December 5, 2012  

Hunting + Holidays = Family Time

(Reprint from Texas Wildlife Association Regional Newsletter, with permission)

This time of the year represents such a familial season, in many ways. Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, these annual celebrations, alone, provide us with opportunities to spend time with family and loved ones. Additionally, when you combine our family hunting cultures with these other traditional events, you have a recipe for some festive family time.

For those of you who grew up in hunting families, I'm sure you have some special memories related spending time in hunting camp or afield with family members. Hunting as a family event is not a new activity, as history has clearly documented that hunter-gatherer societies, pre-dating 10,000 BC, show that much of this way of life took place in large family groups. So, indeed, this type of family bonding is part of our historic fabric.

Holidays and hunting provide family members with so many opportunities of developing quality virtues, such as giving and caring, paying homage to religious and spiritual persuasions, culinary celebrations, confidence building for those in unfamiliar territory, respect for our natural resources, patience, self-awareness and that of your environment, as well as developing appreciation for life, not to mention the understanding of the finality of death upon the harvest of our quarry. It is human qualities like these that make us better people, developing traits that allow individuals to be difference-makers within our communities.

For those of us who have grown up in loving family environments whose annual family traditions involve special events such as holiday travel and excursions afield in pursuit of game, we should count our many blessings, and we should not fail to recognize that there are many within our own societies who are not as fortunate. This is but one reason why initiatives, such as Texas Youth Hunting Program, are incredibly important in preserving certain cultural paradigms that tend to be more ephemeral within our society these days, than they are relevant. Relevance equals value, and I pray that these things that you and I value so much will always remain relevant; we should not take such hope for granted. We cannot afford to take these things for granted.

So, whether you are enjoying your family fellowship alongside a chopped fir and warm fire in your living room, sipping hot cider, or if that occasion is taking place under the stars of Orion beside a hot fire in the country, may you all have a safe and enjoyable holiday and hunting season, making plenty of time for family and loved ones.

Cheers,

Greg Simons