Whitetail Deer Hunter : The Art Of Hunting

Despite what some people may think about the pastime, whitetail deer hunters have the distinction of being among the last practitioners of man’s first sport. Yes, our ancient ancestors hunted to feed and clothe their families and tribe members first and foremost.

They also created magnificent depictions of ancient hunts upon the walls of caverns in the mountains of Spain and France as well as other parts of the world.. A veritable menagerie of the animals these people hunted and observed are beautifully represented by etchings, drawings or paintings on the stone surfaces of the cave walls and roof.

Many of the animals these ancient artists used as subjects are extinct today. But among the mammoths, saber tooth cats, and other Pleistocene beasts, we also find animals we still see today.

Horses, antelope, deer of several species, all are represented among the many strange and beautiful paintings. Because these caves had their entrances sealed by landslides or cave-ins, the wondrous art was preserved for over 30,000 years or more. Some say they may be as old as 50,000 years, but at any rate, they hold the earliest record of man’s artistic development.

Whether the art was for religious or ceremonial purposes we may never know, perhaps a bit of both or neither.  But what we do know is many of the artists were also hunters, or at least were very familiar with hunting and the techniques used to trap or ambush the animals at the time.  Some animals are shown with their young while grazing or running.  Scenes of wounded beasts with spears protruding from their bodies are no doubt recreations of actual events.  The wonder of these truly ancient records is hard to accept for many people because of the length of time they represent and the strange creatures shown in the artwork.

Not many people get to experience the thrill of hunting anymore, at least not the type of hunting which pits a man’s skills against those of his prey.   Whitetail deer hunters can identify with our ancient ancestors more than almost anyone else.  We have the privilege of watching the animals as they continue the same rituals as they have for 300 centuries or more.  We witness the same scenarios as those hunters who made the paintings on the walls, minus a few mammoths  of course.

The number of hunters of all types are rapidly dwindling as the worlds population spreads slowly across the vanishing countryside almost everywhere in the Americas. But we few remaining hunters will remain loyal to our ancestors as long as human beings allow us to exist, and as long as we are needed to control today’s animal populations.

For we know without the hunter’s interest in the sport the wild whitetail deer herds of today would not exist. Like the marvelous cave artists, we understand the lives of wild animals because of our obsession with them. Man, I just wish I could paint!