Fall in Virginia means hunting season begins.

“I like hunting because it’s a tradition in my family; we’ve been doing it for a long time, just like my grandpa,” Ashton Flick, sophomore, said. “We usually hunt turkeys and deer. I use a gun and bow to hunt. We eat what we kill, but sometimes we’ll sell the meat.”

Hunting is an enjoyable sport, and it also provides food for the table. Most of the hunters eat what they kill.

“I enjoy hunting, especially rabbit season because I like to listen to the dogs chase the rabbits,” Henry Pullium, freshman, said. “I don’t enjoy it just for the killing though, I enjoy the sport of it. I usually hunt during rabbit season with a 20 gauge shotgun, and my two beagles. Sometimes I’ll eat what I kill, and other times I give it to other people.”

“I liked hunting, but I mostly enjoyed tracking the animals. I didn’t like waiting for them too much,” Bobbie Brownlee, sophomore, said.  “I hunted rabbits and deer with a gun, and I would eat what I killed. If I didn’t eat it [the animal], I’d freeze it to eat later.”

Many students use guns to kill their prey, but some use projectiles or a bow and arrow.

“Yes, I like killing [game] animals,” Matthew Falls, sophomore, says. “I hunt deer, squirrel, tweety birds, turkeys, just about anything that moves, honestly. Sometimes I’ll hunt with a projectile if I’m close enough, and I use a gun and a bow too. I usually eat what I kill.”

“I like hunting because it’s relaxing,” Megan Yeatts, sophomore, said. “I hunt deer and bears, and I use a rifle, muzzle loader, or a 20 gauge. I eat what I kill.”