Olson - The compassionate hunters guidebook : hunting from the heart

Praise for The Compassionate Hunters Guidebook

The Compassionate Hunters Guidebook helps the reader embrace the most basic truth of our existence that life cannot exist without death. Buying meat on a Styrofoam tray insulates us from that reality. Avoiding meat is potentially worse, as ecosystems are degraded and wildlife habitat is lost to the plow. Olson encourages readers to take life into their own hands by hunting from the heart. He provides A-to-Z instructions to embrace reality and discover the most balanced way to sustain ourselves and the planet.

Thomas J. Elpel, author, Participating in Nature and producer, The Art of Nothing Wilderness Survival Video Series

Arguably the food that most closely approximates our nutritional needs, wild game assumes a sacred and satiating beauty in The Compassionate Hunter. If youve ever wondered how people could reverence hunting, Miles Olson explains the whole relationship the way it ought to be. That makes all the difference.

Joel Salatin, farmer and author

This is not your typical hunting manual. Olsons practical advice on how to hunt and utilize animals fully where else will you find a recipe for a dessert made from deerskin? are framed by the vital recognition that every being is bound up in the same sacred web of life and death. Earthy and heartfelt, this book reminds us that hunting provides sustenance for both body and soul, and that mindful eating requires both respect and gratitude.

Tovar Cerulli, author, The Mindful Carnivore: A Vegetarians Hunt for Sustenance

The

Compassionate

Hunters

GUIDEBOOK

The

Compassionate

Hunters

GUIDEBOOK

Hunting from the Heart

Miles Olson

Copyright 2014 by Miles Olson. All rights reserved.

Cover design by Diane McIntosh. Cover image iStock (Beholding Eye)

First printing April 2014.

This book is intended to be educational and informative. It is not intended to serve as a guide. The author and publisher disclaim all responsibility for any liability, loss or risk that may be associated with the application of any of the contents of the book.

New Society Publishers acknowledges the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund (CBF) for our publishing activities.

Inquiries regarding requests to reprint all or part of The Compassionate Hunters Guidebook should be addressed to New Society Publishers at the address below.

To order directly from the publishers, please call toll-free (North America)

1-800-567-6772, or order online at www.newsociety.com

Any other inquiries can be directed by mail to:

New Society Publishers

P.O. Box 189, Gabriola Island, BC V0R 1X0, Canada

(250) 247-9737

LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA CATALOGUING IN PUBLICATION

Olson, Miles, author

The compassionate hunters guidebook : hunting from the heart / Miles Olson.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Issued in print and electronic formats.

ISBN 978-0-86571-770-1 (pbk.). ISBN 978-1-55092-553-1 (ebook)

1. Hunting. 2. Hunting Moral and ethical aspects. 3. Game and game-birds, Dressing of. 4. Cooking (Game). I. Title. II. Title: Hunters guidebook.

New Society Publishers mission is to publish books that contribute in fundamental ways to building an ecologically sustainable and just society, and to do so with the least possible impact on the environment, in a manner that models this vision. We are committed to doing this not just through education, but through action. The interior pages of our bound books are printed on Forest Stewardship Council-registered acid-free paper that is 100% post-consumer recycled (100% old growth forest-free), processed chlorine-free, and printed with vegetable-based, low-VOC inks, with covers produced using FSC-registered stock. New Society also works to reduce its carbon footprint, and purchases carbon offsets based on an annual audit to ensure a carbon neutral footprint. For further information, or to browse our full list of books and purchase securely, visit our website at: www.newsociety.com

Today, more than ever before, our society is seeking ways to live more conscientiously. To help bring you the very best inspiration and information about greener, more sustainable lifestyles, Mother Earth News is recommending select books from New Society Publishers.

For more than 30 years, Mother Earth News has been North Americas Original Guide to Living Wisely, creating books and magazines for people with a passion for self-reliance and a desire to live in harmony with nature. Across the countryside and in our cities, New Society Publishers and Mother Earth News are leading the way to a wiser, more sustainable world. For more information, please visit MotherEarthNews.com

Contents

ITS A COLD NOVEMBER MORNING. A thin layer of snow covers the forest floor, reflecting the silver light of the moon. I have been sitting silently in my hunting spot for maybe 15 minutes, trying to be as still as possible. The forest, however, feels anything but still. There might not be a more active, intense time all year in these woods than this window of time during the annual mating season, or rut. Bucks are roaming the woods chasing the scent of fertile does with little regard for anything other than sex and establishing dominance. Does, likewise, are less cautious as they start to ovulate and their bodies fill with excitement for a partner. Their changing scent will bring in potential lovers. For a time this annual dance of courtship and intimacy eclipses all else. For a while the deer are possessed by an insatiable urge.

As I sit shiftlessly in the woods, the feeling is palpable. The forest is quiet, but there is an overwhelming sense of activity, electricity and excitement silently buzzing through it. Maybe Im imagining it because of all the activity Ive seen over the past couple days in the forest; either way I can feel it. My eyes are wide open, watching. My ears soak in every noise with anticipation. On mornings like this, it is somehow very easy to sit silently in the woods and stay energized. Even if I dont see any deer, Ill still have harvested a deep feeling of groundedness. After sitting like this for some time, I think I hear something in the distance. A faint crunching of crusty snow.

Its barely audible, far off in the distance, but steadily approaches. I straighten my back, trying to keep still as my anticipation grows. My breath condenses in the freezing air in front of my face, reminding me how cold it is.