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Breathless, Under the Weight Of a Hunter’s Moment
By Marc Taylor
One
Alaskan considers the implications of the hunt
through the eyes of hunter and hunted.
The hunter stands motionless – breathless – as the bull’s head turns
slowly in his direction. The subtle movement of a bowstring to its taught,
lethal and drawn position has alerted the great beast to a foreign
presence. The bull’s chest heaves with each breath; nostrils seeking to
catch the scent of the adversary. The hunter’s muscles begin to strain and
twitch as he searches for the proper shooting window, free of obstruction,
which will allow the arrow to reach its intended mark.
Months of preparation on behalf of the hunter have
led to this single tense moment. The imitated calls of a moose have
deceived this behemoth into thinking that its maker is a worthy adversary.
The challenge issued, he came to this location in search of a fight; a
fight that occasionally results in death to the weaker opponent. Such a
bull moose as this, so regal, so advanced in his age has survived many
such confrontations.
The hunter now focuses his energy through the sight
interwoven into the string of the bow and onto the pin that will represent
the strike of the broadhead. The bull can sense a presence; his gaze is
seeking the familiar movements of a challenging bull moose that he is
prepared to fight - his huge eyes are searching, ears pivoting, yearning
to pick up the familiar sound and sight of an approaching challenger.
His eyes lock onto you.
He is broadside; one massive right antler reaches
beyond the hump in his back as he stares intently, yet questioningly, at
the unfamiliar shape before him. Surely this is not the rival that has
captured my attention from afar. He thinks. Certainly this puny, upright
creature is no permanent threat to the reign of such a regal patriarch of
the Alaska tundra.
The fingers of the hunter’s shooting hand relax as the sight pin rests on
its mark. The arrow leaves the bow with the sound of a whisper.
A piercing pain penetrates the ribcage of the great
bull. He whirls his huge body in an abbreviated, yet powerful reflex; the
frail looking creature has been underestimated, and it has cast a blow
from a distance. The bull, confused, assumes a fighting posture as a
strange warmth fills his chest. The warmth is soon replaced by a chill
that creeps slowly to his back and shoulders as his vision of the puny foe
becomes blurry. The bull’s massive legs – legs that have carried his great
body high above his familiar terrain now strain to hold his weight. The
bull lunges, but his legs do not respond, causing the behemoth to collapse
forward.
You experience the feeling of watching from a short
distance as these precious moments pass like slow-motion frames in a vivid
dream.
The hunter moves quickly now to nock another arrow as the bull struggles
on the ground before him. The massive chest still heaves, but not with the
vigor of previous moments. As he draws the bowstring again, the bull
utters a cough and a sigh and rests the weight of his head upon one
massive antler. A long, final breath escapes his now bloodied nostrils;
his chest becomes motionless – breathless – as the second arrow is
released.
The hunter creeps forward cautiously expecting the
impossible. He has reduced to possession one of the grandest of creatures
to ever have walked the earth. The chill washes over the hunter now, as he
stands in admiration of what his efforts have produced; in wonder – that
he has allowed himself to cause the death of such a beautiful animal; an
animal as evolved within its environment as the puny, upright creature is
within his.
You realize that you are no longer the observer in
this fatal moment. You are the hunter...
|
Hunting Hard in
Alaska
by Marc Taylor
Practical tips on
hunting Alaska, "The Last Frontier", from a former Marine
Scout-Sniper Instructor. |
|
You ask forgiveness, seeking affirmation that your
reasons to commit such an act are honorable.
Now kneeling, your face buried in your hands, the
hunter is again breathless, as the weight of this dream-like moment comes
to rest upon your shoulders.
-- When asking the hunting gods to provide
a moment such as this, be fully aware that the desired outcome is the
death of another being. Once the string is released, or the trigger is
pulled, there is no recall of that deadly action. Your “moment” will
continue, and the moment of the hunted will cease.
Commit his memory to dwell among your most
treasured possessions.
(Editor's Note: -- Marc Taylor is the author of the recently published
Hunting Hard...In Alaska! available now on
his website)
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