Hunting and Fishing are two old things — ancient things really, things which predate the written word.
I thought a lot about hunting and fishing last year, as I began to consider the possibility of a complete societal collapse. While I think a complete collapse unlikely, I do not see it as beyond the realm of possibility. There are a few unlikely but possible things that could trigger it. To name three:
1. Economic collapse due to a hyperinflated dollar.
2. Plague and/or pandemic virus.
3. An Electro-Magnetic Pulse (EMP) from an airburst nuclear weapon causing a Compton Effect blackout of electronics for a sufficiently large sector of the United States.
There are others, to be sure — nuclear war, a sufficiently large ecological disaster, crop failures, etc. One need not even include the traditional Biblical stuff to get to a place where we could be looking at very hard times, indeed.
Should something like that happen, knowing how to hunt and fish would be an asset. But beyond that, it is a traditional thing, and therefore something by default to be considered a likely good.
Hunting and fishing are traditionally skills passed down from father to son. My father took me fishing only a few times, and we never hunted — my father was a thoroughly modern man, and did not see hunting — or fishing, for that matter — as a particularly necessary or even utilitarian thing.
But there is more to it than that. Hunting and fishing are primarily about an older man teaching a younger man about responsibility. It is at heart teaching a young man about the very core responsibilities a man might have to face, for back in the days when fathers were honest with sons and leveled with them, it was an assumption that a young man might have to go fight a war, and have to face decisions of life and death. Hunting and fishing are at the nucleus of societal responsibility for males, who are the traditional combatants in war, the traditional police and firemen, the traditional judges, juries and executioners. Hunting and fishing are a way of teaching about life and death decisions. Son, you must learn that there are times when life must be taken — whether that life is a largemouth bass, a whitetail deer, or a fellow human being arrayed against you in battle. The lessons of hunting and fishing are the first of these lessons that must be learned. The animal, with whom we sympathize, loses his life after a battle of skill. The results is that people are fed. From what is at some level a violent act comes survival. A father teaches his son, because his own life is not eternal — he must pass these things on, because some day the father must pass, and then who lives to run the society?
My father died when I was seventeen. He left me with a reverence for the Catholic church and a strong sense of right and wrong — a sense that is never stronger than when I am doing wrong. These were two great and precious gifts for me, from him. He did not teach me of hunting and fishing; these are lessons I have set out to discover and learn for myself.
Last fall I took up fishing. I read a few books on the subject, bought some equipment, and experimented. I learned a lot. I did not seek to find an old mentor to teach me — at my age, learning anything from older men — or indeed, other men — is somewhat humiliating. So with books and equipment I set out to learn. My early experiences were humbling, and often I returned with nothing. By trial and error I got better, and on my last day of fishing last year, in late November, I caught eleven fish. Better yet, about six of those were worthy of being keepers; but I opted to let them all go. I’ve found three or four very good spots to fish; I learned how to load my reel with line; how to employ bobbers and split shot, and what bait works best with which fish. I cleaned my share of fish, and feel pretty good about my skill. I have no children, but should a nephew or niece wish to come fish with me, there is now enough for me to teach. The unknown thing, fishing, becomes for me a good thing, a recovered thing.
Hunting is next year’s project. I have guns — last spring and summer saw the arrival of three long guns — a .22, a .308, and a 12 gauge shotgun. I learned firearms in the military, and was always a good shot, but there were a few things I did not learn — such as mounting and adjusting a scope. Again, books are invaluable, but more than books experience is the true teacher. A hundred rounds of .308 and a sore shoulder later, and I now have in my safe a very good tool for hunting game. In March, I take hunter safety classes, and I will get a hunting license for the first time in my life. I am reading a good book on the subject and will try to bag some game next year.
Will society collapse? Almost certainly not. But nevertheless, knowing how to hunt and fish are good things. Not learning them when I was young means I have to learn them when I am old. But that is OK; I have more patience now than in my youth and am confident I will learn. They are good things worthy of recovery.
