I hunt not to kill, I kill to have hunted.

Does anyone else remember Highmaster over at Shooters.com? Gosh how I miss him. I had the utmost respect for that guy. I honestly didn't care if he was everything he said he was; he expressed an ideal so well. It was funny; he and I had very different views on things like competition, but I really enjoyed our time together.

I got to thinking about Highmaster as I was finishing off my coffee and slowly coming to at the loading bench. A quote was running around in my head. It’s probably an Aldo Leopold or that of some other great scion of the sport:

“I hunt not to kill, I kill to have hunted.”

It’s Droptine’s signature over at 24HourCampfire. It reminded me so much of a discussion I had with HighMaster right after deer season back in 2002.

To quote the High One:

But hunting is a personal thing, I like nothing better than spending a week in the woods alone, taking a deer has nothing to do with it, it is just the way I recharge my batteries and enjoy the things that mean the most to me. The forest, the wild life, the view, the solitude and the quiet.

To which I replied:

Ah! another armed nature lover in the woods!

Nature? I love it! Of course it all depends on how it's dressed out. [ I always liked to start with a cheap rim shot so I didn’t appear pompous]

One thing I've never been able to sucessfully explain, O High One. Both my wives have asked me: Well if it's not killing things that's so important, why do you insist on carrying a gun? I've tried to explain that one many ways many times, but I've yet to do it to my satisfaction or theirs.

I suppose therein lies the true nature of Hunting. It is the communion with that question that defines us as hunters. The answer is undeniable as a sunrise and as ineffable as the gaze of buck on the back of your head. However, neither Corbett or Hemingway or Faulkner or any one of the writers who have tried in the last two centuries have successfully explained it. Still when we take that first step off the back porch in the morning and jack one in, we are a drop of dew falling in that forest.

Ah,Highmaster, wherever you are, I wish you well.