I was putting on my make up Tuesday morning when I heard a shriek from the living room, "It's hunting season already"!?!?! I poked my head around the corner to see John glued to the TV screen as a lady talked about duck season on the news. "Are you ok!?" Silence...then..."NOOO!"John and I are opposite in may ways and this just highlights one of those areas. No, I'm not a member of PETA b/c I don't think Ben and Jerry's should switch their use of cows milk for human breast milk, but I'm not a fan of hunting (John does call me PETA though). In fact, when John & I first started dating the fact that he hunted was a huge strike against him. It wasn't until our trip to the library where he showed me book after book about what happens when we don't hunt that I considered continuing to date him. I saw pictures of deer that starved to death or died from diseases due to over population. It's also comforting to know that you have to have a licence & it's people's jobs to make sure we're not over hunting etc. It's also his agreement that a good precision hunter is less likely to injure an animal, but kill it instantly with one shot that got him a membership at the local shooting range. He does know his audience! It's a part of his life and so inevitably it's a part of mine. We've agreed that if I can see the wall there can't be anything dead on it! So, one day when we build our house we'll have to have a "man cave" & I don't care if he puts camo wallpaper up as long as it's behind a closeable door. :)
Every time John leaves to hunt I say a prayer that if that deer was going to stave an awful death or get hit by a car then God would send it across John's path. It's a silly prayer...no, it's ridiculous, but I'm very serious when I pray it. Most of the time I don't think about John hunting, but when we see a picture of a deer or one in real life it kills me. When we were in CO in August a beautiful deer came across the road right in front of us (as seen above). After the excitement wore off and the pictures were taken, I started bawling! I see the deer and think about what an awesome creation of God it is and John thinks about how bad he wishes he could shoot it! What if a deer just like this one comes across John in the woods? What if it has a baby and John doesn't know it? What if it is a baby? What if it's family is just on the other side of the road waiting for it!? So...John made a promise that if I stopped crying then he would never ever ever shoot a deer if it has a baby with it...I know...but that wasn't an obvious to him. Before this melt down if the baby didn't have it's spots it was fair game to him....now even if it's a teenage deer...if it's mom is near it's a no go for either of them! I rest better at night now. :)
So...here we are in MN where the deer are huge & pheasants and wild turkey are everywhere and poor John doesn't have a place to hunt. I really do feel bad for him b/c he loves it so much. I don't understand how he can love getting up before the sun rises to sit in a tree until it sets & he's ecstatic even if he doesn't see a deer all day...but he loves it and would do it everyday if he could.
He's going to South Dakota in October for the weekend with some friends to pheasant hunt so hopefully that will help the craving!
No, I will never ever go with him to hunt. No, I can't have the hunting channel on when I'm in the room. No, I will never be the one to take a picture or even see a picture of what he has killed...in fact, there is an album that says DO NOT OPEN on our computer for such photos. No, I'll prob. never understand how killing things can make him so happy, but I love how excited he gets when he hunts & I love that we both have a passion for the outdoors. However, my passion requires the animals to be alive...but anyhow! It's funny to see how part of my passion for the animals has rubbed off on John and how I'm slowly...very slowly become more sensitised to the hunting world. I'm not sure John would have slammed on his breaks to avoid hitting a squirrel before we got married, rescued a stray puppy, even thought twice about what was laying on the side of the road, noticed 1/2 the animals I point out to him or tried to change the subject if a story involved an animal getting hurt. Now he does all of those things like second nature. I would have never allowed frozen venison or pheasant in my freezer, subscribed to the hunting channel, shot a gun or helped look for deer tracks in the mud, but I too have done all those things. Funny what marriage will do to a person!
BTW-In case you thought I was lying about PETA and the breast milk, think again! :)
1 comment:
Eww! No thanks, PETA! I would never have Ben & Jerry's again if that were the case! They'd lose a faithful fan in me! I loved every word of this post...coming from the hunting family that I do!
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