When answering the Horn of the Hunter leads you to a hunt for barren ground caribou your first time out, you know you’re lucky. And when that trip sees you taking a record book muzzleloader bull— well that’s Quite a First Day indeed

There is a primordial trigger inside all of us; one that takes over as the crosshairs settle just behind the front leg and the index finger begins to tighten on the cold steel trigger. It’s at that movement that many describe the world as disappearing but in truth, the whole world becomes clearer. It’s at that point that we know and understand our place in the big picture, just as we have since man first clubbed a bird or mouse with a rock. For some, that trigger remains suppressed and as we become more and more removed from the daily task of providing sustenance for ourselves; it is likely that many will never truly come to understand their lineage.

One of my favourite authors, Robert Ruark, described this as “the Horn of the Hunter,” and one of his classic works bears that title. He described it as an audible horn within our psyche that man has answered from the beginning. Even though he wrote Horn of the Hunter more than 40 years ago, he too saw the decline of man taking responsibility for providing for himself. I fear that horn is heard even less today than it was in Ruark’s time. Not only has man become removed from the task of providing for himself, some have become so removed that they attempt to denigrate those that still accept the responsibility.

Story & Photos by T.J. Schwanky