In Defense of Duck Hunting: A Hunters Manifesto

     Ever since my dad first took me in the blind with him when I was seven years old, I have been an avid duck hunter in the winter months.  Duck hunting is truly my passion and I go just about every weekend during the season.  Although I love this sport, a lot of people disagree with what I do and think it is wrong because it involves killing animals.

     Duck hunting is okay to do because most duck hunters like me do not only hunt ducks, but support them by donating to wildlife companies such as Ducks Unlimited to help ducks thrive.  Ducks Unlimited's main purpose is to help preserve the wetlands for the ducks as well as provide us with numbers of the ducks each year to determine a proper limit.  If people didn't care about hunting in the first place, Ducks Unlimited would never have formed which means the ducks' wetlands would not have been kept preserved for them to live in.  Also, hunters pluck and cook all of the ducks that they have killed so they are shot for a good purpose, and coming from experience I'd have to say they are one of my favorite things to eat.

Catching Fire

8/22 45 mins, 8/23 1 hr.  8/24 35 mins, 8/25 10 mins total reading= 150 mins, 128 pages.

     

     District 12 victor of the Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, tries to forget her horrifying memories in the arena but cannot escape them due to all of the attention and interviews she's been receiving on the victory tour.  The victory tour is a tour where the victors of the games go through all of the other districts and are forced to wave to the people who's children they could have killed.  After the tour, Katniss has returned back to her home in district 12 and currently lives in the victors village.

     Katniss has been spending more time with Gale, her best friend from district 12 who she used to often hunt with before the games. Katniss and Gale were very close, and began to love each other before Peeta fell for Katniss in the arena.  I am curious to find out which guy Katniss chooses between Peeta and Gale because both of them really like her.  I hope her and Gale end up together because they  hunt together and I also enjoy hunting in my free time.

English free post

     I really look forward to our upcoming year in English 1, as well as my first year in high school.  Blogging is very new to me and I find it interesting for it being my first time.  I have multiple questions and concerns about this upcoming year.

     I am curious as to how often we will have quizzes and tests, also how long and difficult they will be.  I am also curious as to what books we will be reading as a class and I hope that I will enjoy them.  I am a little bit concerned about the amount of homework we will have because I usually always have an extracurricular activity after school.  Also I am concerned about my grade in this class because I expect a high B or an A.

Between a Rock and a Hard Place

     Over the summer, I chose to read Between a Rock and a Hard Place, this is the story of a brave explorer named Aron Ralston written by himself.  Aron was at the top of his game, and very confident as he explored all through the canyons of Utah.  Being too confident, Ralston figured it would be a good idea to head to Utah's dangerous Blue John Canyon alone and without letting anyone know.  It makes me wonder why someone would go off and do something so extreme without anyone and much less without letting anyone know where you were headed.  Aron had a good first part of his exploration but after a life changing incident, Ralston quickly learned that nature can be more powerful then even the most talented explorers out there.
    
     Aron learned his lesson to always respect nature after getting his right arm stuck deep into Blue John between one wall of the canyon and a boulder.  After days of hallucinations, videos of himself, and tears, while trapped alone in the canyon, Ralston decided he must look to his last resort, amputating his arm.  I often think about how I would react in that situation because it requires such a difficult decision.  I admire Aron for being brave enough for doing this and I'm not sure if I could have made myself do the same even in the face of death.