Bird hunting is just recreation

[Upland Idaho]

In a recent article in the Upland Almanac author John McGonigle said something I finally didn’t agree with. John wrote and I’m paraphrasing since I can’t find the right issue, “Young hunters would do good to remember that bird hunting is just recreation.” This really hit me as something very odd and something my immediate gut reaction to was complete disagreement. Having made his life or a good portion of his livelihood from training dogs for bird hunting it was interesting that he would say something that makes his lifestyle only recreation.

Here’s a common definition of recreation from Dictionary.com rec·re·a·tion/
–noun
1.
refreshment by means of some pastime, agreeable exercise, or the like.


2.
a pastime, diversion, exercise, or other resource affording relaxation and enjoyment.


I have thought a lot about his comments, my reaction to his comments and tried to wrap my mind around the premise that bird hunting could be just recreation and maybe more importantly that I should just think of it as just recreation. To answer this I might just ask another question, is a lifestyle just recreation? To many people, hunting is just recreation, something they do on occasion to take their minds off life’s daily grind. But I feel like it’s more than recreation. Part of what I get when bird hunting certainly fits the definition above. But there’s certainly more to it. Maybe that’s my beef, calling one of the deepest passions of my life only recreation. I like to snowshoe, but thinking about not doing it doesn’t effect me mentally and emotionally, snowshoeing fits for me as something that’s recreational.

Maybe someday I’ll get tired of bird hunting, dog training, watching a dog race downhill in a zigzag pattern of a scent cone, the quiver of an intense point, the rise of a covey, the great shots, the missed shots, the friends, the dogs who become more than a pet…maybe. I’m not going to bet on that.

[ArkansasHunter]

OH Upland Idaho it is a recreation and it's a sport and it's also a givin too.
Maybe he didn't mean it the way you took it.
To me the kind of bird hunting you get to do would also be good exsorcise because of the walking....

[Upland Idaho]

You may be right Arkansas...and certainly right about the exercise part!!

[toolman]

I doubt that he meant it the way you're taking it, but I feel the same as you. I consider, hunting, fishing, shooting, gun-collecting, trapping, etc., to be just as much a part of my life as work. I wonder if he considers work to be "just a distraction". Actually, when I think about it, I consider work to be a distraction from my "real" life! As the old saying goes, "I work to live, not live to work!"