Hunting and Druidry

[Crimson Stormfire]

my father took me hunting twice..when he realized i was against it.i had the wrong idea. he said "cmon boy i'm going show ya something that will change your mind." He took me to show me what it was he did. I thought it was senseless killing. first before i get to that, my father does something amazing {that to this i cat figure out} he blends in. most hunters will tell you good camo and the right scent will do that...but my father somehow can vanish in a field of short grass. he could be right next to you and you wont see him till he says something, secondly his kills. he fed us and still feeds himself to this day with the game he shoots. he will only take one shot. his kills do not suffer, he does not trophy kill. he hunts to provide. on our trips i witnessed his "skill". one shot one buck dropped. upon arriving to the departed deer my father knelt beside the magnificent creature and placed his hand over its heart then over its head and looked at me and said "We must say thank you" and with that he stood and shouldered his rifle and said to the woods "we say thank you this day for the deer that will provide food and comfort for us. thank to our mother for her gracious bounty and may its spirit live on, free" he proceeded to field dress the deer for transport. after that event i had a great respect for those who hunted with and like my father. He let no part of the animal go to waste. some of our warmest winter coats he made from the hides. some of the best dinners i ever ate as a child were his deer. he also hunted quail, pheasant,squirrel,rabbit, geese and turkey, for 19 years he provided us with our meals either grown in our yard for veggies or hunted for meat, he also fished all with the same respect and reverence for the animal and the hunt. i believe that for my father his hunt is his "church" he taught me many things and on that day he taught me that if you have reverence, respect, and awe then mother nautrue will provide all you need to survive. That was the first but not the last time i felt truly connected to the spirit of the land and sky. i see no problem with druidry and hunting for provisions, however i see a conflict in druidry and trophy game hunting as it merely killing something for the sake of killing it. as a matter of point i have a set of antlers my father took from one of his hunts, {not to display but to honor that particular deer. I had asked him if he had any. he said yeah and asked why i needed a set. he voiced concern that i was going to use them in an inappropriate manner, {say bragging to friends etc...or mounting them as a trophy i didnt earn} i said no nothing like that. i asked if he remembered i had a druids stave, that i was a druid. he said yep. i esplained that shiver{my dragon/stave} was asking for a head piece of antler. he said well then no ordinary antlers will do for her. lemme see what i have...a few minutes of rustling around and looking at various types and grumbling that they wouldnt do he produced a set of beautiful 4 point antlers. he explained how they sat on the deers head and where he had aquired them. the he said something out of character for my dad. he said "you have to know where the deer was living to know what stregth of magic you are calling. These will do fine for your dragon and they will sit well with her and on her head. {i never told my dad they were referred to as dragons or that mine was inherently female.} so i beleiev he is an old druid but doesnt subscribe to names as such. :} just one example of my fathers reverence for the animal and the hunt itself. one last thing over ten years ago my father saw an albino white tail. he referred to his native american friend who said it was blessing from mother nature and he should not whatsoever raise a weapon to it...i have been away for many years and recently moved back to my home and began talking regularly with my dad. he says as many as five times in the past 2 years he has been visited by an albino white tail deer, a buck, with a large rack......i believe the nature blessings on my father and wish him many fine hunts to come.

i ahve rambled on enough hope i have helped the conversation.....

[Huathe]

Crimson Stormfire,

There need to be more hunters like your dad!

You mentioned trophy hunting. My dad was a taxidermist for some time and I took a course on it at my local community college a while back. Dad got out of it because of the unethical killing. People would bring him animals that were shot just for trophies. Many were non food animals like hawks, owls, etc. Dad had nothing against mounting an animal or part of one, like a deer head, that was used for food, but senseless killing for just a trophy dad found unacceptable. Dad ended up getting out of taxidermy because of this. I had taken it to help him if he started a business. But I stopped when he decided not to do it. I have no regrets.

[Crimson Stormfire]

good for you and your dad

[Charlene]

This has been an awesome thread, uniquely reflecting world wide diversity of both the rural and urban, to eat meat or not, food practices, and the like.

It is hunting season in northern bc, and right now, people are out hunting for food. People who hunt up here hunt to fill their freezers for the winter, to feed their families.

I think that for a druid, who is exercising thoughtful choices about hunting, would be mindful of all of this and more. I have not seen anything specifically about this, and I really rail against the idea that "all good druids are vegans" and "all good druids do not use airflights", because politics is just another form of dogma at that rate. It is kind of like saying "all christians are conservative." EEEK. Anyways, thanks for bringing this up.

[Fox of the Oaks]

Thank you, Crimson Stormfire, for your story.

[dreamguardian]

... This year I plan to go deer hunting with my father-in-law and I do plan to share in on the harvest

... I will have no issue honoring a deer to break my red meat fast.

The venison will taste all the better and it will been worth the wait. Are you planning on eating straight from the hunt. Nothing beats it, mate. Enjoy the WHOLE experience, not just the grub.

