Honoring Our Fallen Game

-Wildcat- said:
Every time I'm out hunting deer, I ask God that if given the opportunity, I can make a clean, humane kill.
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Wildcat......I say the same pray word for word every time I head out hunting. :thumbsup: --1pheas4
 
@Peterson: Nothing I have ever read has ever captured the heart & soul of a hunter quite like that collection of essays in the book 'A Hunter's Heart: Honest Essays On Blood Sport' compiled by David Peterson that you speak of - it's one of my most treasured books in my outdoor library! :10sign:

My favorite hunting essay contained therein & probably of all time is 'Between The Echo & The Fall' by Peter Dunne (both wingshooter & highly-respected Audubon spokesman/champion)! :cheers:
 
Hunting is a priviledge so I'm thankful just for that opportunity. Bagging game is a bonus as I see it. Being a Christian, I consider all wildlife as part of Gods creation, therefore I am very thankful for the honor of the harvest. I try to handle all harvested game with respect, I try to display or show all harvested animals in an honorable and respectful manner. I dont throw my birds in the pickup, they are set in. I dont drop my deer from the tailgate, I lift and set them on the ground. After I kill an animal I will give a quiet thank you to God. Our meals at home are preceeded with a prayer of thanks, if its wild game of any sort, it will be mentioned how thankful we are for it. Another thing, I wont shoot it unless I plan to eat it.
 
Honoring the Fallen Game

I hunted regularly in Germany and Luxembourg for 7 years in the 1970s' and 80's. It is a deeply respected custom to honor all harvested game. Generally all cloven hoofed animals and some rare birds are given a 'last bite' while the hunter sits quietly beside it for a few minutes. Small game (hares, rabbits, fox, pheasants etc) do not receive die Letzte Bissen (last bite) but are honored at the conclusion of the hunt by being laid out on their right side side by side. This is a very simplified explanation of a 1000 year old custom.

At formal drive hunts all animals are laid out at the end of the hunt and one or several qualified horn blowers play hunt calls for the various animals in descending rank order. Sometimes there are torches (it can get very un-nerving). It is an experience that you will NEVER forget.

I carry that European experience to the rooster world here in NW Iowa by simply placing all the roosters on their right side on the snow or the tail gate of the truck at the end of the day, think about what the day meant and offer St Hubertus (patron Saint of Hunters) a quiet thank you for a great day afield.
 
I give thanks for the food and pray for that glorious day when there will be no more death only life and beauty. oh yeah and ice cold Deschutes Black Butte Porter- amen:cheers:
 
steele said:
I give thanks for the food and pray for that glorious day when there will be no more death only life and beauty. - amen:cheers:
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Good post Steele. I too long for this day. :) --1pheas4
 
hen said:
@Peterson: Nothing I have ever read has ever captured the heart & soul of a hunter quite like that collection of essays in the book 'A Hunter's Heart: Honest Essays On Blood Sport' compiled by David Peterson that you speak of - it's one of my most treasured books in my outdoor library! :10sign:

My favorite hunting essay contained therein & probably of all time is 'Between The Echo & The Fall' by Peter Dunne (both wingshooter & highly-respected Audubon spokesman/champion)! :cheers:
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I just reread "Between the Echo and the Fall," and it is a good one, as are the other articles in A Hunter's Heart.
 
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