It was the love for the furry four-legged friends, that got me into hunting back in the days. Since 2017 I’ve been hunting in my home country, Denmark as well as abroad. Hunting started out as a weekend activity, but quickly turned out to become part of my lifestyle. Today I run my own digital marketing agency, specialized in the hunting industry. Besides that, I’m sharing my hunting experiences on my Instagram profile @jaegerinden
From my perspective, hunting has a before, during and after. The after part is what comes after pulling the trigger. This part is just as beloved as the two others, because this is the ending to a successful hunt. This is the part that can keep bringing memories back through the eatable and non-eatable part of the animal. Being able to hunt is a privilege. We shouldn’t take it for granted. Neither should we take for granted the wild meat, therefore this blog post is about the after part and why I appreciate and admire wild meat.
Hunting is a lifelong education.
Sleeping in a tent at the hunting ground in September, to be ready for my first duck- and goose hunt. Full of excitement I woke up when it was still dark. My friends and I went as quiet as ninjas to the little pond. As the sun stood up a graylag goose came flying. I mounted the shotgun. Pulled the trigger. Once, twice. As it felt down in the pond straight in front of me and it kept on moving, I choose to shoot two more times, to make sure it was completely dead. Later I found out, that it’s very common that the birds can move a bit after being shot due to nerves. This was my first learning as a hunter. Since then, I’ve found out, that being a hunter is a lifelong education. As you might guessed, this goose was almost not eatable. Nevertheless, I took it home and had it for dinner the same evening. My first own animal hunted and cooked. I loved every part of it, even though it was full of hail.
An appreciation and admiration.
The after part. After pulling the trigger. That’s part of hunting. Therefore butchering, cooking, and eating wild meat is part of being a hunter. You eat what you hunt. From my first goose hunt, I slowly started building up my freezer with wild meat. Now I’m self-sufficient with wild meat, and haven’t bought meat for the last three years. I make sure to empty the freezer before a new season begins. I never run out of wild meat, but at the same time, I do not hunt more than we can eat.
I appreciate and admire wild meat, hunted by myself, much more than buying from the supermarket. I make sure to write a note on every freezer bag, so I know exactly what hunt this meat was harvested. This bring back memories when I cook and enjoy the meat with friends and family. I always make sure to butcher, clean and trim the meat properly, before freezing it. I usually keep the tenderloin and back fillets as they are. The back legs are being divided into smaller cuts and the shoulders and other smaller parts will be minced. In this way I make it easy to use in busy weekdays.
Venison: sustainable, climate friendly and free range.
…but not organic. Since the animals are wild, we have absolutely no clue what they have eaten. If the eat the leftovers of a Pink Lady apple, they are no longer organic. What we are guaranteed is, that they are free-range and can move to wherever they like. Wild meat is also sustainable, since there often are no feeding involved, neither transport nor plastic packaging. If you want to reduce our carbon footprint, wild meat is also the friendliest choice. In addition, venison also has lots of nutritional benefits due to high protein and low in fat.
WWF Sweden – World Wildlife Fund release a yearly meat guide with a rating of carbon footprint, animal welfare, pesticides, and a few other ones. Wild meat is the only meat that is rated with a green mark and happy smiles.
From survival to pleasure.
Back in the days we hunted meat to survive. Hunting wasn’t a pleasure; it was a matter of survival. Today we hunt to enjoy. To create great and unforgettable memories in the wilderness. If we don’t have success pulling the trigger, we can easily drive pass the supermarket on the way home. We most often do. Because we are never guaranteed to pull the trigger, most often we don’t. It requires to be well prepared and trained as well as a bit of luck. Even though we don’t pull the trigger every time we’re out, we are happily coming back for another try. The reason is, that we are addicted to the outdoors. We enjoy hanging out with our friends, who we share our passion with. We love a good bonfire, cooking wild food and all the fancy hunting gear.
We don’t hunt to pull the trigger. We hunt the great outdoor experiences, that you as a hunter always are guaranteed.
Not everyone understands hunting, but everyone understands food.
No fancy food, no national art and no competition when I’m cooking. I’m just a happy passionate hunter, who loves to cook wild meat, hunted by myself. I always say that ‘’not everyone understands hunting, but everyone understands food’’, therefore I’m trying to communicate hunting through food on my Instagram @jaegerinden_ and website. A couple times a week, I share easy recipes for inspiration.
I want to inspire hunters to cook more wild meat in busy weekdays. As well as I want to be part of spreading content on social media, that show hunting from a more understandable way for non-hunters. We often communicate hunting on social media by posting a photo of a bloody dead deer and a happy hunter holding a rifle. I want to challenge the way we communicate hunting on social media.
Hunting is not a right we have, it’s a privilege. Therefore we should all be aware of how we communicate hunting and always have in mind that non-hunters will see it.
Written by Mette Karin Peterson
