I am a vegetarian and I spent a week with elk hunters

At one point, I mentioned that I would have liked to take my drone to capture a bird's-eye view of the picturesque landscape. I immediately felt a discomfort from the group about my comment. Justin Jones, also a longtime hunter and responsible for stewardship of nature conservation in eastern Oregon, later explained what I had noticed.

He cited the principle of "fair hunting," which involves deliberately seeking to equalize the odds while making animals full opponents in a game of life and death. According to this ethic, he said, hunters walk rather than using all-terrain vehicles; they use bows and arrows rather than powerful rifles with telescopic sights; and by all means, they give up planes in order to locate a prey. A drone would have been acceptable to me, said Mr. Jones, but only if we made sure it would not help them.

Hunting is a time-consuming undertaking that requires a lot of planning. Depending on the type of hunt, this implies long periods of tranquility in the elements. If you do it in a group, it's a camaraderie experience, an experience that forges friendships for life and an appreciation for the outdoors.

Without cell reception, I had to slow down and unplug. The silence, the environment, the waiting seemed to be purified psychologically.

This is partly why hunters do not see hunting as a hobby, but as a cultural value and a tradition that they wish to convey to their children. A 2016 fish and wildlife survey found that only about 5% of Americans aged 16 and over hunt – about half the percentage of those who hunted 50 years ago – a decline that most researchers think that it will accelerate.

On the third day of testing, Ms. Cassens managed to kill and kill a 450-pound elk. For half an hour, the group snuggles up to the dead animal, oscillating between long dark silences and exuberant hugs. Afterwards, the group members spent about an hour working hard to kill their animals, which means cutting the animal into pieces and leaving its entrails on the spot while wrapping the muscles and limbs in its bag for the hike.

Mr. Jones climbed fiercely to a nearby tree to secure one of the three outer hidden cameras on the remains of the elk carcass that the hunters intended to leave behind. As part of his efforts to raise public awareness of lead munitions problems, he wanted to record images of grizzlies, raptors and foxes that would soon be feeding on the carcass. "Come get it," Cassens said. "Unleaded meal, right here!"