Why we will teach our kids to trap, hunt and farm.

I was not raised in a farming, hunting or trapping lifestyle. My parents had a few chickens and my dad is a horse lover so therefore owns a couple horses but we only had a small acreage so I was raised a want-to-be-country girl. I moved to a small town in British Columbia and proceeded to meet my husband whom some describe as the ultimate redneck. I then learned about a lot of things that I had never learned about before. I learned how to shoot a gun, I learned the difference between a Hereford and a Red Angus, I learned how to set a marten box and still have many other things to learn.

The experience that led me to this post happened because of our trapping this winter. We had been asked by a couple ranchers to set out traps and snares for certain predators, one of which being wolves. It didn't freeze fast this year and we have had some trouble finding bait for such animals. One rancher was even willing to shoot a cow because their wolf issues were so bad. I called around highway maintenance and local dairies and farms letting them know we are looking for animals that we could possibly use. I was also part of a couple horse sites on Facebook. Trying to target a horse dense community, I posted that if people were comfortable donating or selling their fading or passed away animals to us, please let us know. Oh the replies. The scathing and absolutely atrocious things people said after that were insane. Obviously these people have never seen an animal brought down by a predator and I understood that but they didn't have to be so rude about something they didn't even remotely understand and that totally affects them in ways they do not wish to see.

And I started thinking. My children will be adults one day and how would I want them to react to a situation such as this and why we are working to raise them the way we are. Many of the people replying got offended that I would ask for a dead animal or their beloved pet to bait yet another animal to it's death. Many thought it was cruel or disgusting and stated so very profanely. My thought was that I would like to educate my children to be smarter, kinder and better then that. Some things I would love my kids to learn include:

1) There is always work to do.
One thing I am learning, there is always work to do. Things are always need fixed, animals need watered and fed, traps need fixed and built and checked and your life revolves around the work. Christmas day, -40, raining or snowing, things need done and you don't get rewarded with a paycheck every two weeks. Lots of times, it isn't about what you want to do but about what needs done. The work often comes before your comfort or schedule. We are the caretakers of our animals and they trust us to be fed and cared for. We serve them and they serve us often in life and in death.

2) Purpose and respect for animals.
Every animal has a use on the farm. Chickens lay eggs, dogs herd cows and keep predators away, horses work cows, cows and pigs provide income and food. The better you train, feed or maintain your animals, the more you will get from them. I am a horse lover. I know the more time I put on my horse, the more friendly and useful he becomes. Hunting and trapping is also teaching me that respect. We always try to take the most painless, ethical shot and I get upset if I do not succeed. We realize animals can be beautiful and dangerous. I have come understand the impact they make on an ecosystem and the work it takes to put one in the freezer or on a stretch board. All animals we harvest serve a purpose. Whether it's the fur, the meat, ending pain or protecting other animals, there is always a purpose. And that to us is respect.

3) Death happens and sometimes it's not about you.
I grow emotional attachments to animals but I know one day they will need to serve a different purpose. I will bawl my eyes out when the first horse I have ever owned dies but I will not want to sit back and watch him suffer till death from disease or old age. We will have to put down animals whether it's a foal who broke a leg or a dog that's irreversibly ill, pet or not. It's a point in life and things don't deserve to suffer because someone's emotional attachment makes them selfish. Death isn't pretty or uncommon. Both I and my children will see it first hand but it will always happen and sometimes it will be about feeding our family, protecting our livestock or ending pain. Sometimes it will happen in childbirth, with disease or uncontrollable circumstances. It's happened for thousands of years and will continue to happen.

4) Even toy guns aren't toys.
Regardless of what people think, we are not people who wield guns in an irresponsible, foolish way. Guns are tools that can become dangerous with distraction, inexperience and irresponsibility. My husband has got after me for certain mistakes I have made with a firearm that has allowed me to make it become dangerous. Our children will never be allowed to point any firearm, toy or real, at another person without getting in serious trouble. This is part of the reason why my husband and I have agreed not to invite video games consoles into our home. A game that simulates shooting other people seems way more detrimental to us then a day on the farm, a day checking traps or a hunting trip. Shooting an animal serves a purpose, shooting a person does not. Real or fake.

5) Things don't always come from a store.
Our meat doesn't come from a store usually. I would love our children to learn how to harvest an animal for their freezer, how to grow a garden, how to preserve the fruits of their labours for future use. I am very much in the learning stage of canning, butchering and preserving but I would love to become confident with it so I can teach my children where meat actually comes from, how to plant seeds and make things grow and how to put those things to use. It is very rewarding to know where you food is coming from. At least for me.

6) Nature is not kind.
Wolves kill calf moose, cattle and calves. Boars kill bear cubs in order to throw a sow back into heat. Ravens will eat an animal while it's still alive. Coyotes will too. Wild animals are not pets, they are beautiful and majestic and primal. It's a cycle of life that few these days seem to realize happens. Cougars wait in trees to surprise their prey, bulls and bucks beat each other up in the rut fighting for females. Wolves will eat you alive, a bear will attack you and a cougar will stalk you. They aren't just pretty things that you see on the side of the road once and a while. Predator and animal management is essential to farming and hunting lifestyles. If it wasn't, stores would have empty shelves and many people would be lost as to where to get food.

7) We are always learning.
There is always a new situation, a new obstacle, or a new approach to things. We have to learn and adjust and change. There is always room to be better and to grow and to take advice. No one knows everything and it seems only the most experienced will admit it. Every animal, every day and every season seems to provide different challenges and I learn new things every day. We should always be open to more education. Knowledge is power they say. Everyone has different opinions and we should respect them but also maintain and educate our own.

Those are a few of the things I am slowly learning and that I want to pass on. I firmly believe this lifestyle is an efficient and effective way to teach my children certain things about life and death and self sufficiency. Hunting and trapping are traditional and are way more common then many people believe and allow beef prices to stay lower and prevent ranch and farm losses. Agriculture and farming are necessary to our future to provide food for the many that do not grow their own food. Many may view our lifestyle as one of the past but I know it is still very much present. We do our best to not prolong pain or endorse cruelty and are always upgrading equipment and approaches to provide efficient and quality performance. A lot of work, thought, money and education goes into our actions when dealing with any kind of animal that people do not see or wish to see. The fact is, we find it hard and rewarding to be able to depend on the land for a portion of our living and that will never change as long as we can help it. I will always do my best to pass that knowledge on for the next generation.