True Love, Commitment, and Hunting

So my cousin Lukas got married last Saturday, and as predicted it was a rip-roaring good time.

Aside from being there to witness the marriage of Lukas and his new wife Heather, there was also an opportunity to reconnect with all my hunting buddies, and basically all of them were there.  Turkey hunters, goose hunters, coyote hunters, and deer hunters, all were there to likewise see there friends and usher one of our own into holy matrimony.

Many of them were there with their significant others; the  older generation with their wives, and my friends with their girlfriends (no others aside from Lukas and myself have been committed, or foolhardy, enough to propose marriage....although I sense it is coming for some).

Anyhow, the point of this, besides being my return to the blogosphere after a nearly two week absence, is that we had some drinks and told the obligatory lies about our hunting prowess.

And this is where I knew that for the most part, we'd all found the right women for us.  Not because they love hunting, or because the wives and girlfriends of my hunting pals are particularly loving or spectacular (although they generally are), but because all of the women sat together and lovingly degraded us for telling the same hunting stories, jokes, and lies that we always tell to each other.  With happy smiles they watched us talk about our common bonds, needled us when the tales got too tall, and generally were good sports about us having some beers and ignoring them.  At least I dedicated a song to my wife...what did the rest of you do?  HA-HA!

I've long since given up on my wife becoming a hunter.  My cousin Lukas has likewise done the same, I believe.  For Rory, Tack, Andy, and the others there may be hope, but I'm not ultra-familiar with the outdoorsiness of their respective spouses and girlfriends.  I have a brother who, while handsome, is still a bachelor...primarily I believe because he has not been able to find a woman who will lovingly tolerate, or potentially share, the addiction he shares with all of us hunting men.

But that is okay...while I hope women everywhere will show an interest in taking up hunting (it really is great, and not at all about some macho, chest-thumping dominance of nature) if they don't, we still have the opportunity to have them see the greatness in the pastime, and our commitment to its promotion through our eyes, and then they can at least appreciate all the positive things that hunting ethically and responsibly can be.

Which, might not be an out-and-out win for the hunting community, but it is certainly a fair compromise.