[MPutnam]

... This year I plan to go deer hunting with my father-in-law and I do plan to share in on the harvest

... I will have no issue honoring a deer to break my red meat fast.

The venison will taste all the better and it will been worth the wait. Are you planning on eating straight from the hunt. Nothing beats it, mate. Enjoy the WHOLE experience, not just the grub.

Well the season is almost over and I only made it into the woods once. Didn't see any deer but I enjoyed a lovely sunrise with a beautiful fly-by from a red-tailed hawk (my wife's totem). My father (also an avid hunter) gave me some of his venison from deer harvested this year and it was worth the wait.

[Melkboer]

Hi all,

It's been a while since i started this thread. Since this week, i've passed all my huntingexams and now can apply for my hunting permit. Still i find it challenging to start killing an animal with a gun, and i won't go about it lightly. The first day i'll go out on a hunt will be a initiation itself i guess. I am very happy with all the thoughs that have passed in this discussion. For me, making it a personal choice, to connect to nature and it's cycle of life and death, to find out what place i have in this cycle, will be a challinging time. I'll let you know when i've passed the initiation myself.

Warmly,
Henk

PS: Charlene, been almost 13 years since i spend some time in BC with you. Hope all is well....

[samurai]

Interesting thread and in some cases very refreshing by our north american friends. My grandad was in the 2nd world war and his job was to capture enemy officers and recon. He said they never had camoflage or khaki, and after the war a poacher. He said you never needed camo, just a mindset and a knowledge of your quarry.
I'm a pot hunter in the Uk so not as grand as you guys in the USA. Lurchers and ferrets are my collegues. Running dogs and celts go hand in hand.

[BlazeLeeDragon]

Just some of my own thoughts on the whole hunting thing, though some of these points have been mentioned. View what they do in a slaughter house, if you buy meat products to me at least your enabling them to continue by funding. The ancient Druids of the old days like many faiths, religions and paths did animal sacrifice. I've never seen any where that they are vegetarian. Humans are Omnivores so it's our nature to eat both plants and animals. What could be more Druid then following our own nature. The populations in the US of deer and the like can over populate and devastate the forest. The reason for that is humans where cruel enough to butcher the wolves and other predators out of fear and stupidity. That is why we have hunting season to help the balance man kind has destroyed.

If anything I would think you could be a Druid hunter, one who will respect and thank the kill. You are embracing nature and bring it further, think on it another way, have you seen the movie Avatar, consider how he learned to hunt and thanked the animal for it's life after the kill? Consider any native American tribe and how they would kill and honor the animal. I find this to be very Druid way of going about it. Life feeds on life, it always has and always will, what can separate you from just a killer of animals is to be a hunter (you'd be surprised how many actually respect animals and nature) kill only what you need honor the animal by using all of them, meat, skin and bones, and maybe even saying a prayer of passing over there body. Also honor them by learning your skill well enough to give them a quick clean death.

just my thoughts

[Aphritha]

kill only what you need honor the animal by using all of them, meat, skin and bones, and maybe even saying a prayer of passing over there body. Also honor them by learning your skill well enough to give them a quick clean death.

I think this is a very respectable attitude to have. I haven't eaten meat in 16 years, have no desire to, but the idea of an individual hunting for their food doesn't bother me. To me its alot more fair to give the animal the sporting chance of defending itself rather than ship it off in a truck with hundreds of others to be slaughtered in a manner you aren't sure of the severity of, no one ever taking the time to thank or even appreciate it for its sacrifice.

[BlazeLeeDragon]

kill only what you need honor the animal by using all of them, meat, skin and bones, and maybe even saying a prayer of passing over there body. Also honor them by learning your skill well enough to give them a quick clean death.

I think this is a very respectable attitude to have. I haven't eaten meat in 16 years, have no desire to, but the idea of an individual hunting for their food doesn't bother me. To me its alot more fair to give the animal the sporting chance of defending itself rather than ship it off in a truck with hundreds of others to be slaughtered in a manner you aren't sure of the severity of, no one ever taking the time to thank or even appreciate it for its sacrifice.

I second that, and after watching videos of what goes on in a slaughterhouse...it makes me want to be a vegetarian or get my meat from a local farm or hunting...

for example this is a link to what goes on in a slaughter house....NOT for the faint of heart...not for those under 18

VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXSzIhFlz6U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhlhSQ5z4V4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYGlDdjJjM8

Even this which is a reasonable slaughter house
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCuuJ-uSKKI

To me knowing things like this makes me FULLY support hunting, and wishing it was done more often...it's sad where meat comes from in many countries and how they treat our four legged brothers and sisters... so consider Melkboer everytime you take an animal live, and honor there lives and respect them, that is one life that becomes a meal that didn't have to suffer. Just another reason I personally feel they go hand in hand

[StoneDragon]

All I ask is that hunters slow down just enough to be sure that what is being aimed at is indeed what you are aiming for....lost a high school biology/science teacher to a hunter who "thought" he had a deer in his sight.

