Elitists hate us.

You can find them hanging out at the rowing club, at the country club and at all the finest events where the “beautiful people” spend time together. They see us as bottom feeders, as the unenlightened in our ever-increasingly sophisticated culture. They find our pick up trucks to be laughable, our desire for the off road experience to be offensive and damaging to our environment. As they gather around their luncheon table wearing watches more expensive than our homes, we become the topic of conversation. The effete women with their finely coiffed hair and expertly treated nails sneer outwardly and furrow their brow at the possibility of being seen in public with us. But deep down inside they know that their ire is spawned from the desire to be us, to be with us, to taste the sweet nectar of freedom we experience every time we let loose our arrows and drop our target.

We’ve all seen them and have at one point or another been confronted by them only to find after a very short period of time that they really desire to be us. Sure, their watches and European sports cars are of more value than most everything we own combined, but you can feel it - you can sense that they are missing something in their lives that nothing can fill. Except the hunt.

I remember doing a radio remote at a local KFC in Oklahoma City on the day that PETA decided to protest. There were no more than 8 or 9 PETA protesters, most female, and they were clearly outnumbered and realized that Oklahoma City was probably not a good choice of locale for their protest. This particular KFC experienced their busiest day in the store’s history and was pleased to see us there. One young lady who was relatively attractive (except for the 15 pounds of metal she had hanging from various body parts) was exceptionally angry with me. First, for having the audacity to broadcast live from a location where PETA was simply trying to get out their propaganda. Secondly, she hated the fact that every syllable out of her mouth was so easily refuted. Third, she hated that I drove a 4WD truck designed to go off road and carry plenty of animal carcasses in the back. Lastly, she hated the freedom I experience and the joy of the hunt.

This young lady looked deep into my eyes and struggled to hide her envy. Being considerably shorter than me, I crouched down a little bit and smiled a genuine smile and whispered to her, “I know what you want and more importantly, I know what you need.” She was taken aback by my concern for her and I could sense her softening a bit. She smiled, tipped her head back and to the side, looked down her nose and attempted to be fierce. “What do I need?” she asked. I responded, “All you need is a weekend with a meat-eating man…he’ll make you see God.”

Her smile disappeared for a moment, lowered her head so I couldn’t see her blushing and walked away, taking with her the rest of her PETA clan.

Yes, it is an uncomfortable truth for those who hate us. The truth is that jealousy is an ugly emotion. They despise us but at the same time, want to be us.

Ron