CONTENT

Hunting is a very rude mistress. She does not always obey the rules of the game. Why and how we hunt is not always the same, but for most of us the point of hunting is the feeling it gives us. The one moment you are sitting at home, dreaming of a hunt that is still months away and the next thing you know you are eating the biltong and digesting memories and emotions of that hunt... a hunt that was as fleeting as a promise in parliament.

content /kənˈtɛnt/ adjective 1. in a state of peaceful happiness. “he seemed more content, less bitter”

A RECIPE FOR HAPPINESS

For me it is the feeling of contentment – a state of peaceful happiness – that I long for. But how can somebody equate the killing of an animal with peace and happiness? Let me explain to the reader my hunting recipe for contentment.

I’ll start off by saying that I(okay, that’s a lie. I cannot sit still for long enough to enjoy a hunt). I’m not saying one is better than the other, nor do I think the animal losing its life cares whether you have walked and stalked for five days or pulled the trigger five minutes after arriving at the farm. The animal is equally dead and removed from the ecosystem whether you have shot it from 10m with a .375 H&H or 450m with a 6.5x47L.