Ryan Barnes for SPLIT REED
It’s become taboo- if you don’t kill any ducks or geese, post a picture of the sunrise. Unfortunately, those pictures have almost become a metaphor for “I didn’t kill any birds, but look at this neat picture I took”. While there’s thousands of words to type, and plenty of hours of dialogue to be had about the damages done by social media to our world of hunting, I’m not here to open that can of worms. I’m here to appreciate sunrise pics.
I’ll be honest, it’s taken me a while to come to this conclusion. I had the same train of thought that just about everyone else did. Up until a recent hunt with a gentleman a lot older and wiser. I was scrolling through social media when I saw the token “sunrise pic”, indicating a more-than-likely unsuccessful hunt. I showed my elder hunting partner and explained my disdain for pictures like that. I was quickly rebuked. He spoke in a fashion I’d heard time and time before, and more or less said, “At least they went out. They could have been sitting at home sleeping in, or doing something else, but instead, they went hunting. And for all you know, they might have killed more birds than we did, and instead of posting a post bragging about it, they posted a photo of a sunrise that they appreciated”. While that likely isn’t true, I did appreciate the sentiment. Especially the part about them going hunting when they could have decided to sleep in.
The words made me recall the words of Robert Ruark in his book Horn of the Hunter. He talks about being a hunter, and hunters hunt! They answer each and every morning to the horn of the hunter. Whether answering that horn results in a picture of a pile of ducks or geese, or a picture of a beautiful sunrise, I’ve learned that there’s one thing to appreciate- someone answering that horn of the hunter.
So next time you see a sunrise picture, hopefully, you will see something beautiful in it. Not just the sunrise, but the beauty that someone went hunting. Someone who shares the same passion decided to wake up early, and gave it a shot! So bring on the sunrise pics! Bring on the early mornings, and just like Robert Ruark, let us keep answering that horn of the hunter— sunrise pics or pile pics.
