Customer Reviews

A Hunter's Heart: Honest Essays on Blood Sport

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

As a hunter I've always marveled at how joy and sadness can dwell in the same moment, that moment when you reach out - with gun or bow or spear - and take the life of a wild creature. But there are many hunters who don't notice or care, and who treat this most awesome and mysterious thing as a sport like golf or car racing. The best part of "A Hunter's Heart" was spending time, so to speak, with others who see more and deeper things in hunting, and who can express it more vividly and truthfully than I have been able to. Each story is beautiful and eloquent and impactful in its own way. I reread the book often, enjoying it more each time, which is the best compliment I can give.

I could not think of a title for my review. I don't write many and find Amazon's 5 star system constraining. This book is extraordinarily good. The title will, unfortunately, be off-putting to some. If one could choose another title, I would suggest: A compendium of almost four-dozen essays written by men and women about their love and passion for wildlife and conservation. It is so much more than a book about hunting, that one cannot describe it simply. Further, what is equally astounding is the fact that the "collector," David Petersen, was able to obtain such a wonderful robust collection.

If one expects this to be a book merely about hunting, that expectation is wrong. If one expects this to be essays written only by undereducated, good old boys-"slob hunters"-who relish ambushing Bambi from a truck that is wrong. If your expectation is that all the essays will be unambiguously pro-hunting or gun sport, you are "off the mark." Fairly, Nelson, in his introduction says," In the United States, hunters are probably the largest, most diverse, and most important potential advocates for preservation of natural habitats and protection of wild animal populations." That remark comes close.

I believe that many city folk have so lost touch with wild life that they now believe that hunting is something akin to a video game using live ammunition. That a hunter would relish spending an entire day tracking game, and not succeed seems antithetical to their purpose for some. After reading these essays, one understands why the writers deem the day a success, something very special; e.g., "I began to realize that what I like best about hunting was the companionship of a few good old trusted buddies in the out-of-doors."

If hunters can feel so deeply-even those who later abandon it-one hopes for a return to earlier days when more Americans shared the pastime. Pete Dunne writes about "the Great Moment: How the universe held its breath, waiting-waiting for the sound of an echo that never came; the echo of a shot that was never fired" while sighting a deer-and not shooting-after his many years of hunting. You can feel the heart of this "ex"-hunter who still declares that "anti-hunters who believe that hunting is synonymous with killing and that anyone who hunts is unfeeling and cruel" ... "aren't dishonest. They are merely wrong."

I could go further, providing so many wonderful examples of the humanity of these writers. I suggest, however, that you make the time to read this book. Perhaps the greatest compliment I can pay to these writers is that they are knowledgeable, articulate, caring people. If their hunting experience has helped them become that way, hunting is very important to our culture and our society.

What a teffific book. Each chapter is written by different authors expressing their opinions on hunting practices, ethics, and why we hunt. Very thought provoking and insightful.From high-tech equipment to baiting,this book gives the reader many different viewpoints of hunting to look at and ponder.I have read many chapters numerous times and given copies of this book to several friends. Dan Teets- Mission Viejo, Ca.

This is an excellent collection of essays. The essays are honest, forthcoming, and thoughtful. I enjoy hunting not as a "sport" but as an activity that simply transcends sport. I love the environment, and perhaps this is why hunting is not merely sport to me. This work by Mr. Petersen is rare because it reflects the fact that many hunters do, in fact, love the environment and wildlife more than they love the hunt.

A few of the hunter-authors featured in Mr. Petersen's work don't hunt anymore, because they (like many sportsmen and sportswomen) have reached the "limiting out" phase of hunting, when a hunter no longer cares so much about bagging game, but cares mostly about the teaching of ethics and conservation to a younger generation of hunters. But when you read their essays, you can feel how much they loved the hunt and how much hunting taught them about the need for healthy ecosystems. On the other hand, some of these essays were written by active hunters. If you are a hunter, these essays will make your heart swell with anticipation for your next hunt.

