Our soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen, acting as our warriors in far-away places, keep us from suffering the horrors of war on our own soil. This country has great pride and respect for the service men and women who are tasked to do the dirty work that needs to be done to provide for our national security. These skills are not learned easily, but rather honed over long periods of repetition and training. The military branches invest months and years in a wide variety of training, but it is clear that some join the service with a head start on many of the most important skills.
The Hunter-Warrior
Skills needed to successfully hunt animals and those necessary for battle have always been similar. Even during the earliest times in human evolution, there were individuals who were the best at finding game, detecting patterns, reading sign, planning strategies and effectively executing the hunt plan. Some have even suggested that the development of a complex language and abstract thought in humans came out of our need to plan coordinated hunting strategies. These are the same skills possessed by the best warriors.
The coevolution of hunting, outdoor skills and the warrior can be traced as an unbroken thread through the entire development of the human race. The great and fearless warriors of the 13th century led by Genghis Khan and his descendants spread the Mongol Empire over much of Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Asia. It probably should come as no surprise that Genghis and his sons and grandsons had a keen interest in hunting and organized enormous hunting excursions. According to writings of the early explorer Marco Polo, these hunting trips lasted months and involved thousands of people. The hunts were not only good training for warriors, but also for all of the people needed to pull off such a logistical feat. Being able to move across the landscape and supply such a massive group of hunters was perfect training for what it would take to continue to expand the Mongol Empire.
During Medieval times, access to hunting land and the chance to practice and hone hunting skills was an important part of being one of the “King’s men.” There was a very obvious connection between being a respected warrior and the ability to ride a horse and shoot a bow or wield a lance on a deer hunt. The “Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology” lists the three pillars of military training: horsemanship, hunting and the use of arms. Medieval writings are full of accounts of elaborate hunts where warriors showed off their skills.
Native North American tribes serve as a good example of the crossover between hunting and warring parties — both required a mastery of the same skills. When some tribes, such as the Comanches, acquired horses, they quickly became swift and mobile. This simultaneously made them more effective hunters pursuing bison on the plains far from home and also agile warriors from which no one was safe. They used their horsemanship skills to attack their enemies and to hunt buffalo, elk, black bears, pronghorns and deer.
During both the Revolutionary War and Civil War, a large portion of the soldiers were simply farmers, ranchers and hunters who went off to war carrying their personal firearms and equipment. By World War II, many were still a product of a rural upbringing, but the government was starting to supply firearms and equipment with some training to use it. By the first Gulf War, an increasing percentage of troops were living in an urban setting. This is when the difference between hunter and non-hunter started to become more obvious in military service. Like the warriors for eons before them, those with a strong baseline of hunting skills had a great advantage over those who did not.
It is clear that a hunting background provides a foundation for later military service, but interestingly, sometimes the reverse was also true. Many of the men returning from World War II and Vietnam had acquired the skills of living in tents (and less habitable places) and enduring the hardships of being outside for weeks or months at a time. Also, if they didn’t have extensive experience with handling guns and refining their marksmanship skills, they returned from Europe, the South Pacific and Southeast Asia with plenty of time behind the butt of a gun. The guns they were familiar with in combat were usually readily available on the civilian market. These troops returned home with a new set of skills during times of relative prosperity and more leisure time. This all translated into a surge in hunting participation during these post-war periods.
Crossover Skills
The simple backwoods Tennessee boy, Alvin York, pressed into service during World War I, is a classic example of how skills learned hunting can be useful in combat. In telling the story of the battle that earned him the Medal of Honor, York stated: “I teched off the sixth man first; then the fifth; then the fourth; then the third; and so on. That’s the way we shoot wild turkeys at home. You see we don’t want the front ones to know that we’re getting the back ones, and then they keep on coming until we get them all. Of course, I hadn’t time to think of that. I guess I jes naturally did it.”
There is extensive crossover in the skill sets required for effective hunting and military service. Some of these connections are more obvious, while others probably only understood by those who have served our country and spent a lot of time in the woods pursuing wildlife. Even beyond the technical skills, hunting teaches respect, ethics and personal responsibility.
Firearms Knowledge and Marksmanship: Ownership of firearms is widespread across America, although some states are a little more free than others. This access to firearms means many young men and women have the ability to grow up with a first-hand familiarity of firearms: how they work, their capabilities and limitations, how to disassemble them, and most importantly, how to handle them — both safely and lethally.
The fundamentals of marksmanship are taught in basic training, but young recruits who have spent their youth in the woods with a .22 rifle do not have to be taught the important concept of “sight picture/trigger press.” Firearms safety is also second nature for those who grew up around firearms and attended hunter safety classes at the age of 10. Even something as basic as muzzle control has to be consciously learned by those unaccustomed to carrying a gun around others. Likewise, it is no coincidence that the popularity of AR-15-style rifles saw an unprecedented surge, as hundreds of thousands of troops familiar with them returned home during the past two decades.
Map Reading and Navigation: Reading maps comes easy for some, but not for others. Still, the more experience one has with anything, the more natural it becomes. Because of time and space constraints, basic training is not the best venue to instill a familiarity with map reading and GPS operations. Hunters who have spent a few years staring at topographic contour lines and relating Google Earth images to actual terrain are the ones you want guiding your patrol through dangerous territory. Even without maps, it takes experience to be able to “read” the terrain and determine the fastest, quietest or easiest way to get from point A to point B. Hunting gives you the ability to understand topography and navigate through it in the most efficient way. Some of that skill operates on a subconscious level after many years of experience in the woods, deserts and mountains.
