A Personal Memory of Today's Saint, Patron of Hunters

Today is the Feast of St Hubert, Patron Saint of hunters. When I was younger I enjoyed hunting small game. I was never much of an upland bird man, those speedy little devils are hard to hit with a shotgun! But rabbits and squirrels learned to be afraid of me and my .22 calibre rifle.

One day, years ago, a friend and I were in a pub having a few pints. Someone ordered a Jägermeister. I had never heard of it, and would have thought nothing of it had I not caught a glimpse of the label.

I asked if I could look at the bottle. The barman handed it to me and I realised it was a very familiar symbol.

As it happened, I was wearing a medal of St Hubert along with my Miraculous Medal and Crucifix. I pulled the chain from under my shirt and showed the medal to my friend alongside the bottle. I asked, 'Do you see anything similar?'

Then I remembered my German! Jägermeister=jäger (hunter) + meister (master). What better logo for a liqueur named 'Jägermeister' (Master Hunter) than the emblem of the Patron Saint of hunters?!

Unfortunately, my friend, realising that I was unfamiliar with the drink, insisted on buying a few shots. Whilst I'm one those odd people who actually likes Jägermeister neat, it is not a good idea to drink a 'few' shots after more than a few pints of beer!

St Hubert's legend goes like this:

St Hubert
& the stag

Bishop of Maastricht, Netherlands, and disciple of St. Lambert. Hubert was a married court­ier serving Pepin of Heristal, France. Hunting on Good Friday, when he should have been in Church, he had a vision of a crucifix between the antlers of a stag. Widowed, he is believed to have entered Stavelot Monastery, Belgium, and was ordained by St. Lambert at Maastricht. He succeeded St. Lambert about 705 as bishop. Hubert erected a shrine for St. Lambert's relics at Liege, France. He was noted for his miracles and for converting hundreds. Hubert died at Tervueren, near Brussels, Belgium, on May 30. He is a patron saint of hunters.

Saint Hubert is honoured among sport-hunters as the originator of ethical hunting behaviour.

During Hubert's religious vision, the Hirsch (German: deer) is said to have lectured Hubert into holding animals in higher regard and having compassion for them as God's creatures with a value in their own right. For example, the hunter ought to only shoot when a humane, clean and quick kill is assured. He ought shoot only old stags past their prime breeding years and to relinquish a much anticipated shot on a trophy to instead euthanize a sick or injured animal that might appear on the scene. Further, one ought never shoot a female with young in tow to assure the young deer have a mother to guide them to food during the winter. Such is the legacy of Hubert, who still today is taught and held in high regard in the extensive and rigorous German and Austrian hunter education courses.

The legacy is also followed by the French chasse à courre masters, huntsmen and followers, who hunt deer, boar and roe on horseback and are the last direct heirs of Saint Hubert in Europe. Chasse à courre is currently enjoying a revival in France. The Hunts apply a specific set of ethics, rituals, rules and tactics dating back to the early Middle-Ages. Saint Hubert is venerated every year by the Hunts in formal ceremonies.