2022 Draws to a close and a new year beckons.

 

As 2022 Draws to a close and a new year beckons, I look back and reflect on the year that was and the events that unfolded and shaped my life over the past 12 months. Early in the year saw me spend an extended period of time at work as the last of the COVID imposed restrictions were relaxed and things were returned to as normal as possible in the post pandemic world. Some restrictions remain in place but they present nothing more than a minor inconvenience.  

In late April and Early May I spent my break hunting and hosted 2 friends for a week. One was fortunate enough to shoot his first and second Sambar, (a young Calf and a yearling Stag) and went home with plenty of great tasting meat. The other was not so fortunate though he did see multiple deer every day and multiple species on some days, the opportunity for a shot just proved elusive, that's deer hunting for you. Both had a great time and will no doubt return to hunt Sambar.  Late June and early July saw me working on the cottage and I managed to complete the second Bathroom and completely gut and replace the floor in  the laundry. I did take the odd opportunity to hunt and secure some prime Fallow Venison for the freezer. I also spent a few days working on our block replacing damaged fences and vaccinating cattle.  I managed to squeeze in a short visit to Perth during this time, which was much appreciated by my long suffering and ever understanding wife. 

Mid August saw me once again working on our Cottage and I completed relining the laundry walls ready for painting once the floor is tiled. I took a couple of opportunities to hunt and after 30+ years finally took a very respectable old Sambar Stag. You can read the complete story here  My Quest For a Sambar Stag  I was absolutely thrilled to have finally taken a Mature Stag and returned to work a very happy camper. My next break I  returned to Perth and my wife and I made the journey across Australia by road to our cottage where we spent 4 weeks together working on the laundry floor, Vaccinating more Cattle and some much needed gardening. During this period torrential amounts of rain fell across much of Australia, causing wide spread flooding that continues to this day! We had to leave a few days early to avoid being stranded on the wrong side of floodwaters.

Floodwaters at Moulamein NSW

That pretty much brings me up to date with this years happenings as Christmas is fast approaching and I am once again away from loved ones for Christmas and New Year. We did our usual and celebrated just before I departed and we will celebrate again when I return in the New Year. We have some plans for our block and look to embark on an exciting new project but more of that next year.  I will once again spend Christmas at work with an assortment of people from a vast array of socio economic backgrounds and we will as always have fun, lot's of it! we are in essence a big family due to the years we have worked together. 

It was partly this that got me thinking about why I hunt? 

Most of the people I work with both men and women, are from impoverished backgrounds, subsistence farmers and fishermen. They all take great interest in my hunting stories and photographs as it is a practice they themselves participate in out of sheer necessity. Essentially hunting is how they feed their families, they see great value in a mature Sambar Stag or Hind as they instantly equate the size of the animal to how many people it will feed and for how long. They have no supermarket to buy packaged food and no refrigeration to store it either. They love the sight of a freshly caught trout, or field mushrooms, home grown vegetables and wild harvested meat and produce. 

Field Mushrooms

Venison, Field Mushrooms and Pumpkin

They have what most in our society have lost, they have the utmost respect for the origins of their food.  That is the reason I hunt, I never want to loose respect for the origins of my food. I want to know exactly how my meat was harvested, that the animal was treated with the respect it deserved. I want to know that the fish I eat swam unhindered in a mountain stream or lake and ate natural foods itself, not antibiotic riddled pellets in an overseas fish farm. I like to taste the earth in my mushrooms and the grass in my meat so to speak. I want to know my food and give it the respect it deserves.  

A prime Sambar Leg.

This is just one reason why I hunt and will always hunt.  

So as the year draws to a close and you all celebrate with your families spare a minute and think of where your food actually comes from and why you hunt. 

Merry Christmas and a Happy New year to you all and of course Happy Hunting.