Hunting for Stories about Hunting

Working on a set list for an upcoming gig, I discovered that many of the tales I was reading were about hunting. And they were funny! Now I'm at work on a new set of stories, all hunting tall tales. The key is to find stories that are not offensive to anyone, and that in itself might be a tall tale. I've noted that often audience members don't like it when an animal dies in a story (human or otherwise).

What's odd about this aversion is that movies and video games are full of death, often viloent and horrible death. So why is it different in a storytelling setting? Because when people listen to stories, they create their own visual images, unlike other media that present exactly what the producers want the viewer to see. If I say "dog" in a story, people may picture their own favorite pet. And then it gets killed in the story? That doesn't work for me, or my listeners.

I'm not a fan of violent movies, or movies that have a woman screaming in terror in the first five minutes. I don't enjoy or get entertained by violence or cruelty, and that carries over to my storytelling. I have been told, "but that's the way life is, so you're avoiding real life." Perhaps. All stories are not about real life; they're about fantasies, humor, mystery, romance. They are about how things could be or might have been, told through the teller's eyes. Each teller chooses the kind of stories they want or need to tell. For me, those stories do not include terror, raw violence, cruelty, profanity or pornography. Other storytellers make other choices, the freedom of living in this country.

So if my stories are not about "real" life, whatever that may be, they are about my life, my place in the mountains of West Virginia, about the people and the things I know. I tell ghost stories and I sing murder ballads, but for me those are not about violence as much as they are about trying to understand why those things might have happened. And even some ballads are too gory for me! In the end, I want my audiences to come to the end of listening in a safe place emotionally. They trusted me enough to come and listen, I need to honor that trust.

Getting back to hunting stories, which is where I began: I am finding many that fit my self-imposed limitations. I've found local history stories, Jack tales, animal lore and more. I think I am going to have a lot of fun putting this set together.