Giving respect to your harvest

[Roger Norris]

I don't whoop and holler, and I despise the "wack em and stack em" mentality.

I don't have any set "ceremony", but coming upon a deer I have killed is a quiet moment.

As an aside....I try and remember to thank God for more than the kill. I thank the Lord just for the opportunity to be out there.

[getstonedprimitivebowhunt]

...I just lay my hand on its warm body that will soon be cold. There are many thoughts at that moment. Then its time for work !

[Butch Speer]

I agree with Sixby.

[Shaun]

Last bite and oak or other nearby leaf in my hat. Hand on the deer and reverent reflection. Its not the only way - just the right way for me.

[Kentucky Jeff]

I was stationed in Germany from 84-87 in Kitzingen and fell in love with European style hunting.  I took Chamois in the Alps on the Austrian border--Sound of Music views!  I took Red Stag and Fallow deer near Fulda.  Because I was fluent in German I also developed relationships with two state Forest Meisters and had free run of both places for quota Roe deer and Wild Boar.  I three years I shot more than a dozen boar and as many Roe.  I'd call and talk to the Forest Meister the night before I headed out and he would tell me where he or forest workers had recently seen deer or boar and made suggestions as to where I should sit.  If I shot something I brought it by the office for weighing and I always purchased the meat (the state owns the meat) and took it back to my little village and sold it to either the local butcher (Metzger) or the local Gasthaus owner.  I was the only hunter in a town of about 900 citizens and Germans are kookoo for cocoa puffs for wild game.   So I was a local hero for bringing some in to the town--my wife and I drank for free alot.  My landlady was a genius game cook and as the hunter I always had the rights to the liver/heart etc.  I'd always bring that to my landlady and she made the most unbelievable WIld Boar Liver you ever tasted...  Selling of game meat is completely legal as long as you have a hunting license.

Roe deer season runs from May until January!   There are no bag limits.  Instead the German's have a quota system and each forest knows its carrying capacity and estimates current population.  Based on that they develop a shooting plan and its specific as to how many does, young deer, inferior bucks and mature deer  must be taken each year.  Pigs are shot on sight without regards to number as they are too prolific.  I shot three one morning!

The hunting and amount of game in Germany was superb!

[Fisherking73]

Cool thread. I have only killed a few hogs, still waiting for my first deer on bow. But am glad to see I am not alone in respecting and honoring the animal. I usually have just had a moment of silence and reflect on the hunt (kinda like a life flashing before your eyes moment) and thank the animal for being.

[Dave Lay]

great thread, thanks for bringing this up.
   I also have a great dislike for the whoop and holler, fist pumping, i smoked him attitude, then they will go straight to the animals horns and show 10 diffrent angles on them.. like the deer its self means nothing.
     personally,after a kill i have a quiet moment,give thanks to the animal, then respect the meat the best I can by doing my own processing etc..
      not sure I agree with the word Harvest when it comes to killing animals. unless in some way we are referring to what God has placed here for us.  Harvest to me brings up images of pay to hunt high fence operations.. where the owner has basicly grown that animal for some rich or lazy dude to "harvest" them using a weapon of choice rather than a combine as a farmer would his cash crop..

[wapiti792]

I sit quietly for a few minutes and thank God. I remove the heart and bury it nearby.

[Javi]

My upbringing where hunting is concerned was not based on a religious ceremony surrounding either the animal or the kill, rather I was taught that hunting was a way to acquire food for the table. There was never any celebration of the kill or offering of prayer to the animal although there was grace offered to our God before each meal. I have never understood the excitement (real or not) of many hunters nor the seemingly religious ceremonies directed to the food just killed. It is just a necessary step in obtaining animal protein whether I personally do the killing or pay someone else via a grocery store.  I have been killing my dinner for as long as I can remember either in the wild, in the barnyard or chicken coop..  I will admit to a taste for wild meat as opposed to farm/ranch raised although my wife doesn't share the same..

As for speaking of the act of killing a food animal for the table as harvesting something, I supposed that in the greater scheme of things the word could be construed as appropriate since as a transitive verb it means to gather... But it isn't my usual way of expressing the act of obtaining animal protein for the table.

[BradLantz]

that sounds like a pagan ritual - not my cup of tea

I personally hate much of what hunting has become as the tv shows show it

[Mr.Magoo]

While I don't worry about any religious aspect of killing an animal, I do think it's a good idea to stop and reflect on what I've just done.  

I've actively sought out and killed a high order animal that was minding it's own business for reasons I have to justify to myself.

I certainly don't see anything wrong with the ritual described in the original post (in fact, I like it.)  Something to make us more thoughtful of our actions.

[snakebit40]

I always place a hand on the animal I killed and give thanks to God for allowing me to hunt and kill the animal. It doesn't matter if its a squirrel, turkey, deer ect. I always give thanks. I also give thanks again when the animal is on my table ready to eat. Great thread!

[huskyarcher]

I do get excited when i kill an animal with 2 sticks and a string, most of the time i do hoop and holler i feel in no way that this is disrespectful towards the animal. But i understand that others are different than me.

In my opinion, i do not "Harvest" animals, because i dont own them, i didnt make or "plant" them. I kill animals, and i wouldnt sugar coat that for anyone. But like said before "To each their own"

[152 Sumo]

I learned a lot on my second deer kill.  I shot a buck with a traditional muzzleloader while he was running.  It was pretty close (within 40 yards) and I hit him.  There was a group of us, and we hit the blood trail right away and found him still alive but dying.  The other hunters started slapping me on the back and congratulating me (the buck wasn't a trophy, but he was a large, heavy 8-point).  Meanwhile, the buck was taking it's dying breaths right at our feet and I was getting slapped on the back.  I remember feeling awkward.  I didn't like it.  I didn't regret killing the deer, but I later regretted not putting it out of its misery with a shot to the head.  I was going to, but the other hunters stopped me to not 'ruin the mount'.  I never mounted it and I didn't want to.  I just want to respectfully hunt game and eat the wild meat.

[Mint]

To me being excited when taking a game animal is just fine with me. Respecting that animal by reflecting on the act and making sure no meat goes to waste is the most important thing to me. I always feel a little remorse by taking his life and who knows what is in anothers heart? I believe in Germany they believe it is not humane to bowhunt so no thank you to that.

[tuscarawasbowman]

Mint you hit it dead on the head for me.

[Tom Leemans]

I thank God, and offer thanks to the animal for what it has provided me and my family.

[kykiller]

I don't preform any ritual to speak of, that's just not my thing.  I love hunting and have since I was a boy.  I still get the adrenaline rush no matter what I'm shooting at.  After the shot I try and hold my composure only to have it broke by child like giggling and uncontrollable smiling.  As I make my way to the downed critter I think about the events and things that brought me to that point on that particular hunt, and usually sit down beside it and reflect for a few minutes.  I always thank the good lord I was born where I was, and have the oppertunities that I have.  As far as paying my respects to the animal, I figure I pay my respects to the animals I kill long before I kill them with preperation. I owe it to them to make the kill quick and clean. JMO.

[Zradix]

To each their own I guess.
I'm overjoyed when I shoot a deer.
I haven't got one with my trad gear yet, but when I do I hope a buddy will be there beside me to "high five" or something.

I'm sure I'll give out a "YYEESSS!"

I respect the animal. I don't want it to suffer more than it has too.

I'll be happy as heck my hard work has paid off.

At that point though, I'll have committed the ultimate trespass against that animal.

In all truth, if I respected it all that incredibly much I'd never kill it.

[PaPa Ron]

I always thank God first for his blessing me with his creatures. I also don't get all excited and loud so that I can remain humble.