Hunting and Fishing for me is a Way of Life. I roamed the woods in Salem, New Hampshire as a 6,7 and 8 year old boy. Robin Hood was my TV hero as was Davy Crockett played by Fess Parker. Freedom was grand! I was selling “shiners” at the age of 8 to local fisherman. In the late 1950’s there were beaver ponds everywhere. Wildlife was thriving behind my home and I wanted to be a part of it. The rules of life at that age were simple during the summer, go play and be home in time for dinner. I made my first bow and arrow at the age of 7 using maple saplings and string from the kitchen drawer.
Since then I have killed numerous deer with rifle and bow and had the duty to do the butchering too where I learned first hand where cuts of meat came from. In the same way, I clean and fillet my own fish!
You are what you eat!
Several years back I recall walking down the beef isle at the local grocery store when NAFTA ( a government run trade agreement) was in effect. There was a sign in the store that said the beef was from North America. That meat could have been from Canada, USA or Mexico. The quality of the meat in my mind was suspect if I did not really know where exactly the meat came from and what it had been fed including drugs and hormones. Questions in my mind arose long before this but I use it as an example.
I was always fishing and hunting and very happy with the God given natural food from field and stream. I trust it without reservation. Nature is Organic!
I reflect on my father was a simple man who liked to till the earth and grow his own food and harvest his own meat whenever possible. He was a child of the Depression in the 1920’s and 1930’s. He trusted himself, enjoyed the process of hunting and gathering. He passed the hunting gene to me in a much larger way. Ever since I shot, killed and ate my first deer taken in Northern New Hampshire in my teens, I have relished the though of providing naturally harvested wild meat and fish for my family but could not get enough of it.
Understanding were your food comes from at a young age is very important!
I understood it at a very young age that something must die in order for me to live was paramount. Beyond this, the culinary aspect of preparing your well earned harvest was of great importance. I learned to cook and eat very well.
Recently I fed some venison and wild boar to my very young grand kids and we talked about where food comes from. The kids reacted positively and enjoyed the meat.
PASS IT ON!