I was reading The Fox, a short story by  D. H. Lawrence. He described how hunters have to meet the deer on its terms,.

This struck me. Hunting is seen as manly and I agree with that. I don’t hunt but can see its value when done right. It also takes more skills than I got.

But is hunting a battle? A matching of strengths? I don’t think so. Hunters creep into the woods in the early morning quietly and do whatever they can to make themselves as discreet as possible. Instead of overpowering a deer, they cover their scent and sit quietly until a deer makes their way to them.

• (Some people drive deer- drivers spread out across a field or woods and push game out of cover. But I rarely hear of this and I live in Wisconsin).

The success of a deer hunter is determined by how much they study and learn about the deer. They must adapt to the ways of the deer in order to be successful.

The hunters I know love their time in the woods. Sitting quietly among trees and wildlife and savoring it. 

There is the violence of the weapon being fired and then the field dressing of the deer afterwards. 

But by then the love of the nature and of the spirit of the deer has won. Not the brute strength of a warrior.