Hunting

Yesterday, Aaron and I spent the morning and part of the evening hunting. In particular, we were hunting doves. Frankly, dove hunting is my favorite, except for the heat. I enjoy it most, I think, because you shoot, shoot, shoot. Doves are hard to hit and that is okay. At the end of the day we had ten. They will be wrapped in bacon and cooked on the grill .

Some ask if Christians should hunt. Or, more generally, should anyone hunt due to the profliferation of food available to us.

Here are my responses:

1. Hunting provides me a wonderful opportunity to spend time with my sons. I would hunt with my daughter if she would so choose, but that is not her thing. For us, frankly, it is a man thing. Some of my favorite memories are hunting with my father and I want those memories for my sons. It also affords me, while making those memories, to teach Aaron how to be careful and responsible. You must be both when handling a firearm.

2. It is true that I can purchase meat at the grocery store. But, hunting reminds me that food does not come from a factory. People who say they would not hunt often do not hesitate to buy a steak at their favorite eatery and have no idea where that meat originated or the process involved in providing it to them. There is something to be said about hunting keeping you close to the land and I think that is a good thing.

3. What about the killing? I find no pleasure in the killing of an animal. I do not hunt just to kill. We eat what we take by hunting. The Lord let a sheet down in front of Peter and it was full of all sorts of animals which He commanded Peter to eat. Hunters help maintain equilibrium in the animal population and probably provide more in the way of resources for habitat than most other groups.

Aaron shot his first two doves yesterday. It was a good day for us to spend together with other men, outside, being together.