Hey Paleo folk, Sorry for the interruption. I have a new keyboard now and ready to continue... The main point I was trying to make regarding my hesitation about butchering the beautiful elk doe was that I realize now that when I made the decision to become a carnivore, I repressed my feelings about the fact that I LOVE ANIMALS. Even though I had not realized it, I had disassociated the animal from the meat I eat. Loving animals and eating them did not go together in my heart. My head was OK with it. I enjoy eating meat, I need meat to be healthy, ergo, I will eat it. I really had not resolved my belief in the sanctity of life with ingesting flesh foods. Life is sacred. To take a life because you have need of it is no small thing. I had forgotten the reverence I once felt toward all living creatures, which must extend to the meat we eat. Not to say I will give up eating meat, but I do want to be more grateful. My ancestors had this down, and I have ignored my heritage in this regard (thanking and honoring the animal and the Great Spirit for the sacrifice.) I didn't need to change what I am doing, as much as my attitude about doing it. The reverence, gratitude, and the acknowledgement that I am taking a life, for my own purposes, and that life is precious. That was what was missing for me. I have resolved not to live in denial, but with full recognition and gratitude of what I am taking and be responsible for it. Sitting out there in the rain, tears streaming down my cheeks, talking to the doe, apologizing to her and thanking her, I had a major epiphany that I doubt I will ever forget again. She spoke to me and I just wanted to share that. Louise Cherokee again