I am trying to
get into deer
photography.”
74 | SPORTING SHOOTER _ MAY 2018
HUNTER
DEVELOPMENThours. It is physically demanding
lifting and placing every step as
carefully and quietly as possible.
It is also one hell of a challenge to
concentrate, stay focussed and on
the job for extended periods. We
all know what happens when you
lose concentration on a hunt, you
inevitably crunch a twig and a
stag honks you and takes off from
30 or 40m in a spot so obvious you
should have seen him. You have to
be “in that moment” all of the time
or you will fail or falter in your
hunting just as you would if you
were practising a complex
advanced martial arts technique,
especially with weapons- sharp ones!
To me, hunting and martial arts
do have a lot in common. When
you step on the floor to do a karate
or kendo class, you have to leave
the world behind and be in that
moment especially if you are
participating in contact fighting - kumite in karate or Ji-geiko in
kendo. The same goes for hunting
when you head out on a stalk for a
cryptic and challenging animal to
hunt like deer – you have to be in
that moment and be on the job if
you want to be a consistently
successful hunter.
This “leaving the world behind”
might also explain why both are
such popular and these days
“healing pastime”. They give you a
chance to leave the pressures of
the modern world behind and
participate in two of the most innate
behaviours we have as humans: the
hunt; and the battle for survival.
They are indeed both forms of
moving Zen and in both there are
stages of development you pass
through throughout your life.3
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