Why I hunt: a personal reflection

Leo Maloney discusses his passion for hunting.

The autumn sun’s golden light filters down through the remaining leaves on the birch trees casting a soft glow on the hillside. The pungent smell of fallen apples and decaying leaves brings back memories of past autumns. The only sound is the honking of geese overhead or the crunch of the hunter’s footsteps in the dry leaves. Suddenly there is a booming sound of a grouse rocketing from the thick ground cover as it wings its way to safety.

Fast forward the scene to late November. The hunter leans tightly against an evergreen on the hillside, partly to disguise his outline, and partly to shelter himself against the chill of the snow driven by the northwest wind. The trees are now barren of leaves and the landscape is now brown and gray. The hunter studies the shapes of two deer in the shadows of the distant woods and hopes that one is a buck that will come his way.

What do these two scenes have in common? They are familiar to many of us who hunt and they evoke pleasant memories and keep drawing us back to the fields and forests. I am often asked why I hunt. I don’t pretend to answer for most hunters, but I will attempt to explain my own personal reasons as well as some of the hunters that I know.

A significant part is the challenge. There is knowledge (and luck) involved in finding your quarry, whether it is big or small game. The stalk, the reaction, and skill in your shot depend on you, not on the equipment or the technology. Most of the time, we are unsuccessful and that is what makes it more rewarding when we are successful.

I enjoy the setting and being involved in the natural world. Although some may see the autumn landscape as desolate or depressing, many of us feel comfortable and see it as interesting and a normal part of nature’s cycle.

Especially in autumn we are drawn back to nature as a way of reconnecting with our roots. Much like many people who enjoy fall festivals, visiting orchards or farm markets, etc., as a small connection to our previous generations when fall harvest was an important part of their lives, hunters feel drawn to nature and rural settings and a primal urge to take part in the harvest or provide food for the winter.

Although most of us no longer need to harvest game to provide our winter’s food, there is still an unspoken feeling of satisfaction when we do so. Most of us enjoy wild game for its vari

ety and nutritional value, and there is a special pleasure when we have taken it ourselves.

Some people will ask if we couldn’t enjoy a walk through the woods or fields without hunting? The answer is yes, but it’s not the same. There would be a piece of the puzzle missing. Even though we have a good time and enjoy the experience without getting any game, it lacks focus and purpose if we are not at least trying to hunt game.

Although it may seem to some people that the hunter is just sitting or wandering aimlessly through the woods, that is not the case. You are forced to pay attention and your senses are on high alert. Thus you will see, hear, or notice things that you probably would not notice otherwise. For example that horizontal shape that seems out of place, the attention to likely looking cover, and the sound of something approaching all take on new meaning when you are hunting.

As a hunter I do not feel guilty. I know that hunters only take from the surplus. The habitat can only support a finite amount of big or small game and hunting is part of the natural process and cycle of life and death.

Nature is not kind or merciful and many of the species will perish from predators, disease, starvation, or weather. Overall about 80 percent or more of the given population of small game species will not survive another year.

Deer can quickly overpopulate and exceed the carrying capacity of their habitat if the population is not kept in check. They soon eat all suitable browse and face starvation whenever there is a tough winter. By keeping deer populations in balance with the habitat the hunter plays an important role in the health of the herd and should never feel guilty.

On a personal level there’s the mystery, the challenge, and the excitement of deer hunting. Trying to figure out and outwit one of nature’s noblest creatures involves all your senses and attention. You immerse yourself into the world of the whitetail deer and one misjudgment or mistake on your part will spell failure.

Deer are a tough challenge and only one out of 15 will succeed in taking a mature buck. The excitement, the experience of being in the autumn woods and the comfortable feeling of being part of the natural world keeps bringing us back.

Whether it’s sitting in a duckblind during a sleet storm, walking through an abandoned pasture after grouse, or calling in a strutting tom turkey, there is a feeling and excitement that is difficult to describe to someone who has not experienced it. It awakens all your senses and is rewarding to make you feel in control of events. It is a momentary escape from the world of impersonal technology or the pressures of the modern world.

It is the reason that I hunt but I suspect that there are others who share the feeling. SHORT CASTS Deer – Car Collisions: This is the time of year when deer hunting gets underway with the opening of northern zone in addition to archery season.. But it is also the time when deer are in the news in another less popular way – deer and car collisions.

There are close to 57,000 deer-car collisions in New York State annually and the majority of them occur in October and November. Not only is this a significant economic loss in automobile damage, it is a serious threat to human injury or even fatalities. Howeve,r there are ways we can minimize this threat.

Most deer travel in groups so when you see one, be alert for others that may follow. Many times the first may be aware of you while it crosses the road, but the others rush to catch up and are more likely to dash heedlessly into the path of your car. If it appears that you are going to hit a deer, resist the urge to swerve. That could turn a potential property damage accident into a possible fatal rollover.

All year long deer are most active just before and after sunset. And guess when our heaviest traffic, with most people coming home from work, occurs at this time of year? Yes, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that when these two peaks coincide there will be more accidents.

Hopefully this year you will not be a statistic and any deer that you come in close contact with will be in the woods while hunting.

Lake Ontario Fisheries Meeting: The DEC is holding meetings on the fisheries, specifically the alewife population on Lake Ontario and the trout and salmon populations that it supports. The DEC will present the latest information and study on the alewife population and its effect on trout and salmon stocking. The public is invited to attend and can ask questions and provide feedback. The local meeting will be November 7 at Pulaski High School from 6:30 to 9 p.m. The meeting will be in the auditorium at 4624 Salina St. Personally it sounds suspiciously like the fisheries people of NYS and Ontario Canada are planning on reducing the stocking numbers.