Hunting as a Spiritual Practice

While I am not religious, I feel a deep spiritual connection with nature, especially when hunting. It reminds me of my place within the natural order—that I am a part of nature, not separate from it. Long ago, I decided that if I were to consume animal protein, I needed to take an active role in procuring my own nourishment. This choice has been particularly challenging as someone who loves animals. Raising and hunting them for food continually pushes me to be mindful of my methods and to constantly evaluate the ethics at the heart of these practices.

For me, these ethics are rooted in love—love for the wildlife, the landscape, the hunt as an experience, the deep emotions it stirs, and, in many ways, a hard-earned love for myself through it all. Adding to this complexity is my hunting partner and loyal four-legged companion, Pipp. My love for her surpasses what I feel for most people, making the idea of trapping or hunting coyotes and foxes an especially difficult reality to face. So why do it, you ask?

I was a vegetarian for four years. But if you ask any of my friends, they’ll tell you—I was a pretty terrible one. I’d try my best to avoid meat, only to inevitably cave. My body craves red meat and other animal proteins, and my hormones went haywire on soy products and plant-based alternatives.

In college, I studied sustainable food and agriculture, and if there’s one thing I know for certain, it’s that even the food consumed by vegans and vegetarians is produced through methods that inadvertently kill animals—not to mention the environmental destruction and human exploitation that come with industrialized farming. It’s neither sustainable nor truly ethical.

I wanted to source my meat in a way that felt holistic and natural, but I never believed I could take an animal’s life to do so. Ironically, it was an animal—an American Bulldog named Rosie—who changed my mind. But that’s a story so meaningful, it deserves a post of its own.

As I embarked on my journey to becoming a hunter—an identity that is deeply woven into my way of life—I felt both exhilaration at the prospect of learning and fear at the reality of beginning.