“If hunting was all about pulling the trigger, I would have stopped a long time ago.”
Those words came 35 minutes into the new elk documentary #ProjectElk, but the emotion and reasoning behind them shines throughout the film. The film covers an elk’s yearly life cycle, but its so much more than just a film about elk—just like hunting is about more than the kill.
#ProjectElk hits the airwaves Saturday at 7 p.m. EST on the Sportsman Channel. The film contains 200 hours of footage collected over six years. It covers a year in the life of elk—everything from sparring and wallowing, to calving, to the brutal realities of winter.
The footage took years to compile and edit, so the producers could not possibly have been aware that hunting would be causing such an uproar when it was released. The film has no content dealing with recent hunting controversies, but like so many things seem to do, it came along right when needed to help hunters justify themselves and their actions.
Because #ProjectElk isn’t just about elk. It’s about answering the questions others have about hunting—Why we do it? Why is it necessary in the 21st Century? How can you willingly kill an animal?—and answering these questions for ourselves.
Responding to anti-hunters can become automatic and seem scripted because we have to defend hunting so often. People can often tell when something said is genuine, and #ProjectElk helps hunters to step back and remember what it is they care about and why they care so deeply.
“‘Why do I hunt?’ It’s a question worth pondering, and a very personal one to anyone you ask,” executive producer Jason Matzinger said in the film. “I hunt to learn the lessons, about nature and myself, that only hunting can teach.”
#ProjectElk doesn’t just raise questions or give answers. It enables you to answer those questions for yourself.
Check out the trailer below and tune in Saturday for the first showing of #ProjectElk. The documentary will air again October 31 at 7 p.m. EST.
Video by Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation via YouTube
– Taylor J. Pardue