In Walden, Henry David Thoreau speaks of hunting and fishing as "the more primitive but solitary amusements." Thoreau believes that these employments help him get in touch with the wild side of his nature. For instance, as he is coming home from fishing one evening, he sees a woodchuck and experiences a "strange thrill of savage delight" at the thought of catching and eating the animal. As a human being, Thoreau knows that he has "an instinct toward a higher," spiritual life, but he recognizes the savage aspects of himself as well, and sometimes, he enjoys the "wildness and adventure" of fishing and hunting.

Further, these activities are often "solitary amusements." They allow him to be alone in nature, usefully employed with getting himself something to eat, which is another major purpose of hunting and fishing, but also making better "acquaintance with Nature." The activities are necessary if Thoreau wants to eat, but there is something about being in the natural world that helps a person find "the most original part of himself."

Thoreau seems to have rather less sympathy for men who hunt merely for sport, however. He speaks of hunting horns and packs of dogs and trophies. While he doesn't come right out and say it, he seems to imply that this kind of hunting disturbs nature more than it allows people to enter into it.