The Jurassic World star recently posted to his Instagram account that he aims to only eat wild animals that he and his friends have personally secured as part of his New Year’s resolution.
“I’m going to start a diet I called ‘The Game Plan’ where basically I only eat wild game for a year,” Pratt writes as he is depicted butchering and packing venison from a recent hunt down in Texas.
The Hollywood star cites his younger years in the post, mentioning that he grew up hunting and fishing with family and friends, something he still enjoys to this day.
“Hunting, fishing and being outdoors with my friends and family is how I spent my free time as a young’n…” As he goes on to state that he assumes that part of him will never change, but does not completely rule it out.
Pratt goes on to tell his followers that while he intends to be as strict as possible, he still reserves a number of foods such as hamburgers, sushi, eggs, chicken and steak for cheat meals.
“I will also have sushi because I have to have sushi because it’s so good. And pepperoni. But that’s not a meat technically, right?” he says.
As any of us can imagine, his recent post did come under some heavy fire from those in disagreement of this practice. Comments ranged from “I LOVE HIM. My dream man” to “This is disgusting” and “Wake the fuck up and go vegan”.
My opinion? Fantastic.
When celebrities like Chris come out and state what we as hunters, outdoor enthusiast and conservationists have been saying for years, it really connects. While I did comb through the comments to find both good and bad replies, I was surprised to find much more positive ones than negative ones. In fact, there were many that became inspired by his message. While I can’t say that they will necessarily get into the sport of hunting, it is encouraging to see more and more respectful opinions toward hunting and securing your own meat.
I also have to applaud Chris on his delivery. It is no secret this guy has a sense of humor, but he also shows respect for those who lean toward a more vegetable-focused diet by mentioning that “Maybe one day I’ll wake up and be like, ‘I’m only going to eat veggies for the rest of my life.’ If I do that’s cool. It’s a free country.”
The first step in making the hunting community stronger is unity.
The second?
Respect for differing opinions. I think the more we talk about, write about, photograph and document our lives as hunters, those opposing us can only be forced to garner a certain amount of respect for what we do and why we do it. Highlighting ethical practices, fantastic recipes, conservation efforts and respect for the game we pursue may not convert even the deepest rooted vegan, but we might begin to gain a little respect on the other side. But it has to be earned.
