Why Hunt

Why Hunt

Why do people hunt?  There was a time when it was life or death, with a utilitarian motivation balancing protein and life against effort and risk.  However, the motivation to hunt goes beyond utility, to something far deeper and more complex within the human spirit.

Hunting is, by definition, the pursuit of game rather than the assured killing of it.  When success is certain it is not a hunt but something else quite different.  One can still be a utilitarian hunter, solely gathering meat for the table or dealing with a crop pest: these pursuits are commendable. However, for many and me included, the hunt goes well beyond a utilitarian view.  While meat is important, we also hunt for everything leading up to the harvest of an animal.  Not for the death itself, but for the uncertainty and the skill that it demands, as well as the emotion. Rather than pretend that the hunted is on equal footing, we embrace societal values of fair chase in pursuit of an unequal species.  Beyond this, the individual may refine their approach even further (within the law) to further minimize advantages of the hunter and make the outcome less predictable (sensu José Ortega Y Gasset). 

If we accept the responsibility of the hunt, we also embrace the depth of emotion that comes with apparent failure or the harvest.  Elation, sorrow, guilt, and happiness may flow leading up to and after the death of an animal.  These balance the hunter and perhaps differentiate humans from common predators.  

So again, why do we hunt? I suggest ones’ personal rationale differs among years, and perhaps among days as well.  We hunt for the full complexity of all that comes before a kill, as well as the very common outcome of not achieving a harvest. Apparent failures are in fact nothing of the sort, but rather temper our expectations and heighten the value of the hunted for each day in the field. 

The hunt is a journey and not a result. It brings us together and opens our life to a range of emotions beyond daily existence. We feel the anticipation within ourselves and perhaps of the hunted, with all manner of emotion that comes from this journey. Joy, sorrow, remorse, and contentment all support the complexity of the hunt ethos.  We are human in the hunt, and this intensifies self-awareness, and brings us closer to those that share in the experience. We hunt to live more fully, both physically and emotionally.