Modern Huntsman Stories

Someone makes a slingshot. Someone produces a fishing pole. Forays to the river begin to include a stop at the general store for bait and tackle. Rabbits and fish are added to the bounty that our little hands gather from the land.

“Nature is not more complicated than you think, it is more complicated than you can think.” — Frank Edwin Egler, Plant Ecologist, Hunting with Wolves

This series pursues the idea that food is more interesting when it has a story of its own. Even in a world of rapid urban expansion and deliver-to-your-door technologies, it’s still possible to pursue a life where you’re a part of your food story – the old fashioned way. Whether through hunting, fishing or foraging, meals taste better when they are products of your learned skills, or killer instincts. These are the keepers of that flame, reminding us to stay wild.

This isn’t my first dove hunt, but it’s my first dove hunt in Texas, and many proud Texans would tell me that I have misspoken and it is, in fact, my first dove hunt. By the end of my trip, I will humbly stand corrected.

If you come to this book looking for some kind of textual analogue to your favorite hunting television show or survivalist Instagram feed, though, prepare for disappointment.

The act of hunting itself stretches far beyond the bounds of our labeled identities. And yet, hunters who fall outside of the mainstream American status quo of “who a hunter is” experience barriers not of their own making.

In the Scottish Highlands, traditions remain strong, and hunting and fishing — particularly stalking — are part of the way of life.