Patience and Perseverance: Standing guard duty often requires soldiers to stand motionless in one position, in the cold, for long hours with very little sleep — all the while remaining vigilant for the slightest movement or noise. Every hunter will recognize how identical this sounds to their last deer hunt. The skill of remaining still and undetected while being able to detect a stealthy adversary first is the hallmark of all good hunters and, as it turns out, all good combat troops.
Logistics: Hunting involves a lot of planning and preparation for getting gear together and testing it to make sure it will not fail at a critical time. There are also logistics that must be worked out to arrive at the right spot at the right time in the most secretive way. Longer hunts take much more extensive preparation to have all of the equipment to maximize the chance of success of the entire mission. These are all skills that are immediately transferable to all aspects of military life, whether in combat or support roles.
Woodsmanship/Self-sufficiency: Being comfortable in the wild comes from a familiarization of wildlife and plants and some basic knowledge of what is potentially dangerous and what is not. Those who have not spent time in the forest or desert at night have an additional distraction to interfere with the mission at hand. Hunters are naturally comfortable being outside for extended periods, at night, in all types of conditions, and are accustomed to having to take care of themselves. With this self sufficiency comes confidence to focus on the mission.
What hunter didn’t learn to walk silently in the woods? Walking silently in the outdoors is something that comes naturally to long-time hunters. So much so they don’t think about it and wonder why their companions are so noisy. Hunters and our combat troops are used to throwing on a heavy pack, grabbing their rifle and taking off into the wild for a day (or three). This is all part of the “woodsmanship” package that hunters bring with them when they enter the military service.
Military Hunters
The percentage of Americans who hunt was still only about 5% in 2016. The military doesn’t keep records of who hunts and who doesn’t, but ask anyone retired or active duty and they will tell you it’s higher than 5% in the military. Most bases have some sort of Rod and Gun Club or Sportsman’s Center. Many of these centers offer easy access to hunting opportunities on base and even rent equipment because our troops are no longer required to bring their favorite deer or squirrel rifle to war. Some military bases have such easy access to great hunting opportunities that even those who have not previously hunted are easily convinced to give it a try by their hunting buddies. The “Rod and Gun Operations” (Sportsmen’s Centers) are so popular they make money for the military garrisons. In fact, Fort Bliss (El Paso, Texas) has a total revenue of more than $1 million per year, with Fort Hood not far behind at $776,000, recently. As always, hunters represent a positive financial force.
Lieutenant Colonel Brian Haver, a Deputy Brigade Commander of 1st Brigade, 91st Division, relates that when assembling a patrol, he always tried to select individuals who were hunters because he knew they possessed experience and skills that were more deeply ingrained than their non-hunting counterparts. With warfare in recent years favoring the use of small teams of Special Forces, there is an increasing need for people who have experience camping out in small “hunting” parties while pursuing their quarry.
You don’t have to look far to find some of the most celebrated military heroes who ran around the backwoods in their youth in pursuit of game. The famous Vietnam sniper Carlos Hathcock attributed his marksmanship skills to the fact that he grew up with a J.C. Higgins single-shot .22 rifle in his hands and didn’t have enough money to afford to miss. Chris Kyle is the most recent, and undoubtedly most famous, example of an avid hunter who excelled in military service. Kyle was given a BB gun at the age of 4 and shot a rifle for the first time when he was 8. He became one of the most successful snipers in military history, largely because of the skills he brought with him.
Hunting and Our National Security
The technical skills and physical exertion needed in hunting not only prepare our future troops for battle, but build character, responsibility and good citizens. In his 1893 book, “The Wilderness Hunter,” Theodore Roosevelt spoke extensively of the value of hunting to the nation at large: “The chase is among the best of all national pastimes; it cultivates that vigorous manliness for the lack of which in a nation, as in an individual, the possession of no other qualities can possibly atone.”
According to data provided by www.GlobalFirepower.com, the United States has 1.4 million active duty service men and women that are protecting our country. During the 2011 deer season, the state of Texas alone assembled the 5th largest army in the world with more than 930,000 deer hunters. If you consider rifle hunters in the other 49 states, the enormity of our warrior-hunter foundation is remarkable. What country would think of invading the United States with such an enormous population of people who are competent owners of firearms? This highlights the fact that the Second Amendment is not about keeping your deer rifle.
Hunting itself doesn’t necessarily make a warrior and it certainly isn’t training for military service, but it does hone foundational skills that are critical for the successful execution of military missions. None of this should be misconstrued to imply hunting in some way predisposes people to killing humans. That assertion has been made, unsuccessfully, by anti-hunting groups, but it simply has no merit nor basis in fact. Even the famous sniper Carlos Hathcock wrote in his memoirs: “I like shooting, and I love hunting. But I never did enjoy killing anybody.” Hunting always has been an important component of Roosevelt’s “vigorous” lifestyle with huge personal and conservation benefits.
Without our strong hunting heritage and widespread gun ownership in America, we would not have the innate or natural skills needed to excel as a nation in military prowess. With the widespread acceptance of hunting among Americans (75% to 80%) and the growing popularity of sport utility rifles, such as the civilian AR-15 variants, the future of our military and strength of our national security looks even brighter.
— Jim Heffelfinger is adjunct faculty at the University of Arizona, Professional Member of the Boone & Crockett Club, Chair of the Western states Mule Deer Working Group, and the Wildlife Science Coordinator for the Arizona Game & Fish Department. Follow him on Twitter: @GameTrax.
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