Waidgerechtigkeit - Treat your prey as fellow sentinent beeing and at all time make sure you have a steady aim and dont cause unnecessary pain. Never think of this act as craftsmanship or skill. You have decided to choose between life and death. Know what it is worth. Even when doing the "red work" always preserve the dignity of what is now a precious.... Lebensmittel (general word in german for food and its not to translate into a single english word but the 2 combined words mean something like "thing to live")
I grew up in a remote mountain village and often had to attend the hunt on hare, bird, boar and deer. It always hurt me to see these beautiful and sometimes even majestic creatures beeing put down.... but neither did anyone else of the hunting company seem to enjoy it (hard to tell when people look like you wanna wrap their faces round a baseball and put em under your pillow to prepare em for tomorrows game). It was always a touching moment when leaves were put into the mouth of the dead animal and a prayer was spoken for its soul. Beein born into a hunters family I couldnt weasel out that easy... but birds saved me! Since Falconry became intangibles cultural heritage of the country I was born in, everybody was proud that I wanted to become a Falconer... after I reached my 18th birthday. I finaly had my ticket out of this dark valley I called home for too long and moved into the wide open plains near our vibrant capital city, to play with birds instead of creeping through the forrests of "St. Anklebrecher-Hills"!
Dont get me wrong... I understand that even though its a "respectful" way to kill a sentinent beeing, its dead and soon eaten nonetheless. Still isnt easy to change the point of view when you wer young when someone teached you all this as old traditions, thinking it is how things should be because they learned it from even older people at a time were it at least made more sense than now.
Some of the peasants (if I would try to sound condescending I would most likely call them peons instead) even called me, among other less flattering things, Dr. Doolitle cause it seems I was the only one for centuries who tried to socialize with all the interesting animals and would refuse to attend the feast... of my buddy "Graf Rüdiger". We two were really close and even though I knew his time would come sooner or later... Well, never ate pork again ever since.
But poultry? Chicken for example.... even the original chicken was pretty much at the bottom of the pecking order. Reminds me of that myth that turkey domasticated themselves since native americans still were a better faith than most of what else would have awaited them. I tried hunting with owls. They are the avian equivalent of Koalas. Apart from looking nice they are among the most malicious creatures I have encountered sofar. Like their earthbound soulmates they have sharp claws and just want to be left alone.... but owls also have a razorsharp beak and are exceptionally smart. Harry Potter is a lie! The only thing his owl would have helped him with would have been painting the room white. Owls show their love by not hurting you whenever a chance is presented to them. Ever had a Storch clogging your chimney? Bunch of Swallows under your roof? Wild Ducks fiercly protecting their nest in your balcony flowerbed? Wanna spend a night between Penguins? Believe me... apart from a few decent ones.... birds are the scourge of this earth! They are worse then all the killer-robot-insects! Once naval superiority is achieved, they will rule supreme... mark my words!
Thats why I decided to become at lutheran Pastor. Its easier herding sheep than birds.... (mean joke but I couldnt resist, please forgive me)
I grew up in a remote mountain village and often had to attend the hunt on hare, bird, boar and deer. It always hurt me to see these beautiful and sometimes even majestic creatures beeing put down.... but neither did anyone else of the hunting company seem to enjoy it (hard to tell when people look like you wanna wrap their faces round a baseball and put em under your pillow to prepare em for tomorrows game). It was always a touching moment when leaves were put into the mouth of the dead animal and a prayer was spoken for its soul. Beein born into a hunters family I couldnt weasel out that easy... but birds saved me! Since Falconry became intangibles cultural heritage of the country I was born in, everybody was proud that I wanted to become a Falconer... after I reached my 18th birthday. I finaly had my ticket out of this dark valley I called home for too long and moved into the wide open plains near our vibrant capital city, to play with birds instead of creeping through the forrests of "St. Anklebrecher-Hills"!
Dont get me wrong... I understand that even though its a "respectful" way to kill a sentinent beeing, its dead and soon eaten nonetheless. Still isnt easy to change the point of view when you wer young when someone teached you all this as old traditions, thinking it is how things should be because they learned it from even older people at a time were it at least made more sense than now.
Some of the peasants (if I would try to sound condescending I would most likely call them peons instead) even called me, among other less flattering things, Dr. Doolitle cause it seems I was the only one for centuries who tried to socialize with all the interesting animals and would refuse to attend the feast... of my buddy "Graf Rüdiger". We two were really close and even though I knew his time would come sooner or later... Well, never ate pork again ever since.
But poultry? Chicken for example.... even the original chicken was pretty much at the bottom of the pecking order. Reminds me of that myth that turkey domasticated themselves since native americans still were a better faith than most of what else would have awaited them. I tried hunting with owls. They are the avian equivalent of Koalas. Apart from looking nice they are among the most malicious creatures I have encountered sofar. Like their earthbound soulmates they have sharp claws and just want to be left alone.... but owls also have a razorsharp beak and are exceptionally smart. Harry Potter is a lie! The only thing his owl would have helped him with would have been painting the room white. Owls show their love by not hurting you whenever a chance is presented to them. Ever had a Storch clogging your chimney? Bunch of Swallows under your roof? Wild Ducks fiercly protecting their nest in your balcony flowerbed? Wanna spend a night between Penguins? Believe me... apart from a few decent ones.... birds are the scourge of this earth! They are worse then all the killer-robot-insects! Once naval superiority is achieved, they will rule supreme... mark my words!
Thats why I decided to become at lutheran Pastor. Its easier herding sheep than birds.... (mean joke but I couldnt resist, please forgive me)
