Hunting Generations



My son posing with a deer my father killed in 2012


     November Means Muzzle loader season here in Tennessee. The cool to cold days lead hunters into the woods in force to see if the added range of a muzzle loader and the wild abandon of the rut can produce better results than the warm, sweaty, buggy bow season did. I am no different, I never miss the first chance to sling lead at my favorite table fare. Recently my son who is ten years old has been making the yearly pilgrimage to Middle Tennessee with my father and I to hunt. To have three generations of hunters in the woods has truly been a blessing from the All Mighty. Back in 2012 My father was able to take a nice eight pointer and share the experience with his son and grandson. I can not think of anything better than the old man seeing his son whom he shared the gift of the outdoors with pass it on down the line. This year My son Ryan and I took two deer from a blind strategically hid on a ridge overlooking a small grove of white oaks. Ryan was able to not only witness the very sobering taking of life when the deer were shot but also all the work that went on afterward. We dressed the deer and drug them out. Later we skinned, quartered, butchered and ground the two deer into food. What better education could a young man receive and what better reassurance could a grandfather receive but to see his son teaching his children proper living. Tonight we said grace over the deer that we came by honestly and as I watched my family eating I was overcome with a sense of how real life can be if you live it. While I feel closer to Thoreau when I am experiencing the fruits of my own labor instead of that of others, I feel closer to God when I share the lessons with my son, Your pal the Envirocapitalist.

Take a kid outdoors.

Bill Dance used to say "Take a kid fishing". I am going to steal that phrase but make it "Take a kid outdoors". I took my son squirrel hunting in the Norris Watershed opening day of squirrel season and had a blast imparting my love for the outdoors to my him. Late in the morning we were near a trail called Raccoon Run when we heard a whooshing sound so we moved into position to see where the noise was coming from. Flying down the trail was a group of mountain bikers and one of them was obviously a kid. My son said wow they are pretty good riders, and I agreed. They probably did not realize we were even in the woods but we were doing the same thing, taking our kids outdoors. I think we need more of these multi-use areas near our suburbs so parents can more easily involve their children in activities like hunting, hiking, biking, birdwatching, and fishing. Bill Dance is right, the more children we take outdoors the more likely they will appreciate the outdoors as adults. So lets get out there this fall and take a kid to do whatever outdoor activity we fancy and in the process we will be making the conservationists of the future.

Don't call him a "hipster hunter"

Tovar Cerulli and I probably disagree on numerous topics and If we lived close enough to hunt together I would probably give him a hard time for being so touchy feely, however we would certainly hunt together. Even though Slate Magazine recently dubbed him a hipster hunter I consider him a brother because of our shared love for the outdoors, conservation, and most importantly hunting. Tovar helps bridge gap between people like myself who have hunted their entire life and those who only know meat from the grocery store. In his book The Mindful Carnivore Tovar takes us on a journey that seasoned hunter's will find interesting and curious non hunters will find life changing. Enjoy the video below and buy the book at http://www.tovarcerulli.com/book/buy/ . Your pal The Envirocapitalist