Hunting is a Blood Sport. This means that blood and gore can be and will be involved. Our culture and times have changed. What was once proper or acceptable is now not!
Information can be helpful, but Too Much Information can turn others off. Not everyone appreciates or want to know where their food comes from.
Back in the day, I was a Science Teacher. We used to do many hands-on activities including dissections and dramatic activities. If I was teaching fish, we dissected and fileted perch. The next day we ate them. This was true for oysters, crabs, squid, and so much more.
Ironically, the Boys were generally the “wussies” when it came to dissection. The girls just dug right in. During Deer season, I would save the hearts of the deer that my fellow hunters and I harvested. I needed one heart per team of 4 Science students’ dissectors.
Once I had enough hearts, class was in session. The kids wore rubber gloves and felt, probed, and dissected the hearts, which were about the same size as human hearts. The lessons learned never missed a beat. My old students still talk about the days when Mr. Soukup Science class was in session. The Heart dissection could not be Beat!
As the instructor/ administrator of an Alternative School for expelled students, I continued the tradition of hands-on science. Most of these students were expelled because of knives and weapons. They just never had any responsible formal training.
On an early morning hunt, I arrowed a nice 3×3 white tailed buck. I threw it into my pickup and took it to school. Once at school, I told my students that we were going to have an interesting day. We started by hoisting the buck onto the outside basketball court hoop.
We gathered tables and gear for the gutting, processing, and dissection. Once the rubber gloves came out, there were no questions. Class was in session.
The students took turns learning the needed skills. Knife sharpening and cleanup preparation was the first step. Then the cutting began. Each organ was removed and named. We laid them out onto the table and began skinning.
The entire buck was broken down into parts and packaged. I grilled up loins for lunch. Each student took meat home for dinner. By the end of the day, every student was bloodied in how to butcher a deer and identify the body parts.
Keep in mind that these students were from the city. Many never hunted. Knives, axes, and saws were weapons, not tools. I never had to discipline a single student. They were too busy learning to even think about acting out.
This deer class was 30 years ago. I am not sure if I could pull this off today. Times have changed and hunting is not as popular/ acceptable as it once was. Even Anglers practice Catch and Release. These subsistence skills are no longer appreciated or needed to survive.
Hunting is more than a Blood Sport. Sure, killing involves blood, but to get to the harvest, you need to learn how to be quiet and stealthy. Observation skills are important. Reading maps and navigating is important. Safety is a must. Licenses require limits, rules, and restrictions. Learning to hunt is fun and never ends. These are all great life skills for everyone.
It is in the Blood!
Montana Grant
