Waste Not, Want Not

Josh and I were brought up under the 'you kill it, you cook it' mantra. It is vitally important that in our increasingly wasteful society, animals are not seen as commodities but rather beings that provide us an important service.

We have done a bit of small game hunting in the past few days, with possums, rabbits, hares and goats being the quarry. None of these animals have gone to waste. The possums are promptly plucked for their fur to be sold as well as providing food for the dogs. The rabbits and hares were eaten by us, as were the goats. Josh also skinned a goat and is currently in the process of tanning it.

The boys plucking one of the several unlucky possums

Personally and I know that Josh feels the same way, trophy hunting or killing big fish doesn't really sit right with us. I don't know whether is the way we were raised but we would sooner have a nice fat spiker or hind or a 4 pound hen trout than a massive stag or 10lb jack to be mounted. There is something really majestic about an animal at the apex of its species and it doesn't seem quite right to take it just because you can.

Josh's cousin Will with a well earned bowhunted goat

With all animals (fish included) it is also important to only harvest what you need and we could all at times give a little more respect and empathy to our animal friends. This also ensures that our resources are protected for future generations and if our children and their children get the same message, they will be able to responsibly enjoy the spoils of nature as we have for many years to come.

Josh's Dad is a butcher by trade, so Josh knows a thing or two about cutting stuff up

Sorry to get a little bit preachy, its just that some folks out there give the vast majority of hunter-gatherers that are responsible a bit of a bad name.

On a less serious note, the lads up at Manic have found a way to use this average weather to make informative videos...