In early April, 17 college students came together in the North Carolina backwoods. Despite their wildly differing background, they shared one thing in common - they were there for turkeys.
" So when I looked around the campfire Friday and Saturday night, and saw 25+ people talking, laughing, and enjoying themselves it burned itself into my mind. I felt immense joy, not only for the paths the students were embarking on and the richness it would bring to their lives, but selfishly for the expansion of my own community.
I learned about the new perspective of modern day hunters in terms of respecting animals and their habitats. Knowing that this is a perspective many hunters have makes me feel much more comfortable and excited to be apart of such a community.
The "why" that we talked about. That activity that we did where we explained what brought us to the program was fun but also really insightful. I enjoyed learning everybody's reasons to be there.
I had some previous knowledge from wildlife and natural resource courses, but this really gave me a sense of how hunters interact and respect each other, their game, and the ecosystem at a much more personal level. I learned about how ethics are practiced in real time, and how this mutual understanding moves us all forward while sustaining our environment.
I learned that hunting is an important skill for everyone to learn so that we can continue to respect our environment and become much more connected to the life around us.
The more am I learning about hunting in my classes, research, and BHA events, the more I support hunting!