The pursuit of balance in a complicated world

​I was first introduced to hunting and fishing as a young fella. I grew up around Taupo, spending a lot of time fishing and shooting rabbits on local farms with my dad. We chopped the roof out of an old Subaru Leone that dad bought for forty bucks off a guy in Tauranga and used it to spotlight our friends’ farms. It was a great way to spend time with my family, learn safe handling and respect for firearms and help our friends keep the rabbit numbers down.
In my college years I started heading down a different track for a while (one with no orange triangles). I wrestled with alcohol, racked up a lot of debt through poor financial decisions and generally engaged in activities that weren’t beneficial. This continued for many years. I developed from a fairly or switched-on and confident kid into someone who didn’t hold a lot of value for himself, others and anything around me.
After coming short of the grade at university and resolving to work full time to pay off debt, I met up with some people who wanted to get into pig hunting. I ended up moving in with them, and it was there that I reacquired my love of the outdoors. Despite being a thoroughly incapable bunch (our best skills were probably smoking darts and eating pies), we pulled up a few pigs with our motley bunch of dogs and endeavoured to spend every moment possible outdoors.
A few years later, I met my friend George who would become one of my best hunting mates. George was a bit older than me and provided a lot of insight and inspiration as to what was possible in life if you were happy to work for it. He was a genuine guy, hilarious and always keen to get out there for a hunt. It was with George that I would shoot my first stag in the Ruahine Ranges. Over the years we would hunt Sambar deer in the Whanganui region, Red Deer in the Aorangi, Tararua and Ruahine Ranges, and Tahr in the Southern Alps. We caught the odd fish too.
Over the last few years I had some wake-up calls. I lost family members in quick succession and began to see a prevalence of mental health issues affecting others around me. With a quick look over my current situation I decided to implement a bit of change in my life. I began by prioritising friends, family, and doing what was meaningful to myself as a person. I chopped out drinking until the morning, started reading a few books and engaging in a lot physical exercise (focusing on fitness rather than beach muscles).
As a consequence, I also started taking hunting a lot more seriously. Developing from the odd day trip or overnighter with mates a few times each year into regular solo trips into the hills. Spending time outdoors slowly developed my skills and knowledge, confidence and mental well-being.
The achievement of a well-placed shot on an animal, carrying the meat out and being able to provide ethical free range for myself and others is a rewarding process in many ways. It helps promote self-worth as an individual, and a sense of community between myself and those I share with.
I developed a love of how hunting demands authenticity. Once you are on the hill, any shortcomings are quickly exposed (fitness is usually first). I describe myself as a “novice hunter-gatherer”. Hunting doesn’t let you get away with pretending to be something you’re not. I have made (and still make) plenty of mistakes: camping on river flats where deer would feed, slicing open gut-bags when processing deer, and missing shots at animals (one of my first trips with my girlfriend involved me missing a hind and under 100 metres). I learned to own my mistakes, learn from them, and improve in confidence as a result.
Be it completing a NZDA Hunts course, accompanying other experienced hunters and picking up tips, reading up on hunting, or just slowly blundering around in the bush until you get the hang of it, skills and knowledge of how to hunt come over time. It’s all part of learning the ropes and encourages you to accept your hunting skills, learn from others, and avoid comparison of those that are doing better than you – a valuable lesson that can be applied in other areas of life.
Hunting helped teach me other important life lessons. I learned that less is more - buying heaps of things to stuff in my pack doesn’t always make for a good trip. I learned that things don’t always come easy - to get that Instagram picture on a main ridge with an animal on the deck, there are hours of effort and practice involved. I learned that you don’t need a lot of friends – just some trustworthy dependable ones. And I also learned about solitude – that sometimes the best conversations we have are with ourselves.
I found that when I could disconnect from a world where I was constantly connected, I was able to take the time to actually think. I was more focused, present and calm when not being bombarded by phone notifications and emails. A summer evening walking the tussock tops of the Ruahine Ranges is one of my favourite feelings. It has the ability to separate life’s trivial concerns and allow you to enjoy the present moment in a way that struggles to be rivalled by any other.
Research has found that spending time in the outdoors has numerous benefits, from immune system health and cancer prevention. But interacting with nature has also benefits on both life satisfaction and relaxation and is strongly linked to better physical and mental health. It assists in the reduction of depression and anxiety, creation of positive moods and self-esteem and helps social interaction and cognitive function.
Our country is now reporting concerning trends of social wellbeing. Ngā Tūtohu Aotearoa – Indicators Aotearoa New Zealand, shows that from 2014 there are trends indicating decreased life satisfaction, decreased sense of purpose, decreased perceived health, increased loneliness, and increased mental health issues across a variety of ages.
Having benefited from the physical and mental health benefits of improving my lifestyle and spending more time outdoors, I decided to start up my Instagram page Equilibrium Environment with the idea that I might be able to identify ideas that help bring a balanced foundation into my life and share them with others. I also began to write online about the struggles and shortcomings I have experienced and ways that they could be addressed.
In an increasingly digital world where success is often measured by jobs and material wealth, I wanted to encourage people to look at the other factors of their life which could be beneficial to developing into more fulfilled, confident and resilient people. I wholeheartedly believe that spending more time in the outdoors is an important component in this.
As hunters, fisherman and outdoor enthusiasts I believe that it is important to advocate the value of the outdoors for physical and mental health. I feel we ought to conduct ourselves in positive ways that promote these activities to others. It is also imperative that we continue to look for opportunities to contribute genuinely to helping those new to the outdoors to grow as hunters, fishermen and ultimately, people.
Ryan Nicholson

@equilibriumenvironment
www.equilibriumenvironment.com
 

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