One thing you should do today is read Lily Raff’s op-ed about hunting and the NRA, published in the New York Times on April 24.
The longtime Bulletin reporter and columnist lays out one hell of a well-researched and well-written argument for why hunters and NRA members are not one and the same.
Raff has written a book about hunting—learn about it in this week’s issue of the Source—called Call of the Mild: Learning to Hunt My Own Dinner. It’s a great read that changed my perspective on the topic and we highly recommend you pick up a copy when it comes out in June.
In her op-ed and in her book, Raff describes that, for her and for many other gun owners, hunting isn’t about the guns. It’s about learning to read landscapes and understanding the animals that live in them. Her op-ed is full of such smart comments and worth the time to read it. Well done, Lily.
This article appears in Apr 26 – May 2, 2012.
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I was pleased to read Lily Raff’s piece in the NY Times. Now having heard about her book, Call of the Mild, I greatly look forward to reading it. I too am a hunter who does not belong to, nor would I ever belong to the NRA. As for Lily, for me hunting does not revolve around the gun, but around the hunt, the heightened awareness of every sound and movement, of tracks and signs, of nature’s ways and nature’s beauty, of the camaraderie around camp. As for taking an animal, for me it’s grocery shopping, albeit done the old-fashioned way, and I have no desire to kill an animal that I do not intend to eat. I feel a strong spiritual connection to the land and its inhabitants, including those whom we hunters pursue, and I offer a silent prayer to whatever spirits may watch over them whenever someone in our party has killed a deer or an elk.
Well researched?? Well written??
I saw no references mentioned anywhere in the entire piece and the writing was typical HS senior level. What it was, however, was a predictable screed on global warming and the evils of big oil, corporations, and the NRA sourced purely from personal opinion.
As some one who has long appreciated Lily Raff’s excellent op-ed’s in the Bulletin – I have to make a comment on the last comment. It is a sad statement in our current society that if someone takes a position we don’t like – some of us attack on a deeply personal and hurtful basis. Lily’s article was well written and presented an opinion that was refreshing and obviously not shared by all. Rather than attack Lily as a professional – perhaps you could present a rebuttal of your own based on how you see the issue?