Primal Darkness

Out here in the wild, nothing is given.

Everything is earned.

The land provides, but only

if you respect it.

My name is Cole

Harrington and I've been

hunting the western United

States since I

was a kid. My father taught

me to hunt the right way,

ethically, responsibly, with

respect for the

animals and the land.

Hunting isn't about trophies.

It's not about staged shots

or glamorized kills

like you see on other shows.

It's about connection to the

land, to the wildlife, and to something

primal deep inside us.

Every hunt tells a story.

And out here nature writes the script.

I take

pride in being an ethical hunter.

Giving back to the

wild that gives so much to me.

This isn't just a sport.

It's a way of living.

of life and if you're here

watching well you feel it too

this is primal instinct

interesting experience one time

deer hunting not too far from

here I was kind

of thinking about it while I

was on this trip I ran into

I don't know if you call

him a hippie I guess maybe a

hippie didn't think anybody be

out as far as I

was came around a bend and

there he was barefoot his

feet like buried in the

dirt and he called attention

to me by saying he saw me

first actually I went

over to him he said he said

are you deer hunting and I

thought great he's gonna

be some protester and it's

gonna be like a big pain in

my ass right to get away

from this guy

but I said yeah I am and he

said he said that's good he

said did you find your

balance and I had no idea

what he was talking about

right and I said well I

don't know you know I don't

know I guess everybody has

their own idea of what

balance is right and he said

he said the earth has a

balance and he said if

I'm gonna be

taking something from the

earth a deer do I have a

plan to pay it back right

keep things balanced he was

out he was doing something I

don't know what the

term was earthing I don't

know I'm making that up maybe

he had his feet in

the in the soil and he was

saying that by his bare feet

being buried in the

dirt like that he was you

know he was connecting with

earth again right and he

felt like I was also

connecting with earth if I if

I as a hunter I get a deer

and I eat the

meat then I'm connecting with

the earth right but he said

uh we all have to have a balance

when we're out here otherwise

everything gets thrown off and

he asked if I if I had figured

out my balance yet and I

said well quite honestly I I

don't really know how to

answer that so I

asked him uh if he had any

kind of um thoughts on what

you know a hunter's balance would be

and he said of course it was

very you know out there but

essentially that he couldn't answer

that and I said well I don't

know I don't know I don't know I don't know I don't know I don't because that's for every

person to answer for

themselves right but he said

uh if I was going

to draw blood um from one of

earth's creatures that I may

have to be willing uh to eventually

give my blood back right to

the soil balance and he asked

if I had it figured out and I said no

I don't think anybody really

can figure out their own

mortality you know that's the

whole point of

living

life is not knowing when it's

going to end right um and I

don't find it scary I think it's what

makes it exciting that's what

makes the journey worth taking

uh but he just said uh he said make

sure that you always always

replace what you take and

keep the balance right don't take more

than you give don't give more

than you take uh and I

we left each other there and

I went on hunting I ended up

getting a deer that year and

it was great

uh but I've always thought

about that it was interesting

you know we probably live very very

different lives I imagine he's

probably the type that uh he

may get teary-eyed if somebody

kills a spider right um which

is fine balance there's going

to be somebody like me out there

there's got to be somebody

like him otherwise we just

can't harmonize right it's all

about the

balance Jeremy I don't know

if you're going to be able

to do a whole lot with this footage

uh I mean as you'll see as

you go through this stuff I

don't have a whole lot uh

it's been a hell

of a hunt I I spent nine

days uh man we didn't we

didn't come in to anything um

I thought maybe

the snow and the weather

would help drive them a

little bit but I don't know

if if it being a late

season hunt if maybe the

early hunters got in here and

pushed them out I don't know

if if uh the

fires that we had earlier did something

I don't know if there's a

predator in the area or what

but uh I did all that

scouting and we had

our eyes on a couple of a

couple of good bucks and I

didn't see them once uh once

we finally got

out here so uh disheartening

for sure and I don't know

trying to end a season of a show here

and I got I got no deer in

my hands um I don't really

know how to end this right I

guess maybe

your your technical wizardry

with the editing should

maybe be able to do something

I don't know or maybe we

scrapped this whole final episode and

you just do a highlight reel

or something um I don't know

man I don't know beautiful country

um I had a lot of a lot of

time to just reflect and it

was a great hunt um you know because

everybody knows a hunt isn't

about the kill right it'd be

called killing it wouldn't be called

hunting um and uh

I just uh I had some time

to to spend thinking on

things kind of reconnecting

get everything well I mean

who am I kidding man