my son has been assigned a paper in "sociology of sport", and he has chosen hunting as his topic. Does anyone have sources of reference material for him?

He is an avid hunter, whose hunting has been temporialy put off by college study.

Thanks

You could look at this thread.

And this one.

And one more.

Although these are primiarly personal views, there are some references here, José Ortega y Gasset in particular.

_Beyond Fair Chase_ by Jim Posewitz is pretty good stuff and all but free at Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1560442832/104-6396162...21?v=glance&n=283155

_Meditations on Hunting_ by Jose Ortega Y Gasset is a classic and it is not unusual to find it in a well stocked library system.

Good hunting!

check out "in defense of hunting"...good read

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0062512374/qid=1133820...ks&v=glance&n=283155

Why we Hunt?

This is a deep philisophical question.

The best I can do is:

"I hunt, therefore, I am"



MM

the better question is Why must we have a reason????

My thought is that one must have a reason to do anything. The reason is not the issue, the outcome is. One should not care what the reason is, only what the outcome is...good or bad.

If you murder, the question of why is only germane to the sociologists, and liberal bedwetters and should never be used to excuse the act.

My opinion only.

Some of us are just born with a hunter gatherer instinct. Wish the tree huggers had that instinct. Ther must genetically deformed. Good Luck

I read an article in the local paper, an editorial before rifle season opener. It was written by a woman who I am sure has never been around any hunter at all. She stated that we were just going out to get drunk, that we felt we had to kill something in order to be a man, that we are kidding people saying that we hunt to put meat on our tables. She stated that this day and age no one needs to eat wild game, everyone can afford the supermarket. I guess I hunt for every reason she didn't mention. I wish your son luck as we need a little good honest press now and then. I feel guilty that I couldn't find time to respond to her editorial. Sorry so long winded.

quote:

Originally posted by Charles_Helm:

And one more.

This one was one of my favorites since its very beginning ... some "posters" were really enlightened when writing .... much of my own thinking was reflected there...

Let me reccomend you one book I think all hunters should read (and re read periodically): The bears of Manley, by Sarkis Atamian

Also the classic book on this subject: Meditations on Hunting, by the great philosopher Jose Ortega y Gasset (who surprisingly enough, never hunted - but nevertheless he had the clarity to write this masterpiece)

I believe that there is soomethink in our psycological make up that makes us "want or need" to hunt. And this is something that a lot of non-hunters and anti-hunters (there is a difference) do not understand.

I have a lot more sumpathy for "poachers" than most hunters I know. To me a "poacher" may just be a good hunter who is driven to "hunt" meat or trophies and cannot keep within the artificial rules and regulations our society has set up for hunters. Our ansestors hunted to survive and did not concern themselves with "fair chase" and "sportsmanship" which we base many of our hunting regulations on.

I am not saying that it is ok to break the hunting regulations in the area you hunt. Just that I understand how hard it is for some who are "driven" hunters and are not just out for recreation in the fresh air with their hunting buddies.

Robin

quote:

To me a "poacher" may just be a good hunter who is driven to "hunt" meat or trophies and cannot keep within the artificial rules and regulations our society has set up for hunters

I feel that way about pedophiles as well.

Jeff

This is going to come off as me being a Bible thumper, and while I consider myself quite a religious man, I will not foist my beliefs on anyone else.

Having said that, however, there are at least two references in the Old Testament, both in Genesis, I believe, about hunting. If your son wishes, have him do a search for the name Nimrod and its origin. (He is spoken of in Genesis as being a mighty hunter.)

Secondly, there is a scripture about Isaac instructing his son (Esau, if memory serves...) to "take therefore thy bow and go and get me venison."

I believe the desire to hunt was originally placed in man by our Creator, because there hasn't always been a supermarket. Sadly, somehow it has not been passed down by all generations. Watching the woods "wake up" in the morning is an experience that should be experienced by all. It is a very humbling and, to me, almost reverential experience.

When the first President Bush was serving his term, he would go dove hunting every year near Beeville in Texas. Once a reporter asked him why he hunted. He simply shrugged and said "Gotta eat".

That's enough. For someone to say that people in our society can afford to buy groceries and that somehow implies that we should no longer hunt is too stupid to deserve a reply.

I hunt probably as a direct result of an Uncle of mine. He was the leading male figure in my teenage life. He hunted, therefore so did I.

I am teaching my son to hunt as a matter of "Heritage". I feel that a man should be able to provide for his and his family as needed. If he chooses not to hunt, so be it. I also teach him some of the other things that I saw growing up. Some of them are rarely seen today. For example, growing a garden and canning the profits. Or raising a hog for your own fresh pork. When growing up, these two things were family matters. All the ladies would get together and can veggies. The whole family would participate and reap the benifits of slaughter day. It's just the way things were done.

Another big one for me is teaching my son to fix things. I have a brother-in-law that couldn't put a sparkplug in a car if he had to. Not really his fault, he had nobody to show him these things growing up. The poor man is destined to be financially raped when his auto fails.

I have a 4 month old daughter now. I hope to expose many of the old ways to her. Yes, I can afford to run down to Wal-mart and buy a blanket. But there is something just "better" about a hand made quilt!!!!!!

How many of your neighbors have ever been in a national park? --- hiking in the park? -- staying overnight ?-- ,getting of the trail and hike cross country living of trout caught in the morning?

Todays society for some strange unknown reason,does not enjoy or value nature unless its nicely packed by the Disney Comp. Milk does come from the frig and in square containers - and thats the end and the reason of the "opposition".

People who have never hunted can never understand why the rest of us do by reading a book or watching a TV. Some things you just cant explain, you have to experience it.

Like when an athlete becomes a professional athlete, or a musician no longer needs to think about the chords they play because it just flows from their inner self. They experience a heightened sense of awareness that cannot be described, but those who share it understand.

Those who hunt become "attuned" to nature in such a way. You apply yourself, you get a "feel" for it and you become one with the experience. Its an animal thing and a human thing wrapped in one neat package. And when your quarry hesitates and you make eye contact and sense the animal within him, you will understand.

Jason Doss
You said it all !

I hunt, because I am out in Mother Natures Arms...

away from all the dumbassed, anti gun fools, the PETA dorks.. the environMENTALists, politicans... TV Commercials......etc etc etc...

cheers
seafire

Dusky:

Let me recommend "A Sand County Almanac" by Aldo Leopold (Oxford University Press) If not available locally, try alibris.com which can usually find any book.

Another source is John Dos Passos (who wrote the trilogy, USA) He wrote some essays about hunting and there is also some published correspondence between he and Ernest Hemingway that might help. (It sticks in my mind that Dos Passos wrote: "It is not all of hunting to kill") Hope this gets him started. Lord knows we need more of the younger generation to speak up for hunting!