My husband is a hunter and an animal lover--you can be both. My husband is also a First Nations man and hunts in many ways in keeping with that tradition. He even uses a bow and arrow sometimes (it's a special permit hunt up here to use that method). He won't take a bear because according to his medicine man he has a bear spirit so for him to kill a bear is like killing his brother. He would if the bear was about to kill him, but he never goes out looking for them. He does attract bears which can be a bit concerning when we go hiking together!

We use absolutely everything from the animals. The only thing that gets left behind is the guts, cuz nothing can eat those. We have friends who are native elders and they always want the liver, kidneys and the nose! My father in law is a carver and he takes the antlers. Anything that isn't fit for humans to eat is fed to the dogs. You want to see a happy husky--give him a moose leg bone! We have other friends who take the hides and turn them into beautiful leather. I'd love to learn how to do that, but it's a ton of work!

I could not feed my family if he didn't hunt. I couldn't feed my dogs if other people didn't hunt--the local wild game butcher gives mushers all his scraps and bones. My dogs are first on his list!