Smelly Swiss Dilettante

[Jean]

I have it quite precisely drawn on 1:200'000 maps with a stabilo mark.
If you don't want to visit me immediatly, there is also this map.



The High Tatra part was really nice, altough the eastern most third is very crowded. The rest is relatively quiet. There is a "secret" camping spot in the close to oko morskie (completely legal), they have their own tents and charge about 5 euros.
So you only need to take a sleeping bag with you if you wan't to do a similar hike.

I really like hiking this divide, because it takes you trough all sorts of mountains or plateau landscape, most of which aren't famous at all, so you get to discover things about our continent by yourself, which is very rewarding.

Also, the Rhine has 2 sources, arguably 3, because the Aare is usually bigger than him when they meet, so her source could also qualify as the Rhine source.
I happen to have the Aare just in front of my windows, and the old Aare (where it use to flow before we build some antiflooding infrastructure, which are very impressive in how efficient they are at preventing flloods in switzerland) about 30 minutes hike away. Old Aare is realy nice, they still let some water flow in it, so now, it a nice small river, most of it banks are protected against development and lovely.

[guitarplayer]

Hi, I PMed you about the Morskie Oko spot, this would fit perfectly our itinerary.

These can really be dangerous ideas for me to think, because appealing.

[Jean]

Ernst Scribler visited me.
We walked around the city, and the day after, we biked (and pushed bike) toward my house.
He seemed impressed by the scenery, i was a bit ashamed by how squeequie my bike chain was.
I greased it, after a quick brush, and now it's silent enough for me to ear the unevenness of my frontwheel.
It's always a pleasure to meet other forumite, don't hesitate to manifest yourself if you are around.

[theanimal]

Congrats on passing the shooting exam! How many more exams do you have left before you can get your license?

[Jean]

it's all done, there are only two exam days (theory and shooting). I'll start with boar in august, then elk and chamois in september, 'I'll pass on roe deer to go for ducks in october and november, and then boar again when there is full moon or snow, duck otherwhise. I'll end the season with cormoran that are a pest here, and maybe some fox, but probably not.

[Jean]

I don't think I wrote it here already, but one of my goal, Is to be able to pay my bills by selling game meat, and also be able to save money from it.
There are several aspect to this goal. One is having some financial margin, because i don't wan't to have to forgo medical treatment or preventive exams because of a lack of money. And those things are very expensive, And my current passive income isn't enough to keep saving money.
An other one is freedom. I imagine it would feel extremely good to live of the land. I don't wan't to be a farmer. So hunt it will be.

The last one is spiritual. I think my greatest privilege is to have been born as an apex predator. Possibly the greatest predator that ever walked on this planet (not me personally, but humans). We may be one of the last generation of human that live in Flesh, because computers might be better than us at surviving. We might even be one of the last generation of animal. I think the most intense experience we can have, are the one we have been having for a very longtime, sex, becoming parent, being pregnant, feeding your loved one, and of course hunting.

We started becoming human when we started hunting. this adventure lasted a few million years. Stoping hunting is what led us to civilisation, and creating our possible successor. This might be the end of our story. This is all natural. But hunting is a form of communion with the billions of human that hunted before me. It's also a form of communion with all the other humans and predator that hunt now. We all share the thrill of outsomethinging our prey and catching it. And eating it.
I want to be that again. I feel like a slave that bought back his freedom. I feel like I now belong to the elite club of the animals.

On a more practical note, an AI might want to ear me talk about this experience instead of turning me back into a pile of minerals.

[theanimal]

You can sell game meat in Switzerland? It's very illegal in the US. There was a law put in place in 1900 that banned it nationwide after market hunters nearly wiped out all the bison in the West. It existed in Alaska until the 30s I believe, but has been banned since then. The only real equivalent here are "super-hunters." In some native villages, a few young men will hunt for the whole community. Their full time "job" is going out and hunting for everyone else. They aren't paid, but besides the elders, they are the highest status individuals in each village.

Anyways, we share a similar philosophy on this matter. Hunting is the most fulfilling activity that I do by a long shot. That sounds like a worthwhile endeavor.

[Jean]

Yes you can sell game meat in Switzerland. I imagine that it's because the territory is much smaller, so It's not prohibitely difficult to enforce how much game is being hunted. As long a the game as been lawfully hunted, it is fully yours, and you can do whatever you want with it. If you sell it for consumption by other humans, you are subject to hygiene regulation when butchering it. If many species is threatened they just reduce how much of it we can hunt.
As an example, you can only have 2 chamois per year, and only one of them can be shot in the jura area of the canton. On the other hand, Elk (red deer) and boars are multiplying, so boars are unlimited, and the canton's goal are about 1000 elk per year (for 6000 person with a hunting license, but not all of them will hunt elk, so they are not limited at an individual level, they just close this hunt for the year when the goal has been reached, or at the end of november).
I didn't know selling game was illegal in the US. Now I understand why no one bother selling the boar meat in the area where they are handled like an invasive specie.
Do i understand correctly, they banned the sale, because it was easyer to find someone selling meat than someone poaching, or becuse regulating hunting was out of the question for ideological reason?
Anyway, this info makes me realize how lucky I am. Even if I'm not sure I'll feel good hunting for money because It sounds a bit like prostitution, even, if it's a win win win (me, person eating meat, forest) situation (well, the deer loses). I'll see how it feels then.