Hunting goes farther back into the world’s history than any other popular sport of today’s world.
Humans have turned this natural activity into a sport. It may be one of the shortest seasons for certain seasons, but it is always going on. The rifle season for elk and deer has just ended, and some at Lakeland High School have had great seasons.
Many Lakeland students are very prominent hunters, and many love to hunt. They don’t just hunt for sport, but also hunt for meat. The meat from deer and elk is often considered the best someone could acquire.
“I shot a nice 4-point buck this year,” sophomore Hunter Avriett said.
Avriett has the perfect name for hunting. He has embraced this and is huge on the sport of hunting. He hunts deer with his 7mm rifle; it must also run in the Avriett blood, as his father likes to hunt elk with his 270.
Some hunt with smaller caliber rifles, such as a 6.5 Creedmoor, usually meant for smaller animals such as deer, ranging from a 130-grain bullet up to 150-grain. But larger animals, such as elk, will need a much larger caliber and much heavier bullet, such as a 300 Winchester with a bullet going up to 180 grain. For the largest of all, like moose, they will have to use something like a 338 Lapua going up to 250 grain.
“I mainly hunt with a 270… I hunt deer,” junior Thayer Sabatke said.
Some may also choose to hunt with larger caliber rounds for smaller animals. No matter how they kill it, as long as it gets the job done and in the right spot, it’ll do fine.
“I feel it’s different going to a store and buying meat than harvesting it yourself,” Avriett said.
Many also say that the meat from wild game is better than just store-bought meat. The feeling of accomplishment that one gets from eating something that they worked so hard for, like a chef finally being able to eat after cooking for hours.
There is more to hunting than just the meat. If someone shoots a huge buck or bull, they can keep the antlers as a showing of their work. This brings competitiveness to the field and pushes others to want to get a better trophy.
This is what locks hunting in as a sport, the strive that one gets, and the sportsmanship that everyone shows. It is like making a great catch in football; it shows that one player is better until another makes an even better catch.
Hunting is favored worldwide and has been around since before man, and could potentially be the very first sport ever played.
