Trevor Ascheman
10/27/00
This paper is going to be on my opinion, on the differences between goose hunting and
deer hunting. I will show you that as we get older we learn to hunt more animals.
Hunting animals has been around since the beginning of time and each race has had their
own perspective on it but most have shared a similar story line. Now we all know the
obvious differences between these animals, such as one flies while the other doesn’t. I
want to know why people get so much more feelings when they kill a deer versus killing
a goose.
First I lets talk about a hunter though, because lets face it we all don’t like it or
approve of it, while others of us love and can’t wait for the next season to start. I am a
hunter I have been brought up in a family that respects animals and the weapons used to
kill them, so my opinions may be very different from others. I have been hunting since
before I could remember. My dad would bring me out in my car seat and my little baby
camouflage and we would hunt together. My mom always told me he did this because he
couldn’t wait for me to get older, so that I could hunt alongside him. However he never
let his anxiety get the best of him, he never let me carry a gun until I completed my gun
training, and I wasn’t aloud to go deer hunting until I was fourteen years old.
The first time I ever remember going goose hunting was when I went out
with my Dad, my uncle Bill, and my cousin Brent. It was a drizzly day and dad I were
sitting along a fence line, while Bill and Brent were sitting next to a rock pile. It was
Brent’s first year carrying a gun, and in a couple more it would be my turn to carry one
also but for now I was just along for the hunt. It started out the same as every hunt since
then we all talked on the way out to the spot and dad and Bill told us were we going to sit
and were they wee going to sit. After we all got situated dad and I started talking as we
usually do when we sit beside each other. When we herd that wonderful honk of a flock
Canadian geese I looked over at them and sure enough they were coming right for us.
Dad said get down, so I did and then a minuet later, Bang, Bang, and I looked up to see
one glide down and hit the ground. It was the biggest goose I have ever seen, it weighed
in at nearly sixteen pounds. I have shot many geese and I do get a rush from killing one,
but what I want to know is were does that rush come from and why do we get it from
harming another animal.
I wasn’t old enough to even participate in deer hunting until I was fourteen years
old. In my family there is something special about deer hunting, it demands more respect
for many reasons such as, the bullets used and the harm they can cause. I am going to tell
you a story about the first time that I knew that I was a safe and efficient hunter. First off
I should tell you that in the great state of Minnesota we use shotguns and slugs to hunt
deer. But any way we were out hunting in my uncle Pat’s cornfield and I got to walk
along one side of the cornfield. Now if you have never been deer hunting you would not
know that walking along the edge is one of the best spots to be but also it is one of the
most dangerous if you or your partner posting on the end are not safe hunters. My dad
and Bill were posting on the other end of the half-mile long field. My uncle Trevor,
Brent and me were walking the corn. I was extremely nervous when we entered the corn
because I could hear the dear get up and run around inside of it. About half way through
a big doe jumped right out in front of me and as I pulled up I remember very clearly
looking at the dear and then seeing my dad right behind it. I didn’t finish pulling up
instead I held my gun ready waiting for the deer to get clear of my dad. As soon as the
deer was not in front of dad I fired one shot and she hit the ground like a rock. When we
got to the end I couldn’t believe how proud my dad was of me. He said to me there is
always another deer but people can never be replaced. That is something that has stuck
with me up till this day and I hope I will never forget. I have shot many deer since that
one and a couple before but I will always remember that day.
Man has hunted many different types of animals through out the ages and from
what I have seen they all share similar traits. As we look back and see the carvings on
the walls from the first writings or drawings from man we see that he has always relished
hunting the biggest or most dangerous of them all. There are many examples of this such
as the Native American hunted many different animals such as ducks, deer, buffalo,
wolves, bears, beaver, and mink. Now how many of you have herd an Indian story about
hunting ducks, not to many out there. But on the other hand how many bear or buffalo
stories have you herd. Its astounding the differences even back then in the differences
and importance’s placed on the hunting of different animals. Now to try and figure out
why these differences are there, the most obvious ones would be the amount of food or
maybe the bravery it takes to kill a bear with simple tools such as a knife or bow. On the
contrary to these days were we don’t need the meat and you aren’t considered brave if
you kill a bear. Yet I still believe that hunting these animals hold more importance than it
does hunting geese. It may be the size of the animal or it may be the difference in the
shells I don’t know. In my opinion deer hunting is more important to me but that’s my
opinion, and probably the opinion of most other people. As for explaining why, “hey
your guess is as good as mine.”