Contrary to the review posted earlier by Mr. Seshadri, this book directly confronts irresponsible hunters. Admittedly, a few hunters do not love the environment and wildlife. Several of the essays confront unethical hunting practices head-on, including the use of overwhelming modern technology in the pursuit of trophy animals. Likewise, one essay condemns the use of live animals merely for target practice, undoutedly refering to the hunting of predators such as coyotes and wolves. Yes, this work is very honest. You get the good and the bad.

I am a 4th generation deer and elk hunter from the Rocky Mountains, and I think this book is a must-read for all hunters. My hope is that our wild lands, and our wild animals will be preserved for the enjoyment of future generations. We will need more conservation-minded hunters like Mr. Petersen if we are to be successful. Why? Because the golfers and couch potatoes don't care if another valley is buldozed for commercial developement. Habitat destruction is the threat to wildlife and wild land. The hunting community must stand up and make its voice heard, and this book is a good start.

I am not a hunter. I bought this book out of an intellectual curiousity of what it is that drives some people to kill and enjoy the pursuit of killing. The essays within - while plain spoken, well written and introspective - tend to be repetitive around some common themes:

1) It is no less ethical to hunt your own food than to buy meat in a supermarket
2) In nature, very few animals die of old age anyway
3) Humans are genetically programmed to hunt; hunters are just following their inner, atavistic calling
4) City folk who disdain any type of hunting are hypocritical and should pay a visit to their local slaughterhouse
5) Hunters actually love the animals they kill

I am compelled to agree with most of the above reasoning, although #5 is a tough act to follow. That said, where the essays fail is in their inability to confront the irresponsible hunters who kill just for the thrill of it. There is no mention of the moral deficiency of those "hunters" who kill not for the meat, but for the bragging rights of having shot a (mostly tame) lion or (farm raised) trophy ungulate. Likewise, the authors carefully avoid taking on the barbarism of "sports" like fox hunting. It's almost like these good hunters are ashamed of all those black sheep lurking within their fraternity, although not without good reason. All that said, this is nonetheless a good read that can be enjoyed by all thinking people - hunters and non-hunters alike.

As a woman, and one who does not hunt, I found the essays in A Hunter's Heart intelligent, thought-provoking, and often moving. They suggest a complexity and ethic which underlie a sport often seen as cruel and mindless. They make a convincing case that those who hunt are more likely to respect nature than are those who buy their meat neatly packaged in plastic. The writers voice a genuine regard, even love, for the environment and for their prey. The authors may be more articulate and philospohical than those many of us think of as "typical" hunters, but if we admit that one may subscribe to an ethic without being able to articulate it, may live out a philosophy rather than expound it, the essays may make us rethink the motives and morality of those who take to the woods during hunting season.

This book is a collection of essays on hunting by some excellent outdoor writers, including former President Jimmy Carter. The writers talk about why they hunt. This book examines that question and finds that there are many reasons different people give to that same question. You may agree with some or disagree, but you'll definitely think long and hard about the answers given.

This book's thought provoking essays also force all of us to think about our own carnivorous instincts. Since almost all of us eat meat from the supermarket the book takes cows as an example and asks non hunters if the castration of bulls, the branding, the feeding of them in outdoor, closed in, excrement filled pens and the eventual slaughter of them is really somehow better than the hunter who shoots and kills a deer in the wild? It seems we all live with blood on our hands. But not to let you think this book is simply cut and pasted from the pages of American Hunter. The book also questions trophy hunting and whether hunting should even be considered a sport.

Since many hunters spend a good deal of time defending what they love to do, I would recommend that they pick up a copy of this book in order to be able to answer the question "why do I hunt?"

One of the things a hunter struggles with is how to describe to others what the importance of hunting is. This book is a compilation of insights written by those who ask themselves the question, "Why do you hunt?".

To make this review short and to the point. I threw the book in the garbage can
half way through. This guy is out of touch with reality. If you don't think as he does, you should not be allowed to exist.