Different hunters have different reasons for hunting, but most hunters hunt for the wildlife experience and the bond that is being developed between deer and human. In this episode, Bruce Hutcheon interviews Melanie and Mark Peterson of Melanie Peterson Outdoors and Dave Freeburn of Dave Freeburn Safaris about the very reason why they hunt. Lean in on this very brief but nonetheless insightful special that sheds light on what hunting does to people.
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Listen to the podcast here:
Why We Hunt – Melanie Peterson Outdoors
As we were talking about why we hunt and the experiences that we remember so vividly in our own minds and the images that we bring home with us, those experiences draw us into the field every day, year after year to hunt, to experience the wildlife and to experience the people. To grow closer with people that have very similar ideas and very similar desires. We build these bonds over events as you described with your bear. Being able to experience that with a person, you’ll forget who the guide was. You’ll never forget where you were camping. You’ll never forget those looks that you get from animals that are that close. I’m sure Dave remembers his first leopard charge. There aren’t a single one of us professionals that forget that first quick leopard charge. It’s like you never forget taking your first elephant. These are things that live with us and it’s that desire to build those relationships and experiences that bring us into the field. It’s not the blood, it’s not killing the next animal, it is the bond that we achieve with not only ourselves, our own spirituality, but other people and the animals we pursue.
I don’t know how we express that. Dave, what are your thoughts because you see hundreds of people every year.
You get guys to come over here and maybe sometimes we’re a little bit spoiled in the profession that we do and have, but when you get guys coming over here as their first safari. The experience that you have around the campfire and the camaraderie around the campfire, the early morning sunrise, to stop and watch the sunset go down, those are the memories that they’ll take back with them. It’s not necessarily the 50-inch kudu bull or whatever they might be out pursuing. It’s those ones like Marc said, it’s why we do what we do. It’s to be in the bush and the outdoors with like-minded people. It’s a privilege and an honor and to do this every day as my job, I’m very lucky and I know that.
One thing, the hunters that you guys have hung with and Melanie and her friends, it’s done with integrity and ethics and people look at you and say, “What does that mean?” When you get down to it, it’s you against the animal in the environment, but you’re doing it on the purest form going all the way back to when the Inuits or the people who came across the Bering Sea land bridge. They were hunters and gatherers. If they didn’t kill something, they were dead. There’s no question about it. Melanie, your two cents on this topic?
I think people sometimes think that hunting is all about killing, it’s not. It’s about the experience. It’s sharing those moments with others. For me, that’s the reason I taxidermy everything, because I want to relive every single one of those hunts.
The experiences, memories, and bond draws hunters to the field every day. Share on X
When we started the Melanie Peterson Outdoors, the commitment from Melanie to try and bring those experiences to a somewhat ignored demographic in our industry. We have a female market that’s one of the fastest-growing markets that we have and the interest in the outdoors. There are not a lot of ambassadorships that is targeted for women pursuing their own desire to be in the outdoors, to promote themselves. To experience these things as it builds your own psyche and your own personality and being able to experience that with another woman, a fellow sportsman. It’s being introduced to places that are equally safe as they are productive where people can have a wonderful experience, whether they’re with their three or four-year-old child or if they’re in their 70s and 80s. We wanted to make sure that we were giving some of those people that might shy away from international hunting and that opportunity.
This is a special intro to the upcoming episode with Melanie, Dave and Marc. We’re going to be going on Melanie’s Cape buffalo hunt with an air rifle. We’re going to talk about Melanie Peterson Outdoors. With that, we’re going to close this segment and be looking forward because we’re going to be posting this on social media as something that people should consider when you think about what hunting is.
Important Links:
- Melanie Peterson Outdoors
- Dave Freeburn
- Marc LeQuieu – Facebook Account