Americans turn to hunting for food, renewal during pandemic

FILE PHOTO: Hunters Brian Van Nevel and Nathaniel Evans take picture together in a national forest near Taos, New Mexico, U.S. April 16, 2020, where they see larger numbers of turkey hunters this season as more people go into the mountains to stalk the birds during the coronavirus pandemic. Nathaniel Evans/Handout via REUTERS

TAOS, N.M. (Reuters) - David Elliot first thought of shooting an elk to help feed family and friends back in January when the United States reported its first novel coronavirus case.

Elliot, emergency manager at Holy Cross Hospital in Taos, New Mexico, had always wanted to go big game hunting and, with the pandemic spreading, there seemed no better time to try to fill his freezer with free-range, super-lean meat.