Craig Raleigh - The Hunters Way: A Guide to the Heart and Soul of Hunting

For Steve Brian Pratt

U.S. Army SPC 4th Class

458th Trans. Co.

PBR

Sea Tigers, Saigon River

Vietnam 196869

July 5, 1948 ~ June 2, 2016

Invited everyone, asked nothing, and wanted only to hunt with his family and friends.

It was on his property that I wrote most of this book.

Throughout the text I use the pronoun he when describing hunters. This is only a stylistic element and it by no means expresses a belief that all hunters are male. Au contraire, Ive seen some enviable hunters of all genders, shapes, and sizes.

Whether we want to admit it, we are all hunters. The emotional and physical chaseand the reward that may or may not come from itis the bread and butter of human instinct. Lets face it, no longer do most people have to physically hunt in order to gain life-giving proteins, but it is by doing so that we embody characteristics like honesty, respect, persistence, and humility. Its the hunters respect for the creatures we know and love that has led to honorable trades like veterinary and animal husbandry, and its one of the larger reasons we began to domesticate the animals we hunted and bring them closer to our sights. Men and women have partnered throughout time to obtain food, clothing, and shelter by way of the hunt. We live and breathe the rules of the fair chase in order to survive in a world that gives no quarter and takes no prisoners.

As important as hunting success in early history was, the celebration that came afterward was even more profound. Families greeted accomplishment with the understanding that the hunt wasnt only necessary for survival but was a deeply ingrained way of meeting after the harvest and giving thanks for all that they had. Similarly, we have lived and thrived by the hunt and have found its continued existence necessitated by an honorable system in which the hunter gladly accepts the role of provider; no longer do humans survive merely by the innate ability to fend off disease or by gathering what they could find by scavenging.

Once evolution had taken hold, the hunter was unleashed. Sticks and stones were replaced by spears and bows; the discovery of fire was as good for bodily warmth as it was for cooking meat. Humans went from gatherers to hunters and in the process learned to dominate their surroundings. It was then, even in the early days of human existence, that they began to care for the earth like no other creature could. The hunt is where we became conscious and reasoned animals; it is where we discovered our destiny of noble conservationistwhere we assumed our roll as overseer of the environment and landlord to the world, for better or worse.

* * *

I have spent most of my life outdoors trying to find that elusive Holy Grail, that reality of hunting where pleasure combines with practice. Its not just the dream of catching a giant northern pike or muskellunge, or dropping ones very first pheasant; its not meeting the bucks wide-eyed gaze and anticipating the right trajectory in which expertise meets precision. Its something deeper than that.

Thanks to my father and grandfather, Ive had the outdoors on my mind (and on my boots treads) since I was a little boy. This mobile life has afforded me every opportunity to create for myself the kind of robust love for nature that anyone can imagine and a respect for all forms of life that one could ever name. A life lived in the outdoors is massively rewarding, offers nonstop pleasures, and provides the ultimate in appreciation of the natural world. It offers camaraderie, freedom of choice, and reward, and to that end it never stops giving. I am part of the hunting community, and no one loves the great outdoors quite like we do. We come to it in our souls and defend it with our hearts. We dare to wait on stands in lonesome trees and walk through smelly swamps. The earth on our hands and faces is the badge of honor we wear proudly. There is no greater appreciation for something than to carry its scent with you. My dog had itshe carried it with us everywhere we went. Not something abhorrent, or disgusting, nay, familiar and glad. It was a unique trace of her that I knew immediately, and if I could have kept it in a bottle to cheer me up when she was gone, I would have.

The hunt is so much more than the kill. The hunter often walks away from the woods and fields empty-handed. Some see in this a profound beauty, while others find disappointment and shame. Regardless of the result, a hunter must be prepared to return and repeat the process of observation necessary for success.

While finding a good hunting spot is certainly not the same as, say, finding your keys, both start with the same methodology: Wheres the likeliest place to start looking? What would the best sign be? Have I seen them in this spot last time I lost them? In nature, however, the clues are changeable and never the same the second time. For example, a buck will use common trails throughout the season but might be drawn off course by the scent of a hot doe; grouse that once flushed off the ground are now rocketing from the pine trees.

Hunting is a pause on the path of lifean opportunity to see, smell, and appreciate all that we get from spending a lifetime as outdoorsmen. It takes time, practice, dedication, and effort, and its in these traits that we find our true selves: We are not as concerned with what we can take from the world as we are with the prospect of what it delivers to us in the first place. As such, we are constantly thinking about how to give back. That kind of work is never finished.

This book is filled with examples of the hunters place in naturefrom the banal to the comical to the extreme. But its also about that intangible, meditative feeling that the outdoors provides us. The hunter sees every tree in every yard and begins to identify birds flying by. We dont just notice the sunrise, we know exactly what time it happens. We are the ones who post the meteor shower times and dates on social media. We walk outside in the pouring rain just to smell it. We love to stand on the deck in the freezing cold to look at the stars, and we can tell you where the constellations lie. We understand that every twig that bends back and slaps our faces, every thorn that sinks into our skin, is just a reminder that nature rules the planet, not the humans that inhabit it. Our signpost is the leafless tree; our painting the cirrus clouds in the sky. We do not grieve for those who do not share in this enthusiasm for the hunt but smile in the face of its adversity. We are disciples of nature and of the great outdoors. We have advanced degrees in gratitude for this good earth and where it is that everything comes from. Our shared inner peace comes from a mind-set of grace and dignity, of knowing that the earth was here long before us and will be here long after we have gone.

Finding common ground is the reason for a book about hunting. I wouldnt try and persuade a nonhunter into becoming that which he may despise, the same way I wouldnt care to be told Im an inhuman monster because I hunt. The contents herein are meant as a call to those with a unique sense of the surrounding earth and its vast pleasures. My only hope is that nonhunters may see us in a different light, or else are as beckoned to the great outdoors as much as we are.

The second that I sit down to write about the outdoors, I immediately feel the urge to get up and go out there. (I start to feel rather lazy if I dont!) Putting this desire into words is one of my callings, and I hope yours is to take lessons from this book and go outside with a newfound appreciation and an open heart. I hope you read this book under a big oak tree or in a canoe treading soft waves. I hope you find solace and purpose in its lessons, and see the hunter in a robust new light.