Why I’m ok being the worst hunter in Western PA.
Tonight it all made sense, as of 8:20pm I held my screaming 2 year old daughter *again* trying to get her to fall asleep while Lisa (the wife/mother/LMT/CES/nursing student) worked on her school work for the weekend. I have work tomorrow, a once a year Sunday afternoon shift, and all I want is for Juliet to fall asleep peacefully. In the moment, the last thing on my mind is a successful hunting year; a feeling I have had many times since the beginning of October. The only thing I really care about is my daughter understanding that she is loved by both her mother and her father, and that what’s best for her is to close her eyes and go to sleep.
Maybe you can relate to that, maybe not. I’m realizing that doesn’t much matter to me.
2017 isn’t my hunting year. Though time is limited, it doesn’t mean I’m not going to spend the next week of the rut trying. (every *SPARE* second I own.)
This season I’ve left home pretty much every day unprepared. Yeah, I ran trail cameras, but I didn’t have time to pull cards consistently. Yeah, I knew the area I wanted to be in, but I didn’t have a specific tree to climb up, and yet I’ve hunted more than I thought I’d have the time to. In the moment, I find myself wishing I had more. More evenings. More mornings. More hours. More SECONDS.
This morning I was taking down a set and I spooked a buck working down the trail towards me. Third time I’ve been caught climbing out or walking home when my instincts/knowledge told me to sit still. I’ve had zero opportunities, and It’s completely on me.
If you’ve spent this season sputtering, if you’ve spent the last few years failing. If life gets in the way of hunting. Be ok with that.
There are many seasons in life. Some of them will be day in and day out adventure. Some of them will be a grind.
From a hunting standpoint, I’m in my grind season, and I’m ok with that.
If you’re in the same camp: keep your head up. Social media may seem like it’s all about inches and wall mounts but it’s not. It’s about experience and memories. So make some. If you don’t feel like people recognize your personal situation; what the hell does that really matter? Be stoked on your own life, your own decisions, your own sacrifices, your own choices, your own story, your own memories, your own hunt.
Let the chips fall where they may. Keep pressing on. Your day may come, if not, *insert middle finger here.* 🙂
Did I mention we are closing on a house Tuesday? STOKED.
-Mark