Now that I have moved back to BC, I am in a different area than before and seem to be smack dab in the middle of big game sport hunter heaven! I am vehemently opposed to sport hunting, for obvious reasons, but do approve of shooting meat to feed my family especially if it is instead of buying from a grocery store and buying into the whole commercial meat production game.
Quesnel, being surrounded by many different forestry units makes it the center piece for big game hunting.
Quesnel Lake is a maze of water courses, small and large lakes--criss crossed with roads and all accessible for road hunters. Absolutely gorgeous mountainous tree filled ranges! The fall colours on the tress make any sort of expedition outdoors a delight for all of the senses! The Nazko road west from Quesnel on Hwy 97 provides access to roads where there are many Moose!. Grizzly in there too! White tail and mule deer, grouse, wolves, foxes coyotes, bears, eagles ravens, owls, the list goes on and on. So many beautiful creatures out here to enjoy, most of which are open at one time or another to sport hunting!
My brother, like most of my family is big on hunting, fishing and trapping. Sometimes it is done out of necessity to feed the family, but mostly, these days is done for the love of the sport. I, myself find it extremely hard to believe that people can take pleasure in a sport that is entirely centred around killing other creatures. Makes no sense to me and I do my best not to take part in the sport of it.
When I go fishing with my brother, we rarely catch a thing. I think I send out vibes -- stay away fish, we don't want to kill you! Still I do go along for the family experience, the chance for my kids to bond with their elders etc.
Today we went on a drive to the country backroads in search of a Moose or a buck for my brother to shoot. Hunting season opened yesterday. Always, ever since I was young, I've had a keen eye for spotting game. My dad always called me "eagle eye" and would take me along on expeditions purely as a spotter. Today was no different and my brother remembered my keen hunting eye and fully intended to use it. At first I didn't pay any attention. "Look at the cute little deer!" my excitement was too much to contain and I exclaimed aloud! Luckily these deer were babies, far too small to shoot. I took that as a reminder and attempted to keep my mouth shut when I next spotted some game.
At one point during our expedition today, I came face-to-face with a gorgeous buck. I had made up my mind not to tell my brother if I spotted anything, as he had his gun ready to load and fire in an instant. So I kept silent, as I met the deer's gaze. We drove closer and closer and eventually my brother spotted him, too. At this point the deer walked a bit closer to us instead of running away. Now we were eye to eye and I was half fixed on hoping my brother wasn't going to shoot this gorgeous creature and half on willing it not to happen. The deer and I remained connected via eye contact for quite some time, his gorgeous dark brown eyes locked with mine as I told him to please run away so we didn't have to shoot him. He stayed for long enough for me to snap a few photos and then slowly turned away.
I believe we had a moment of unspoken communication and that the deer completely understood what I was saying. As he slowly turned and hopped away into the trees, disappearing into a nearby filed of grass, I rolled up my window, relieved and my brother drove away.
We didn't shoot anything this time, I was relieved, but at some point, I am sure we will and my children will have their first experience of seeing an animal die right before their eyes. Of watching the life bleed out of it and seeing the spark in its eyes fade to blackness. Of gutting, skinning and taking the animal home where it will be hung to dry and later packaged up and stored in the freezer. Not today, did this happen, but it will and I am not ready,
So now, I try to find a balance between the sport hunting and trapping that is so prevalent here and my own sense of inner guidance and love for the creatures with which we share our earth.
