When I met my husband, he told me he was a hunter. He enjoys hunting waterfowl, birds, mountain and other games. He had a labrador retriever and he spent much time training the dog. When we started to see more of each other I began to learn to train dogs and found that I have a natural talent to work with animals. We had been dating for several months when he mentioned that he would go deer hunting. I doubt this because deer season was two months. He said he was hunting and archery season that began two months earlier than the season of firearms. I had heard of archery hunting, but I never knew anyone who was involved with it. I was about to enter a whole new world of hunting.
This year we were dating I did not see him prepare for the hunt. I knew we did not spend as much time together on the weekend because he was hunting. Once we got married, I discovered the preparation that goes into bow hunting. First, the garment is completely stealth. My husband is very insistent that the clothes are washed with detergents and does not need to miss several days so that there would be no odor on households. The reason is that hunting archery, you need to get very close to the animal slaughtered. Then he practiced shooting arrows into a target that was the form of a deer. This was to improve its accuracy at different distances. He also placed a portable stand in a tree for him to sit quietly and hope for a deer to walk close enough to be shot. He explained that there is a technique called still hunting where the hunter is on the ground, but in early season when there are still many leaves on the trees of the tree stand is a preferred method of hunting.
The amount of time, planning and thought that went into bow hunting has been incredible for me. I was also surprised at the amount of force that is necessary to remove the strings to the bow. Over the years, I’ve come to admire the art of hunting and the people that do. It is much more of a sport that using a gun to take deer. The animal must be close and the shot must be very precise. My husband has taken several deer and two black bears at its bow. It is more work and more time, but it is an activity he loves.