From Boys to Men of Heart: Hunting as Rite of Passage

Author, Dr. Randall Eaton believes that for boys at least, hunting definitely is not sport but an instinct. He compares hunting to sex. Sex drives a young male towards a sexual encounter, but a surprise awaits him. Sooner or later he falls in love. The instinct links up with the heart. It is a transformative experience with enormous consequences including marriage, parenting and providing. The instinct to hunt propels a young man to pursue the animal, but a surprise comes when he takes its life and his heart is opened. He discovers first-hand the interdependence of life. That is how males fall in love with nature and why they are the leaders in conservation. Eaton adds that, If sex is the bicep of love, hunting is the bicep of conservation. This book presents compelling evidence from numerous disciplines that adolescent males need rites of passage to become responsible adults. Eaton argues that the original rite of passage was hunting because it proved that a male could provide and qualify for manhood and marriage. He believes it still is the ideal path by which boys may become men of heart. He also recommends wilderness survival and vision quest, always with appropriate mentoring. Eaton claims that hunting also develops character, values and virtues in girls and profoundly connects them with nature.