I've subscribed to Outside for awhile. While I identify with some of their desire for conservation of the enviroment, I realize that when it comes to hunting, their articles are either slanted or outright anti-.

So I was pleasently surprised to read an article in this month's issue called, "If you are what you eat, he's dead meat." The author, Steven Rinella, is a hunter from Montana. His article involves him finding a 1903 wild game cookbook by French master chef Auguste Escoffier. This makes him decide to cook a meal for several of his friends using game animals (turtle, rabbits), birds (goose, duck, pigeon)and fish.

I particularly like two of his quotes:

quote:

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I kill elk, deer, and antelope every year, along with a good mix of birds and fish. The predatory lifestyle keeps me close to the wild and I'm happy that my food has never been injected with hormones, fattened to a deiseaselike condition, then killed by some slaughterhouse worker I've never met."

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quote:

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We've become so removed from the reality of obtaining our food supply that almost no one knows how to wring - or would dare to wring - a chicken's neck. If I'm going to eat something, I much prefer to kill it myself. I hunt elk and deer with a bow and arrow, fish with hooks, and I take birds with a shotgun, then wring their necks if the shot didn't finish them off. This may sound gruesome, but I can face the consequences of my need to eat. I limit my kills to what is sustainable and sound for animal populations, and I particpate in efforts to protect wilderness and open lands. It may seem like my lifestyle is a holdover from the past, but to me it is a good plan for the future.

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Rarely in "hunting" magazines have I seen such a well-written and thought-out article of why we (or at least I) hunt. And to throw in our love of the outdoors and that we too expend efforts to protect the enviroment. In Outside no less.

I applaud them for including this article in their magazine. Perhaps some of those on the fence will be touched by this and realize we are not out to kill and destroy the wild, but to protect and experience it.

For those of you who read Outside, I suggest you write the editors a letter thanking them for publishing this article. Let them know that we hunters are on their side when it comes to protecting the enviroment. Perhaps it will lead them to more articles that reflect the truth about hunters, not just the anti's propaganda.

[ 12-09-2003, 06:53: Message edited by: JLHeard ]

Outstanding. I plan on at least sending an approving e-mail, since I don't subscribe to what is essentially a city-yuppie pseudo outdoor rag.

Even a blind hog finds an acorn...

I must say, I am amazed that such an article would ever get ink in such a magazine. It is encouraging and I am somewhat encouraged.

It clearly deserves congratulations and support and I intend to email the editor right away. I I do wonder, though, given the magazine's target audience, whether we, the few, won't be outnumbered in our comments by the outraged and ignorant many.

[ 12-09-2003, 10:48: Message edited by: mrlexma ]