|
[ Return to Contents
| Post a Reply
| Post a new message
]
Semantics...
Posted by Michael Strahan on Jan 12 2006
Hi there.
Thanks for taking the time to write. Allow me to clarify.
ALTRUISM
It would be impossible for you to know whether my motives in guiding are altruistic, since you don't know me. So here's a glimpse. I originally got into guiding because I got to a place in my hunting career where it didn't seem challenging anymore. If I wanted a moose, a caribou, a sheep or what have you, it became pretty much a matter of showing up often enough in the right sort of places, before I took the animal I wanted. So at that point I turned to taking friends hunting, and it was an absolute blast. Most of the time they shot the animal, regardless of who "saw it first" or "who's turn it was to shoot". I just didn't care; but it was clear that the hunter did. So they usually shot the critter, and I helped pack it out. Sometimes they'd give me some of the meat and sometimes not. I was having such a ball hunting this way; seeing them experience it all for the first time, that I decided to obtain a guide's license. I was running out of friends who could afford to do this and reasoned that if I started guiding, I would run into more folks who had the money to do it, which would allow me to continue enjoying hunting with folks for whom so much of this is new. It proved to be true, but another problem was created. Some of these guys were jerks, to be blunt. So it sorta soured me on doing that. Now I'm in a place where I'm not really sure if I want to renew my license or not. I mean, if it means I have to be out there with people who have motives I detest, why do it? So I'm trying to decide right now. The thing that makes it hard is that there are a lot of good folks out there who just want to experience it. I like that a lot. My point is that I think my motives in getting into this ARE mostly altruistic. I say mostly, because I did make a little bit of money doing it (but never enough to quit my day job). I am not, nor have I ever been, a full-time guide. So in contrast to what you said, I have never "made my living from state-owned animals". What I HAVE done is taken a few folks hunting and occasionally made enough money to cover the expenses, including my time off work from my regular job. Sometimes I made enough to purchase better gear. So maybe I'm the exception to "the rule" in the sense that my primary motives were not really self-serving. I think those are the same motives I have writing here for folks. If you've been here long, you know that I give a lot away for free, with no expectations from the readers. It's just there if they want to use it. I have heard that many people have printed my stuff (and many others') and refer to it from time to time. So I believe my material is being well received and used. Maybe the fact that I like that feeling itself is a selfish motive; I don't know. What I do know is that I've spent a good part of my life giving things away to people. Mostly strangers that I will never really know. Most of them take what I offer without a word of thanks, but that's okay because I'm not doing it for their thanks. I'm doing it because I like to, and because they need help. I think this meets the definition of altruism. You might look it up to make sure.
2. I agree that the two hunters I mentioned were rude. When I said they were self-serving though, perhaps I chose the wrong words. What I meant was that they were selfish. I say this because selfishness is when you put your wishes and desires ahead of someone else's. Selfishness can happen regardless of who arrived at the strip first, or whether both arrived at the same time. Here's a thought to ponder. Many times if I've found myself in the same area as someone else (often having arrived first), I would walk over to their camp and ask THEM what THEIR plans were, so we didn't end up on top of each other. By making my desires secondary to theirs, I eliminated the chance of selfishness on my part and put the ball in their court. It's a sad testimony to humanity to have to report that most of the time, they asserted their plan with little regard for what I may have intended. Part of what gave me the ability to do that was the knowledge that I could probably find game in a poorer location, I would just have to try harder. That's not egotism speaking, by the way. It's just a mature confidence in one's abilities. Naturally these efforts didn't always pay off and there were times when we got nothing. But that's hunting.
3. I am deeply saddened that you have not met any selfless hunters. That tells me one of three things. Either you are very young, or have not hunted much, or are very unlucky. There are LOTS of unselfish hunters out there. My hope for you is that you will not grow discouraged and quit, but will stick with it long enough to cross paths with a few. There are LOTS of folks who will pack your game in for you on their ATV, help you fix a flat tire, offer you game meat, and even help you pack your animal out of the woods, with no thought of what you might do for them in return. If you get out there often enough, you will find this to be true.
My friend, altruism is indeed alive and well. Even among commercial operators!
All the best to you-
-Mike
Previous: Sorry but......... sdog Jan 11 2006
Next: Thanks for the Kind Words- Michael Strahan Jan 13 2006
 Message Thread:
|
