Hunting with spirit
By James SwanHaving the right gear and a place to go are essential, but there is something more about hunting that sets it apart from most other outdoor sports — spirit — and the rich heritage of customs and traditions that support it.
Spanish philosopher Ortega y Gasset writes in his classic work Meditations On Hunting, "Hunting submerges man deliberately in that formidable mystery and therefore contains something of a religious rite and emotion in which homage is paid to what is divine, transcendent, in the laws of nature."
Regardless whether a hunter is an Eskimo in a kayak with a spear, a freckled-faced teenager with a .22 rifle chasing a rabbit with a beagle, or a baron swinging a $50,000 Beretta over-and-under after a fleeing grouse on the moors; and despite his beliefs — animistic shaman, Christian, a Muslim or a Buddhist; which all offer guidance to the hunter — an ethical hunter is inspired by the spirit of the wild to become a passionate killer who shoots from the heart.
Modern wildlife science has given us laws, grounded in research, that establish legal limits of hunter behavior to maintain ecological balance. But there is more.
An ethical hunter follows more than laws. Hunters who hunt from the heart may call upon spirit as a guide and helper.
One of the weaknesses of modern hunting is the failure of hunters to let the non-hunting majority know about the great spiritual traditions of hunting that many quietly call upon in the field.
In the Christian tradition, in The Bible in Genesis (10:9), it is said of Nimrod, a descendent of Noe, "He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; that's why it is said, 'Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord.'" Esau, the son of Isaac, is also described as a "skillful hunter" (Genesis (25:27), who is sent by his father to hunt for an animal that will provide savory meat (Genesis 27:3-4). The Israelites were instructed in Deuteronomy (14:15; 12:15) what kinds of wildlife were permissible to eat: "The deer, the gazelle, the roe deer, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope, and the mountain sheep."
Many Biblical passages draw upon the heroic qualities of hunters to set standards of behavior. In Sir 14:22.5 it says, "Pursue wisdom like a hunter and lie in wait on her paths."
The Bible also pays special attention to blood in the preparation of game for, "Life of the flesh is in the blood." In olden days blood was sometimes sacrificed on the altar, so it was seen as holy and people were forbidden to eat it. In Leviticus (17:13-20) the instructions are given that: "Any man also of the people of Israel, or of strangers that sojourn among them, who takes in hunting and beast or bird that may be eaten shall pour out its blood and cover it with dust."
Archery, nets, spears and pits are described as methods of hunting, and Proverbs (12:27) gives the following guidance: "... the diligent man prizes his possessions."
The Code of Canon Law of the Catholic Church says that priests may hunt, but with restraint, and forbids them from engaging in "noisy hunting," i.e. with dogs. The reason is not that the Catholic church opposes hunting as sinful, for it does not consider hunting sin at all, but that it believes hunting does not conform with the proper decorum of the clergy.
To guide hunters, there is the Patron Saint of Hunting, St. Hubert, whose birthday on November 3, is celebrated in many parts of the world with a special church service where hunters, their dogs, and even their guns are blessed. The musical score for the Mass of Saint Hubert is traditionally played on hunting horns.
In Europe, when you kill your first deer, your guide may take some of the blood of the deer and paint a cross on the forehead of the neophyte, signifying the blessings of St. Hubert. The guide will also cut a twig and put part of it in the deer's mouth, and the rest in the hat of the hunter. This is called "The Last Bite."
There are a number of christian hunters organizations, such as Fellowship of Christina Hunters, Christian Hunters and Anglers Association, and the Christian Hunters Outreach. One way they suggest to bring your faith along when you go hunting is to take a Bible with you into the field and read it as you are waiting in your blind or tree stand. You may also use it to say a prayer over any animals you harvest.
American Indian
A Lummi Indian friend, Ch-Das-Ka-Dum Wichtalum, told me that prior to entering the woods, he would sprinkle some corn meal as an offering to the spirits, and explain what he was going to do and why. Many other cultures around the world have similar rituals to honor the spirits of nature and the gods of the hunt, like the hunter's god, Alder Man, among the Lapps or Saami of Scandinavia, or Ogun in West Africa.
For my recent book Chasing the Hunter's Dream, I asked my friend Alvin Yellow Owl to write a little about his traditions. Alvin is a member of the Blackfoot Tribe of Montana. To illustrate the extent to which hunting is central to the Blackfoot culture, in the Blackfoot language, the term for "meat" is nita'pi waksin, which translates as "real food." All other food is called kistapi waksin, which translates as "not real food."
Alvin says that the night before a buffalo hunt, his tribe would "dance and sing, preparing for the next day knowing it might be their last." Hunting buffalo was like preparing to go to war not knowing if you were going to come back or not, but if you did you were honored. Only the best hunters went, just like the best warriors protected the camp. If you didn't come back and you lost your life to a buffalo it was a good death that you died with honor to your people.
The day of the hunt the scouts would come back and tell everybody where the buffalo were. The hunters/warriors would paint themselves and their horses. They also smudged with sweet grass.
("Smudging" is lighting a braid of sweet grass, and drawing the smoke toward your heart, then to your mind, then all around you and back to your heart again and then to your weapons. In other traditions, juniper, alder, and pinyon may be used to smudge.)
They smudged to protect themselves and their horses for the hunt so they would not get injured, and also to have a good and successful hunt. They also smudged to protect the animals that they were about to kill, praying to make it a swift and brave death and thanking them for giving their lives so we as a people could prosper."
It is customary in many cultures to say a prayer of thanksgiving after harvesting an animal. According to Alvin, "Everything has a spirit to guide it through life and if you take that life make sure your taking it for the right reason and make an offering in its place. Giving tobacco to Mother Earth for that life is a practice that our ancestors did."
This is just a quick introduction to some of the spiritual dimensions of the hunt. I've written an entire book about religious traditions and hunting, The Sacred Art of Hunting if you want to explore this farther.
Oh, by the way, Alvin Yellow Owl and some of his friends — Hyrum Brave Rock and Darren Kipp — have recently opened up a guiding service around Yellowstone, Moccasin Flats Outfitters, if you'd like to put a little more spirit in your hunt.
James Swan — who has appeared in more than a dozen feature films, including "Murder in the First" and "Star Trek: First Contact," as well as the television series "Nash Bridges," "Midnight Caller" and "Modern Marvels" — is the author of the book "In Defense of Hunting." Click to purchase a copy. To learn more about Swan, visit his Web site.
