Pronghorn are probably my favorite animal in the West. They’re incredible. They’re also my favorite animal to hunt and I think they’re my favorite wild meat — plenty of people can’t comprehend how a person can claim to be utterly in love with a creature they also hunt and harvest so you can take that as you will.
If you know, you know.
I tripped over this set of twins while out watching the mustang herd. At first, I thought they were strange, enormous cow patties until I looked closer and my eyes registered their shape and colors. Their mother was off in the far away distance. I’m sure she was willing them to be still, to not breathe, to wait, to not be afraid. I took a few photos. Suddenly, a coyote burst out of the sage behind me and galloped away as fast as she could; I watched her leave the country and I hoped she wouldn’t come back. The number one predator of pronghorn fawns is the coyote. I hope these two get to grow up and become fast and strong and all seeing, like all the pronghorn that came before them.
i had the honor of nearly tripping over a newborn fawn once. as soon as i realized what i just stepped over, i had to keep running away to distract my dogs. later, alone, i crept back to take a perfect photograph of a curled up baby- nose twitching. what a beautiful thing.
It’s such a magical moment!
Little darlings.
OH MY HEART!
I completely understand your dilemma! I love(to pieces)Moose and especially Moose calves. I will go a little nutso on anyone trying to deliberately hurt them when they’re in my yard eating; which is a regular occurrence. But there is a time and a place. We were raised by a hunter and ate wild game/fish growing up. As always, love your photos.
I don’t feel I have a dilemma. I admire the pronghorn, seeing them brings me deep satisfaction and delight — I think they are so beautiful and I’m grateful when I get an opportunity to harvest one. To have their energy building portions of my own marrow, sinew and bone is the highest honor. Nothing ever truly dies, it’s just repurposed.
I agree whole-heartedly. 🙂
Sorry…just speaking my mind. I just don’t get it. “I hope these two can grow up to become fast and strong and all seeing…” so what, they can be blasted by a shotgun??? For meat??? PS.The photographs are precious.
I think it’s great that you feel free to speak your mind in this space! It’s ok to have different opinions and to disagree on topics. I have friends I disagree with on pretty much every topic you can think of and I love them anyway. I have them in my life because I like to learn from them, I value their spirits and their energy, I admire their art and their aesthetic and they are good people.
In response to your response:
Why wouldn’t I want to see something grow up to be strong and fast and beautiful? Do you think that because I hunt, because I harvest my own food, I do not enjoy bearing witness to country that is thrumming and brimming with healthy, mature wildlife? I enjoy that very much.
Before I harvest portions of my garden I take great delight in seeing it lush and green and thriving and blooming.
Before I collect my eggs, I take great delight in seeing my hens happy and healthy and strong.
Before we harvested our two tom turkeys last Monday, I enjoyed (for a full year) their antics, their beautiful feathers, their pride and their aliveness.
It would not be so different for me to enjoy seeing these pronghorn grow up to be strong and vivacious and alive with all the other pronghorn and wildlife on the public lands around my home though I like to think that if I had the chance to harvest one, I wouldn’t be so crass and inelegant and terrible as to simply “blast one with a shotgun…” (though I think I know what you meant when you wrote that).
🙂
One of the most beautiful aspects of life is enjoying the world around us. Nature provides us with so many lovely experiences. I can tell that you are living a life intent on seeking out those experiences. I admire your photographs and writing immensely. And yes, we don’t have to agree on everything to respect each other. Here is something that I think you may enjoy..one of my favorites : I only went out for a walk and concluded to stay till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in.” ~John Muir
John took the words right out of my mouth.
XX
I think it’s part of the cycle of life – to appreciate the wild and be even more appreciative when it is able to help sustain and nourish ourselves. There are few things in the world that are not involved in taking a life – even if one does not eat meat, the ability to grow food and harvest it often causes loss of rodents, birds, insects, etc. So I admire your approach to respecting the life that sustains you!
I always say this:
Everything lives, eats, dies and is eaten.
100% guaranteed.
Even us.
🙂
that first picture…my heart cannot handle the cuteness!
also, i appreciate your way of life. i was always against hunting because of the idea i had built around it, but then i made friends who hunt in texas. they opened my eyes. a few months later i met my boyfriend who hunts. quickly this silly idea of what i thought a hunter was shifted. this past november i went to montana on a hunting trip with my boyfriend. he dropped an elk. it was the first time i’ve ever seen one up close. the first time i’ve ever touched one. i couldn’t help but think what a BEAUTIFUL creature it was! i helped him field dress the animal, carry it out of the woods, and process the meat. every time we sit down to eat a meal with the elk, i have so much gratitude! and every time i see one in the wild, i still can’t help but think how beautiful they are. it’s a strange feeling, to be honest, but i think i understand where you are coming from.
I KNOW.
I was thankful to have a telephoto lens on my camera when I happened upon the twins so I was able to allow them lots of space while I cranked off a few pictures.
Thanks for having the courage to see what hunting is about, first hand. Good for you for helping to field dress, pack out and process that food. It’s such hard work…and it lends a sense of wonder and appreciation to meals that incorporate elk…or whatever it is you have harvested.
Jillian!! These images are so beautiful…my eyes filled up with tears when I saw them.
Right place at the right time THOUGH I would love to stumble on fawns a few times every spring, to be frank. 🙂
To me the cycle of life is just that, the *natural* cycle of life. I know that others may disagree and it is certainly their right to do so, but in growing my own food organically, I have not killed a rodent, a bird, and would never purposely harm an insect. I have been around those who hunt as well. My father and 5 brothers did their fair share of pheasant and duck hunting. I guess there is just two (or more) ways of thinking about it. Always good to hear others opinions. That’s how we learn.
Mary, I think it’s great that you grow your own food with such beautiful, tender care. You should be proud of that! And I agree, there are always many ways of looking at something and I appreciate you sharing your thoughts very much. You are always welcome here, just as everyone is.
J~ Well my garden isn’t always the best, but I try. In my front yard, I had deer eating off all my geranium blooms just this morning. And geraniums are on the “deer resistant” list. Haha! Thanks for the welcome..appreciate that.
GUFFAW!!! You must have ONE deer there that has irregular taste buds! Poor thing. You could dry doing a garlic decoction to mist on your front flower beds.
I don’t eat meat, but eat fish, so I am eating an animal and can’t be against those who hunt. One way to look at this is that the herds need culling as their natural predators are fewer in numbers. However it would be hard for me to see a beautiful animal and hunt it, but if I had to, I would, and as I would be taking it’s life, I would be thanking it and honoring it. Well, didn’t mean to hijack the post but since we’re talking about it…The photos are one of a kind. At first I didn’t know what I was seeing. Yes, cow pies come to mind!
Whew! Your thinking wheels are really whirling! I’m always glad to stimulate thought and discussion on this topic. There are so many different ways to eat these days and so many ways to go about getting our food or growing our food or hunting our food — I think it’s great to think about it and proceed intentionally and to simply do your best to feed your body what it needs in order to be strong and healthy and to source food in a way that is affordable for you and as sustainable as possible.
You’re great, Pearl.
Looking at those faces in the photos it feels impossible to root for the coyote, but she has to eat too. Love your photos and words and the thoughts they provoke.
I know! I know.
She needs to eat too.
Thanks for being here, Jess.