Sorry, debbie-downer will now go lay down....

[ShadowCat]

Stonedragon, that is just plain awful. Last year around here there have been three children's ponies shot in their paddock (the kids were in school luckily, the ponies survived after medical care). A person who doesn't take the time to take a sure shot is not a hunter, but a idiot with a shotgun. In the Netherlands hunting is strictly regulated, along with relatively strict guncontrol, but even here these kind of incidents happen.

That said: I compliment the hunting druids that have spoken until this point, the respect and wisdom they speak of makes me more hopeful that there still are responsible hunters out there.

[Whitemane]

Like Blaze, I'm in Ohio, and I have family members who enjoy hunting. They know the land and understand it well, they use their weapons responsibly, and take pride in a quick and merciful kill. They get angry when they see that an incompetent hunter has wounded, but not been able to kill.

As for the animals, the state makes sure that they are dealt with properly. You have it checked and catalogued by game wardens and it is taken to a butcher who gives the hunter a cut, typically the leg, and the rest either goes for retail or into food programmes, or even animal feed. Even the trophy hunters should be benefitting others. You also have a limit on the number of animals you can take.

Also, my relatives keep their weapons safe and secure, and I have never seen them.

Unfortunately, there are a few incompetent and irresponsible hunters, and the brief hunting season does bring out a few close calls, woundings, and even deaths. Don't pillory the responsible and respectful hunter, but make sure the irresponsible and careless are brought to book.

[Melkboer]

Dear Druids,

I've had the honour to kill my first two hares end of November. I must say that it was an experience to never forget. It was a very down to earth but also beautifull experience. To harvest from nature, being part of the cycle of life and death, and to stand in the tradition of our ancestors, who killed, not cuddled the animals they lived with.

After having stepped into the world of hunters, i do feel it would be wonderfull to work with likeminded (pagan) hunters, to connect through ritual and meditation before entering the hunting fields, to bless the killed animals and say thanks to Cernunnos for his protection and blessing. Now i did it alone, in my private space, as i feel it should be much more of a community activity. I came across a term called eco-hunters, people who hunt for the eco-friendly meat it provides. I express my hope that they will cross my path...

Below a link to a picture of the second hare i shot, who ran up to me, while i was hiding in a small creek. The hare in the picture was completely wet after falling into a small creek after being shot.

http:// http://www.melkboer.dds.nl /images/IMG_1168.jpg (remove the space in the url)

Warmly,
Henk

[JamesAnthony]

In the UK every year we have a mass deer cull. Hundreds of deer are slaughtered to keep their population down. Because they have no natural predators and the hunting tradition in the UK is dying out rather than growing (at least in my opinion) hunting is not only compatible with paganism but it is in my opinion can be an extension of paganism. In Hungary they hunt wild boars and when they make a kill they carry the boar out on their back collect leaves of a certain tree and lay the pig on a bed of leaves, in Scotland some hunters still bloody themselves wit the blood of their first kill. Hunting tradition is very close to paganism and I believe that many hunters would want to call themselves pagan but do not do so because they view paganism/wicca as a bunch of tree hugging hippies. We may indeed be tree hugging hippies but we are much more than that. I view hunting any form of hunting: Dog and sword pig hunting, bow hunting, catapult hunting, spear hunting whatever as perfectly acceptable and by no means conflicts with my spirituality.

[samurai]

If it was'nt for the skills that my Granfather taught me and the ability of my lurchers and ferrets,because of hardtimes my family would have had some very hungry days. I am a hunter gather it is in my dna. I for one know exactly what i am eating.

[Corwen]

I view hunting any form of hunting: Dog and sword pig hunting, bow hunting, catapult hunting, spear hunting whatever as perfectly acceptable and by no means conflicts with my spirituality.

If we respect the animal we should use the quickest and cleanest methods possible in our hunting, this generally means an appropriate firearm. Chasing animals for long distances with dogs is cruel and often leads to the prey being disembowelled and dying slowly in agony whilst being eaten alive. Quite often hunting dogs also kill livestock. This is not a respectful method of hunting. Hunting with a dog as a pointer or retriever is different, or hunting rabbits at night with a dog and a lamp is OK IMO as it is so quick.

Bow hunting is illegal in the UK as is hunting with edged weapons, probably for good reasons. I think a bow is a good alternative to an air rifle for small game despite being illegal. I don't know how I feel about hunting larger animals with bows, it would have to be extremely carefully regulated as bows are common here and don't require licenses.

[samurai]

My lurcher bring rabbits live to hand and I dispatch them. Ferrets bolt rabbits into nets or if that misses the lurcher catches. There is no distance running with rabbits and they would'nt be edible if the dog sherrded it. Guns wound,dogs do not!
Rabbits are hunted by foxes,stoats,rats,birds of prey, badgers, mink the list goes on, a dog is just another predator in the precaurious world of the rabbit.