Part 1
What if I told you that hunting could get you leaner, stronger, happier and oddly enough in my experience; hornier. All this just from enjoying the fruits of a very enjoyable labor. Here’s how it started
Our family Christmas BBQ, December 25 2023. Cousin Jonathan made his special chicken wings, the aunties had plastered the kitchen bench with Lebanese delicacies, the likes of which you see once a year, Uncle Tony once again attempted the culinary arts the only way a seasoned carpenter knows how; a gigantic fruit platter with the chippys’ early morning market pick of fruit, precisely measured twice and cut once. It was time to gorge.
We had already tasted defeat at my brother in-laws place the night before. The virtue of eating only what you need didn’t stand a chance against his wifes’ extravagant Chinese family. Grandma/Nai Nai cooked a spread that would have fed half the country and my brothers’ father-in-law; Wilson, was relentlessly encouraging us to eat, only breaking to pour another exotic scotch that we just “had to try”.
This was the beginning of a that uncomfortable bloated feeling which I knew would last at least until the drinking of new year’s eve would subside. Are any of you familiar? Bloated stomachs between midday hibernation and the Aussie heat making the privilege of living in such a plentiful place unbearable, this wasn’t new to my 31-year-old self but the guilt and shame was.
I’m not talking about the kind of remorse you feel when you put on weight from the holiday season and don’t want to take your shirt off at the beach. Long ago I conceded that I would never have abs and that was ok, vanity had served to be a poor motivator in my life. There were only three times I lost weight in any meaningful way and they were:
- Switching from training for aesthetics to performance metrics
- Starving in the NZ mountains because of almost no high country hunting experience
- Changing my meat source exclusively to game meat – which we’re going to hear all about
This was a different guilt, I had a freezer full of venison and goat that I had pulled out of state forests the month prior and I had found myself going to Oporto or the local chicken shop out of shear laziness and I was beginning to feel it. I have always been a meat hunter but had lost my way at the time, I had worked hard in state land, taken a life, processed the animal and there I was, timing my bowel movements to have another go at Aunty Di’s tabouli.
There was remaining; another week of drinking, eating and feeling guilt, but also planning. Between Christmas and New-years I manufactured 40 Venison sausage rolls for the freezer, began researching recipes for mass production.
It was decided, this wasn’t a new-year’s resolution, I don’t believe in that. This was just an aptly timed lifestyle change that changed my life, in ways I didn’t think were possible. It wasn’t difficult because every step of the way it never ceased to feel right. I put the solid 8 months of not tasting meat other than my own as up there with hitchhiking Iran or living off a fishing rod in Scandinavia. At the time of writing this I Have been back on farmed meat for 6 weeks, I’m 4kg fatter and .
I’m no martyr, greater people have done greater things. But this is something we can all do, perhaps not to the same severity but the benefits of free range meat which I’m going to lay out for you in this series should be more than encouraging. If this journey sounds like what you want and need, contact me for a course or even some pointers. I love a chat and I hope this little adventure prompts one of your own. Spoiler alert; you’re going to be happier, healthier and hornier.
About the author:
Luke is an avid public land hunter and backpacker who enjoys travelling off the beaten track as much as he does hunting the Australian back country.
