The Hunt

As Forefather to Father, Father to son. Let the hunt take you on trials of high adventure. The Hunt is an ongoing series that chronicles the yearly hunting excursions of a group of friends throughout the state of Washington. Whether the hunt takes them to the mountainous Kettle River, Selkirk, and Okanogan region outside of Colville, the peaks of the Blues that shadow the town of Dayton and spawn the Tucannon, or the the arid shrub-steppe expanse of the Tri-Cities and surrounding areas. The hunt calls and is answered.

The query of predator, heorot, eolh, and fowl pull the jäger to lands hunted by their fathers, and forefathers. Far afield huntian the group expands on the tradition and carries it forward. A tradition of self-reliance. Of practice of the old ways re-imagined. The ritual, like custom is a link binding them to nature, a natural world now alien to most. It is a strand connecting them to people through time.

Oratory recantations are still the predominant way tales of the hunt are handed down. Each hunt is a tale told and retold. Sometimes parable, sometimes allegory, sometimes comedy, each iteration of each hunt is a epic in its own rite. A mythos, a legend of modern times from everyday people about everyday people. A personal fable. Beyond a traditional trophy photograph The Hunt seeks to capture the breath of the endeavors from the mundane to the triumphant. Each hunt is a success.

Methods vary depending on mode in Washington State. Seasons move fast and overlap. Manifold and adaptive is the nature of these expeditions. From bow stalk and spot. Field, water, and marsh hunts for fowl with shotgun. Traversing mountain peaks, draws, and spurs for bear with modern rifle. The lot find themselves pulled in many directions. With limited time available to be away from societal routine and family life. Time is segmented from August into the new year closing at the end March. Only to repeat anew once more.