For some odd reason, when I was a kid, I never connected the dots between hunting and food. Hunting was just always this cool and fun thing that I went and did with my Dad. My young self looked forward to things like hot coffee in the dark of the morning, donuts followed by that coffee, and the possibility of seeing wild animals. I just loved knowing that we were going and looking for them. At no point was I thinking about juicy backstraps over and open flame. Honestly, I was more thinking of what it would be like to walk up on a dead deer or to see one get shot. The consumption of said deer after the fact never crossed my mind really until I got older. I’m not really sure why that is. Sub-consciously I recognized that people indeed ate wild game, but I never really pictured myself doing so as a child. Things all changed for me in my adult life.
As I got older, I started paying more attention to what I was eating along with trying to be more physically fit. It might sound funny, but I was honestly thinking about getting older and how I was paranoid about not being in good condition as an older man. All of this thinking at the ripe age of 26. Such an old fogey I was. That’s really what lead me to look into hunting on a deeper level though. I wanted to care more about that stuff and in turn care more about myself. And whether all of it was rubbish or not, it made sense to me, and it still does. In my eyes, that was the purest form of protein on the planet and I wanted my share of it. The path it would lead me down was one I didn’t see coming at all. This new interest of mine would soon blossom into a way of life. Being someone that wasn’t used to filling tags on a regular basis though had me wondering. Was it even possible to successfully hunt for my meat every year? Was it a realistic goal?
I’m just gonna come right out of the gate here and tell you, “yes, it is possible.” It doesn’t come without sacrifice though. Mostly, sacrifice in the form of time and effort. For someone new to all of this, there is for sure a learning curve, so I wouldn’t expect to just go out your first year and fill that freezer up to the brim with wild game. You will have failures, but each of those will get you one step closer to your goal. In my opinion you really have to love hunting in order to accomplish this. It is a privilege for us to be able to go out and harvest wild meat, so embrace it. Embrace the process of it all and you will find more joy than you knew beforehand. It’s not just going grocery shopping. You are partaking in the cycle between predator and prey. If you are just looking to save money on buying meat, let me tell you that you probably aren’t going to come out ahead in that arena. The amount of time that one needs to spend in the field, shooting their weapon, learning animal behavior, buying gear, etc. all adds up in terms of cost. Gas money alone is a huge thing. If you want to be successful year after year though, this is the dedication that you need. It really isn’t a hobby for me anymore, it’s just what I do and part of my life. The other people that I know whom are successful year after year are the same. Hunting is a part of them.
This is a question that is going to vary from person to person. It really depends on how many people are in your household, how many of them eat meat, and how many times one eats meat a week. I am kind of lucky in that regard as I am the only one in my household that eats meat. My wife is a vegetarian. She loves what I do though and even helps me process my game. That’s a different story all together. Time to get back on track! So, I get through a whole year with 2-3 animals. Usually a deer, a bear, and maybe a javelina or something. I also don’t eat meat every single night though. Oftentimes, I’ll eat vegetarian meals with my wife, as I feel that is only right. 2-3 nights a week I will cook wild game for myself. This has worked well for me through the years. That’s just me though. If you want to eat meat every night, then go for it! The average American meat eater eats 3.7 pounds of beef, chicken, or pork a week. You can read more about this topic in a goHunt article I did called Does the Cost of Wild Game Meat Pencil Out. Interesting stuff.
Harvesting my own meat from the mountains in my home state has benefited me in more ways than one. For one, it taught me a great deal about sacrifice reward. If you want to achieve great things, you need to put in great effort. Suddenly, I also enjoyed cooking more and actually caught myself handling the meat much more carefully than I ever would beef or chicken. It drove me to take more of an interest in how to cook my newly found proteins. The first time I ever sat down to a dish that held something I had brought home from the field was intoxicating. Reflection of that hunt rushed over me like a tidal wave. It brought me right back to that moment when it all happened. The nervousness, excitement, and the pain of the pack out. As I consumed my mountain lion tenderloin that night, I thought to myself, “this is how things should be.” Things were never the same for me after that. It was a turning point. I am happy to say that I have not bought beef, chicken, or pork from the grocery store in 4 years. Still, I will purchase turkey from the deli here and there for my lunches, but other than that, nothing. A man can only eat so many peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in a row.
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