In 1941, Antonio "Pit" Allard deserted the army to avoid fighting a war that he felt had nothing to do with him. For the duration of the World War II, he spent the summers working as a farmhand; in the winters he lived in solitude as lumberjack in the forests of Eastern Quebec. During those four winters, Pit trapped hares and shot partridges, not as a hobby, but as a means of survival.In the decades following the war, long after he married and relocated and had children-and his children had children-Pit has continued to make an annual hunting pilgrimage to a log cabin in Quebec. According to his grandson, the photographer Alexi Hobbs, "[hunting] reminds him of who he is, where he comes from, and why he is still here today."Last year, shortly after Pit turned 90 years old, he announced that 2009 would be his last year of visiting the log cabin for the annual hunting trip, and he invited his grandson and other family members to come along. Hobbs opted to chronicle the trip with pictures, not only to document an important part of his family history, but also to participate in that process. "When I was taking certain photos, like my grandfather skinning the hare, part of it was almost just make sure I could remember how it's properly done," says Hobbs. "But I'm not looking to make straight documentary work; it has to have an emotional connection."What follows is a selection from Alexi Hobbs's "Hunters and Heirs."A crossingJimmyUntitledUntitledVincentUntitledUntitledUntitledKettlesPartridges on counterMarie plucking a partridgePit skinning a hareUntitledJean-GuyHeadgear and crucifixUntitled
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