It turns out a pandemic is a motivating force.
We know, for instance, after the official global declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, people began cooking more from home. Bike and kayak sales exploded. First-time gun ownership skyrocketed.
Sales of hunting and fishing licenses increased dramatically, too. Fish and Wildlife officials in nearly every state reported a moderate-to-massive spike in hunting licenses. With no commuting, people had additional free time. Health officials encouraged solitary, outdoor activities. COVID outbreaks at industrial meat processing plants caused people to rethink their relationship to the food supply.
Part of the recent rise in increased interest in hunting is being fueled by adults who have never hunted before. There’s a term for it – “adult onset hunting” – and 32-year-old Colorado adventure athlete Chris Brinlee Jr is one of those who was happily caught in the incoming tide of hunting last year. Brinlee and videographer Patrick Malley worked with SOG to film Brinlee's first hunt, a trip last autumn in the remote Uncompahgre Wilderness in Colorado's San Juan mountains. (Spoiler alert: It was successful.)
We had an opportunity to spend a few minutes with Chris exploring just how it came to be that a person who once flirted with being a vegetarian wound up in the wilderness removing the organs from a cow elk.
SOG: One of the main reasons people get into hunting is because they grew up in a hunting family. You didn’t. But did you have any exposure to hunting before you made this decision to try it?
CB: I was not exposed to hunting in any sort of the immediate sense. My dad didn’t hunt. Maybe some of my uncles did, but I was never privy to any of it. When I was 5, we moved from California to western Arkansas. Throughout elementary and high school, there were guys who would go sit in their deer stands before class and I just remember them smelling like deer pee for the rest of the day. I think one reason I resisted it was, as a Californian, I was being forced to become part of this rural, Southern culture. I had a dad with long hair and tattoos. I felt like I was never really accepted. I kind of took it upon myself to hold on to my Californian background like a badge of honor. I was different, and I maintained that difference because I was never going to be accepted. Taking part in their hunting culture was just not in the cards at all.
SOG: So you really didn't think about hunting until COVID hit? How did you decide hunting was what you needed to do as schools and business closed and we all became familiar with Zoom?
CB: I went to a wedding in Baja on March 12. The plan was right after the wedding to spend time with my best friend from college, who had just bought a house in South Lake Tahoe. Well, the pandemic struck and when I got to Tahoe, everything was different. I went to the grocery store and bought $400 worth of dry goods. Immediately after that, I went to Reno and purchased a rifle, just in case the shit hit the fan. Really, the catalyst was this pessimistic perspective to take care of myself. But on the other hand, it gave me a whole other motivation to get into the hunting.
SOG: So you had thought about hunting before?
CB: Yeah, I had. I'd been becoming self-critical of my carbon footprint. As a result of my career, I was spending a lot of time in Chamonix in the Alps, yet for me to get there I had to take transatlantic flights and I'd get there to see some of these famous climbing routes just literally falling apart as the permafrost melts. Just by me going over there, I knew I was contributing to this warming. I was looking for ways to offset emissions, and one thing I considered was reducing the amount of animal protein I was putting in my body. I stopped cooking meat for my own meals. I wasn't strict plant-based, if I went to a catered event with platters of brisket, I'd eat that. I love meat. I want to eat meat. But anytime I cooked meals, I used the vegetarian options. Simultaneously, I knew hunting could be a solution. I knew it was something I wanted to try and knew it would take an incredible amount of time to get into it, but I just didn't have the bandwidth for it until all of sudden it's Spring of 2020 and I did.
SOG: OK. So usually people start with small game, pheasants or rabbits. Or at least deer, which are pretty easy to hunt. Why did you decide you were going to hunt elk in the remote wilderness of Colorado?
CB: I'm pretty masochistic. I tend to take on the greatest challenges for any endeavor. I enjoy putting myself through the wringer to see what I'm capable of. Without the desire, or budget, to hire an in-person guide, the odds were stacked against me. Everybody would be more experienced than I was. I knew the one factor I could control was my fitness and my ability to operate in the backcountry. I figured if I got to a place where I could control those factors, it might be a way to balance the odds in my favor.
SOG: So you added more logistics on to your first-time hunt. Was it easy to take care of the basic stuff like getting an elk tag and taking a hunter safety course?
CB: Not really. There's not a lot of "one-stop-shop" sources to learn the information that leads to getting your license and to start hunting. I picked a lot of people's brains. I did a lot of research through the outdoor media. Not all states require in-person follow-up to the hunter safety course so I took my class online in Nevada. I missed the first draw for big game tags in Colorado, but I did get the cow elk tag in the second draw.
SOG: One of the things about the video is it shows some of the things that didn't unfold according to plan on the hunt. One scene that's edited down is that you hit the elk with a shot, but it doesn't kill her right away and you have to do the humane thing which is finish her off. How did you handle that?
CB: It was a pretty terrible feeling, for sure. I keep trying to figure out why that is. I mean, we feel nothing when we pick up a pound of meat at the grocery store. But after that first shot that hit her, I sprinted down into this ravine to find her and I knew I had to do everything I could to get to her. I killed her with another shot, and it was pretty gut-wrenching. I felt horrible for a couple of days and carried that weight around for a while.
SOG: Clearly you know that's part of the process. It's not the fun side of hunting, but did it put you off?
CB: Oh, no, not at all. I've got a hunt coming up in Alaska for caribou in August. And I've been training with my bow. I'll be in Colorado for the archery opener. I want to take everything I learned, build off those first experiences, and apply it this year. I got about 100 pounds of meat out of that elk, and I still have some left, but not nearly as much as I'd like. I want to fill up my freezer a bit more.
Brinlee's elk hunt from last year and Malley's beautiful capture of it, can be found here. To learn about getting into hunting in your state, contact the hunter education division of your state fish and wildlife agency.
