Young Blood

2005-2007

Who are these children, the next keepers of the earth and her story?
Instinct driven they will lead us on a journey.
Experience with them the connection to their primal call,
the one which will ensure our survival over the trials that nature can pose.
Learn with them the precious lessons granted through hunting.
Walk with them as they take leadership as the catalysts for rebirth.

I spent a year and half traveling across the United States looking
for its next generation of hunters and the children I found put a young face
on an ancient practice. Along the way I joined many hunting expeditions
and sought the perspective of child hunters.

The faces reveal America’s youth connecting to hunting’s storied past.
Many children today while away their time with video games, television
and movies. These young hunters take a different path. For them, the
thrill is learning to follow their instincts and being immersed in
nature.

As children learn to hunt, they not only carry on a sacred tradition,
but also learn to embrace the environment. They experience up close
the lessons of life and death and become part of that cycle. No longer
just observers, these children are working parts of nature.

Hunting is a tradition that has been passed down through families for
centuries. In some places it is a means of survival, in others a
sacred sport. For everyone, learning to hunt is a coming of age.
Hunters often consider what they do to be a privilege, even a ritual,
which outsiders do not fully understand. From the vantage point of the
young hunter, I was shown a small window into that world.