marked on the calendar. Hunters will load up the four-wheelers, ice chests and other hunting gear, getting ready to spend time in the great outdoors.

Jamie Adams/Special to the Chronicle

Two white-tailed doe jump a fence in Sumter County. The general gun season starts Nov. 5 in Citrus County. Deer hunters nationwide are getting ready to take part in the time-honored tradition of the opening day of deer season.

It is a time-honored tradition, and an occasion for bonding with people who share a love for the sport. Weapons are cleaned, oiled and sighted in. Stands and blinds are set up in anticipation of the opener. Those in the know will already be keen as to where the deer are bedding and what routes they take to feeding areas, while others are content to set up on opening morning. All anticipate seeing that trophy buck of a lifetime.
Sadly, it is also a time for those who do not hunt to share their views and opinions on why we hunters should not do what we do. Seeing a big buck or doe strung up on the deer pole angers these folks, who continually wonder why we hunters do what we do. “Inhumane,” “cruel,” “killers” — on and on the insults are flung, all because they disagree with what we do. They do not have a clue.
Most people know that animals, whether they are farm-raised cattle, chickens or pigs, are part of most people’s diet. And they also know that these same animals are killed, in one form or fashion, so that they can be consumed. The same goes for wild game — which, by the way, is healthier to eat than preservative-filled processed meats. Now, the naysayers will go on and on about how we should not eat meat or kill anything. Wild animals are “cute,” others will chime in, yet they have no idea just how “un-cute” a white-tailed buck in heat is, or a charging wild hog.
Now, we can do the point/counterpoint thing all day long. Being a journalist, I try and practice impartial, fair and open-minded journalism on all topics of discussion. But when it comes to you trying to take away my right to hunt or fish … we are going to have problems.
Everyone has a right to an opinion, and if you feel that hunting is wrong …  fine. Just don’t try and force your ways down my throat. I don’t make you hunt. If you don’t want to do it, that’s fine with me. But you can be sure that I will continue to pass on the word about how “Huntin’ Is Good!”
Anti-hunters will have you believe that hunters are a cruel lot — bloodthirsty killers, some might say. And while there may be a small segment that fit this category, they are few and far between. The hunters that I know care deeply about the environment and the animals that they hunt. They treat the woods like the sacred place that they are, and truly enjoy being free from the computer/cell phone/ email-crazy world that we now live in.
They take their kids out when they are old enough and pass on the tradition — show them how to read signs, how to move quietly through the woods, how to appreciate all the natural beauty that God has blessed us with. It has been this way in my family, and many other hunters’ families, for many generations.
Fishermen, for the most part, are the same as hunters. As a matter of fact, most guys/gals that I know who enjoy hunting also like getting out to wet a line as well. They care about the waterways and healthy fish populations so they can enjoy the God-given bounty and take their children out and teach them as well. Hank Williams Jr.’s hit song “Family Tradition” really says it all when it comes to outdoor lovers. Passing it on to loved ones is the way it’s done.
Important rules have also been passed down through generations of hunters, fishermen and outdoor lovers: Eat what you harvest, wasting nothing. Leave the woods exactly as you found them. If you see trash on the water or in the woods, pick it up. Do not take potshots at game. Make sure you have a clean kill-shot before pulling the trigger or releasing an arrow. Practice sportsmanship at all times. The list goes on and on.
Believe it or not, I have received letters and emails registering disgust and contempt for me being a fisherman — for hooking fish.
“Imagine the pain they suffer when you so cruelly hook them,” one email said. I about fell out of my office chair. I thought to myself, “you have to be kidding me!” Yet, the writer went on and on about how cruel I was by not only fishing, but then writing about it and putting pictures of “dead fish” in the newspaper. When I informed the person that the bass she was referring to was released unharmed (catch & release is the only way to go when bass fishing), I was told in no uncertain terms where I was headed in the afterlife. I kid you not.
Well, write I will. And hunt. And fish. And then do it some more, God willing.
Dan Hermes is an outdoors writer based out of Inverness. He can be reached at danoutdoors2001@yahoo.com.